Civil Rights Workers

Tags: activist, civil rights workers, congress, rights

The three men accepted their work was fundamental, but moreover, perilous Ku Klux Klan participation in Mississippi was taking off in 1964 with participation coming to more than 10,000. The Klan was arranged to utilize savagery to battle the Respectful Rights development; on April 24 the bunch advertised a show of its control, organizing 61 synchronous cross burnings all through the state.

Mickey Schwerner was a Center field specialist slaughtered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in reaction to the civil-rights work he facilitated, which included advancing enlistment to vote among Mississippi African Americans. Born and raised in Unused York, he went to Michigan State College, initially plans to end up as a veterinarian. He exchanged to Cornell College, in any case, and exchanged his major to humanism, going on after graduation to the School of Social Work at Columbia College. Whereas an undergrad at Cornell, he coordinates the school’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi Crew. Twenty-four-year-old Schwerner had come to Mississippi in January of 1964 with his spouse Rita after having been contracted as a Core field laborer. In his application for the Center position, Schwerner, a local of Modern York City, composed “I have an enthusiastic have to be offer my administrations within the South.” Schwerner included that he trusted to spend “the rest of his life” working for an coordinates society. On January 15, 1964, Michael and Rita cleared out Unused York in their VW Creepy crawly for Mississippi. After talking with gracious rights pioneer Bob Moses in Jackson, Schwerner was sent to Meridian to organize the community center and other programs within the biggest city in eastern Mississippi. Schwerner got to be the primary white respectful rights specialist to be based exterior of the capital of Jackson. Once in Meridian, Schwerner rapidly earned the scorn of nearby KKK by organizing a boycott of an assortment store until the store, which sold for the most part to blacks, enlisted its to begin with African American. He moreover came beneath overwhelming assault.

Andy Goodman was sent to Meridian, Mississippi, and on 21st June 1964, Schwerner and two of his companions, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, went to Longdale to visit Mt. Zion Methodist Church, a building that had been fire-bombed by the Ku Klux Klan since it was planning to be utilized as a Opportunity School. On the way back to the Center office in Meridian, the three men were captured by Delegate Sheriff Cecil Cost. Afterward that evening they were discharged from the Neshoba imprison as it were to be halted once more on a rustic street where a white swarm shot them dead and buried them in a earthen dam. In June 2016, 52 a long time after the murdering of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney, state and government prosecutors have said that the examination into the killings is over. Mississippi lawyer common Jim Hood said. “The prove has been debased by memory over time, and so there are no people that are living presently that able to make a case on at this point.”

James Chaney was born May 30, 1943, in Meridian, Mississippi to Ben and Fannie Lee Chaney. In 1963, he joined the Congress of Racial Correspondence (Center). In 1964, the Center driven a gigantic voter enlistment and integration campaign in Mississippi called Flexibility Summer. As a portion of the Flexibility Summer exercises, Chaney was riding with two white activists in Mississippi when they were assaulted and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan on June 21, 1964. On January 7, 2005 Edgar Beam Killen, once a blunt white supremacist nicknamed the “Evangelist,” argued “Not Blameworthy” to Chaney’s kill, but was found blameworthy of murder on June 20, 2005, and sentenced to sixty a long time in prison. He was a local of Meridian and the eldest child in a family of five children. His mother, a residential worker, was defensive; his father, a plasterer, cleared out his mother when James was in his mid-teens. He was somewhat built, but athletic. He was portrayed as bashful in open, but a cutup in his home. Chaney to begin with experienced issues at the Catholic school for Negroes he gone to in 1959, when he was sixteen. Chaney was suspended for a week when he denied to evacuate a yellow paper NAACP “button.” The following year he was removed from school for battling. Chaney attempted to connect the armed force, but his asthma come about in a 4-F preclusion. Unemployed and fretful, Chaney joined the Negro plasterer’s union, where he apprenticed with his father. His work as a plasterer finished in 1963 after a battle with his father.

Gracious Rights activists driven by Ruth Schwerner-Berner, the previous spouse of Michael Schwerner, and Ben Chaney, the brother of James Chaney, proceeded to campaign for the men to be charged with a kill. Inevitably, it was chosen to charge Edgar Beam Killen, a Ku Klux Klan part and part-time evangelist, with more genuine offenses related to this case. On June 21, 2005, the forty-first commemoration of the wrongdoing, Killen was found blameworthy of the murder of the three men. On 21st October 1967, seven of the men were found blameworthy of contriving to deny Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney of their gracious rights and sentenced to jail terms extending from three to ten long time. This included James Jordon 4 a long time and Cecil Cost 6 a long time but Sheriff Lawrence Rainey was acquitted.

Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are murdered by a Ku Klux Klan horde close Meridian, Mississippi. The three youthful civil rights specialists were working to enroll Dark voters in Mississippi, in this way motivating the anger of the neighborhood Klan. The passings of Schwerner and Goodman, white Northerners and individuals of the Congress of Racial Balance Core, caused a national shock.

I dont think i would join because I wouldn’t want to be killed or go through what the 3 men went through because I have a whole life ahead of me. I don’t think i could do the life they went through and going through all the troubles of trials.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/

http://www.core-online.org/History/schwerner.htm

https://spartacus-educational.com/USAgoodmanA.htm

http://www.core-online.org/History/chaney.htm

https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/how-the-naacp-fights-racial-discrimination-video

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-kkk-kills-three-civil-rights-activists

Riley March 28, 2022

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Mickey Schwerner was an American civil rights activist. Mickey Schwerner was one of the three men that worked for CORE which stands for Congress of Racial Equality. He disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The three men knew it was dangerous, but they felt as if they needed too. It was dangerous for them because the Ku Klux Klan was also located in Mississippi. The KKK had more than 10,000 members. The KKK was motivated to use violence to fight the Civil Rights movement. The three men were arrested because they were seen in the CORE vehicle. Michael Schwerner’s death date was June 21, 1964. His spouses name was Rita Schwerner Bender. He died in Neshoba, Mississippi.
Andy Goodman was also an American civil rights activist. He was also one of the three men that was murdered during Freedom Summer. They were murdered by members of the KKK. Andy Goodman’s death date was in June 21, 1964. He was only in his twenties when unfortunately his life was cut short. He had a wife named Nena Manach. He did also have three daughters as well.
James Chaney was also an American activist. James Chaney was one of the three men working for CORE that got murdered by the KKK. His death date was also June 21, 1964. All three of these men did not deserve to have their life cut so soon like it did.
I would want to fight for what I believe in and stand up for what I believe in. I also would take inconsideration if I have a family or not. Although, I believe you should stand up for what you believe in but also I don’t think it would be worth it leaving your family. It would also put a lot on the family.

“Murder in Mississippi.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/.
Chaney, Goodman & Schwerner, http://core-online.org/History/schwerner.htm.
“Case Files and Photos from 1964 ‘Mississippi Burning’ Murders of Civil Rights Workers Made Public for First Time.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 28 June 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-burning-murders-case-files-public-james-chaney-andrew-goodman-michael-schwerner/.

Kaylee March 26, 2022 2 Comments

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Mickey Schwerner was a Jewish civil rights activist who was married to a women named Rita who worked for the National CORE. He got into activism for the same reason anyone who lived during that time got into it, because it was time for change! Him and his wife could not stop overlooking the racial violence that loomed over their everyday life. He was eventually kilt by the Klu Klux Klan for the civil rights work that they were achieving along with other men. The main reason they were kilt was because they registered African American voters. I would like to know if in the end he thought his efforts made an impact that he thought was worth his life. I would ask him how he held such passion to uplift people which ultimately ended in his death. These 3 men eventually received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barrack Obama.

Resource-Michael Schwerner Biography, life, interesting facts. Famous Birthdays By SunSigns.Org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://www.sunsigns.org/famousbirthdays/d/profile/michael-schwerner/

Andy Goodman was the second out of the three to have been kilt by the Ku Klux Klan. He became an activist because he grew up in a household where his parents supported the cause. He volunteered in the Freedom Summer program which is why he was able to go to Mississippi with his supportive brothers. He was kilt at a young age so he did not marry or have any children. I think it is also relevant to mention that he was not African American. He was a Jewish American.

Resource-Michael Schwerner Biography, life, interesting facts. Famous Birthdays By SunSigns.Org. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://www.sunsigns.org/famousbirthdays/d/profile/michael-schwerner/

James Chaney was kilt with Andy and Mickey by the Klu Klux Klan. He had four siblings and grew up going to a Catholic School until the age of fifteen which is when he went to High School. James was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality, and also was part of the Freedom Ride. He was only twenty-one when he passed away so he did not marry or have any children.

Resource-Signs, S. James Chaney biography, life, interesting facts. Famous Birthdays By SunSigns.Org. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://www.sunsigns.org/famousbirthdays/d/profile/james-chaney/

I could not see myself just standing by and watching so many other people fight for something so meaningful and not jumping in to help. I do not want to die either, so I would probably chose a place to help where I felt the safest, which I know sounds horrible, but if it came down to it and I was passionate enough I would’ve joined the Freedom Ride. So I am a little on the fence with this question, but in the end I would join in where things get dangerous.

I would have the same questions for all three of these men. I would ask if they felt like their sacrifice was worth it. I am sure every one of them would say yes, because it pushed the movement forward faster than before. I would also like an in-depth personal view of why they all joined the movement rather than reading what other people have wrote.

Kaitlin March 26, 2022

Three Missing Activists

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Three men were killed by the KKK because they were only civil rights activists trying to register African-Americans to vote and help organize civil rights efforts for (CORE) near Meridian, Mississippi. Michael Schwerner was a twenty-four year old Social worker from New York, he also had a wife that helped him establish a headquarters in Meridian along with the assistance of the second of the three people killed, James Chaney. James Chaney was a twenty-one year old activist that was fighting for voting rights who was taken from his daughter. Andrew Goodman was the last of the three activists, and was a twenty year old college student also from New York. A klansman and cop named Cecil Ray Price pulled the three men over for “speeding” and immediately recognized Schwerner as a member of COFO. He booked James Chaney for speeding and kept Goodman and Schwerner for further investigation, apparently for the church arson. Other associates of Price drove down from Philadelphia to complete the plan, they were waiting for the three activists to get out of jail that night and immediately sped after them once they got the news of their release. There were many klan members there that night involved in the murders. A couple of identified members were, Jimmy Arledge, James Jordan, H. D. Barnette, Travis Maryn Barnette, and Jimmy Snowden. The three bodies were buried in a dam that was under construction at the time. The FBI was working closely with COFO in the effort of passing voting rights in Mississippi and were quickly notified that three COFO members had not returned and were missing. The torched station wagon belonging to the three was found only two days after their deaths. This prompted the FBI to move resources into Mississippi to solve the case. This was an extremely tragic event in which three innocent peaceful activists were killed in cold blood as an example to other activists.

Citation-

“Michael Schwerner – James Chaney – Andrew Goodman.” The United States Department of Justice, 10 May 2018, www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman.

Tyler March 26, 2022 1 Comment

3 Innocent Lives Taken by the KKK

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Tags: Activism, Civil Rights, equality, kkk, voting rights

Mickey Schwerner, Andy Goodman, and James Chaney were Civil Rights Workers. They worked in Mississippi, registering black Americans to vote. They were killed by the KKK for their actions of fighting for equality for all. The men were caught in a trap by the KKK on their way back to Meridian. A police officer pulled them over to arrest them. After being released, they were then attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan, and shot to death.

Mickey Schwerner moved to Mississippi with his wife, Rita, after he was hired to work for the CORE. Prior to this career plan, he attended Michigan State University and Cornell. At Cornell, he was known for working to have a colored student be accepted into a fraternity. Schwerner was originally from the North but felt the need to go down South with hopes of making a change. The casualties of the other 2 men were because the KKK wanted to go after Mickey; however, Goodman and Chaney were with Mickey at the time. He chose to go to Mississippi because he believed he could make the most difference there with the higher number of white-surpemacists.

Andrew Goodman was also born in New York. He was a Jewish-American who became a Civil Rights Activist while studying at Queen’s College. He joined CORE while attending. As part of the Freedom Summer Campaign, Goodman was sent to Meridian along with Schwerner and Chaney. They first met with the families and members of the Mt. Zion Methodist Church in Longdale to see how they were doing after their church had been burnt down by the KKK.

James Chaney was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. From an early age, he was taught to have a great amount of racial pride. Him and his friends were suspended in high school for wearing buttons demonstrating their activism. Fighting for his rights was always something that felt very important to him. James had never gotten married. He participated in the Freedom Rides before becoming part of CORE. Chaney worked with colleagues, Goodman and Schwerner to investigate the church bombing. This was a trip that unfortunately, the men never made it home from.

I believe that I would join a cause that had the potential to get me harmed if it was something that was very important to me. I have always been raised to stand up for what I am passionate for and would like to believe that if it was needed, then I would have the courage to take a stand and fight for what I believe in.

Linderd. (2021). Michael Schwerner Biography. Biography of Michael Schwerner. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/price&bowers/Schwerner.htm

Missing Fbi Poster urging for information about the whereabouts of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner. (2019). The Andrew Goodman Foundation. photograph. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://andrewgoodman.org/news-list/living-the-legacy-of-goodman-chaney-and-schwerner-55-years-later/.

The Stonesong Press Inc. and The New York Public Library, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2021, November 28).
Andrew Goodman, activist born. African American Registry. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/andrew-goodman-activist-who-gave-his-life/

University of North Carolina Press. (2021, November 28). James Chaney, activist born. African American Registry. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/james-chaney-fought-for-civil-rights/

Halee March 26, 2022 3 Comments

The Case of Three Missing Activists

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Tags: Activism, Civil Rights, kkk, murder

The blog post for this week is a little different from the ones we have done in the past. It is about the disappearance of Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andy Goodman. All three of these men were civil rights activists. This story took place during a time when the Klu Klux Klan was growing in members and was a very active organization. The KKK burned down many churches, one of which was Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Neshoba County, Mississippi. The KKK also beat people who had a meeting held there. Schwerner worked there but was out of town. After hearing news about the burning, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney all drove over to investigate what remained. While driving there the three were pulled over. Chaney was arrested for speeding, and the others were arrested for possible involvement in the burning. After being arrested, the three men were released and asked to leave town immediately. While leaving, the three men were being followed by a gang of white men and were pulled over to a nearby gravel road where they were shot, killed, and buried. Their bodies were found roughly forty days after they went missing.

Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney worked for the Congress of Racial Equality, while Andy Goodman was a student who was part of the Mississippi Summer Project. All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations. Schwerner had a wife, Rita, who used this case to help bring attention to victims of racial violence who were overlooked. They wanted to make a difference just like others who fought for civil rights.

It is hard to answer whether or not I would join a cause if I knew I was risking my life because I have not been in the situation before. Personally, I do not think I would because I do not think I could risk my life. These men were so brave to fight for what they believed in, even though they knew what could and would eventually happen. I just do not think I could do it after reading so many brutal stories like this one.

( Info from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/ AND https://mscivilrightsproject.org/neshoba/event-neshoba/the-murder-of-chaney-goodman-and-schwerner/ ).

Ryan O March 26, 2022 1 Comment

Senseless Killings by The Ku Kluz Klan

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Tags: CORE, equality, kkk, murder

These three men pictured above, Mickey Schwerner, Andy Goodman, and James Chaney, were all workers for, a civil rights organization, The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Mickey was born in New York city. All three of these men were Civil Rights Activists, fighting for change, in such a cruel world. Michael Schwerner (Mikey) , hailed from New York City. Andrew Goodman (Andy) also hailed from New York City. James Chaney was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Michael and Goodman were both white males , it was not uncommon for whites to engage in civil rights activism, during this time. Andy and Michael were both Jewish, educated men, with a drive to promote social reform , for the benefit of African Americans.

These three young men, were traveling from the remains of a charred church, in Langdale, MS, which had been burned to the ground by members of the KKK , days prior. The three, were pulled over for speeding , when attempting to return back to Meridian, Mississippi. The driver was James Chaney. James was arrested and charged with speeding , while the other two men were arrested and brought in for questioning for burning down the church. I do not believe Chaney was speeding , I believe the vehicle he was driving brought attention to him and his driving. Chaney was a black male, and he was driving a vehicle with two white passengers, which drew unwanted attention to him. Upon arrival to the jail, all three men were not allowed a phone call , or the opportunity to pay any of the fines , in order to be released. When they were finally released the men were ordered to get out of town but were never given the opportunity. When the men did not arrive back to the CORE headquarters , workers started calling around to report the men missing. Staff at The CORE began calling police stations to inquire about the possible arrest of the men , which was standard protocol. When callers reached the jail the men were being held , the jailor declined to state that the men had ever even been in the town.

As headlines reached all around the world, the two white men , received more media attention than Chaney. Mrs. Schwerner, wife to Mickey and CORE worker, fought to change this narrative. She advocated for everyone , even though her husband was one of the men missing. Investigations by the FBI turned up the vehicle driven by Chaney, which had been attempted to dispose of and fairly soon ,human remains. Members of the KKK had been tipped off by the towns sheriff and alerted of the location of the men. The men were followed, kidnapped, and shot one by one. The case went on to obtain national attention ,but only a handful of the criminals responsible served time.

I would speak up for something that would get me killed. I live by the narrative ,”Is this worth dying over?”, maybe one day I will find the issue that would end with me sacrificing my life. I have yet to find that cause, but I feel like it will happen one day. My life is not worth more than the next person’s , except t me, and that’s a selfish narrative to abide by.

(Murder in Mississippi | American Experience | Official Site | PBS)

(Andrew Goodman Biography – Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline (thefamouspeople.com)

(James Chaney, Activist born – African American Registry (aaregistry.org)

(Michael Schwerner Biography, Life, Interesting Facts (sunsigns.org)

image-mickey schwerner | Tumblr

Tylik March 26, 2022

Marh Book 3-Death Abound

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Tags: Death Abound, March book 3

The event I am going to talk about is the bombing at the sixteenth street Baptist church in Birmingham in the beginning of the book. This event was covered on the on the radio during that time and I can draw correlation from them and now. Back then it was just on the radio, and everyone got phone calls about this new and everyone got so worried about it. In today/now’s perspective people look back at this situation and seeing how much we grew over this bad situation, and it affected people that saw this news and was looking back at it, and they kept letting them see this. The choices that the characters made after this event were cruel and unfair by throwing stuff at people on the side of the streets and at people’s cars. When the book keeps going on they have the military singing the star-spangled banner, they made a choice by singing this to the world. I would put myself in the military’s shoes because they have to deal with all of this bad stuff happening at that time. Some of the military was going through rough times when the bombing at the church was happening and some of the military was going to the bombing to figure out what was going on. That would make me look back at this point in time and make me feel upset at that time to believe that this happened back then, and this should be remembered forever and maybe be remembered with a good movie or even a documentary that has the whole story explaining what happened from the beginning of when the bombing happened then to the end when it ended. This was an inspirational book, and it gave me a lot to think about when doing this blog post

Kaden March 19, 2022

MARCH Book 3 -16th ST bombing

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

After reading the first 61 pages of March Book Three I came to the conclusion that the prompt on Write-It.org was certainly correct. The book opens immediately with chaos violence and death during the Civil Rights movement. Overall in these pages we hear about the bombing on 16th street baptist church which killed four little girls and injured dozens more. This is honestly such a sad thing to be relearning, I heard about this a few times in my life, but now that Im a bit older I am able to take my own stance on the subject. I believe this was a selfish act of terrorism against your own country’s people. But of course black people were not seen as people back then but as animals or beasts, they were discriminated against. At that time the event was covered on the news radio by audio. If this were to happen today it would be on live television or even streaming on different media platforms. I’m sure this wasn’t the first bombing targeted towards black people it was likely just the first one recorded. Racially motivated bombings have been taking place for decades. You could even compare this situation to modern day bombings in third world countries. In the first few pages they decide to travel to Birmingham but unfortunately one of them was shot and killed by white men while traveling. This is a sign of pure hatred. Those men had no valid reason to kill that black man. You can never really know if his life was worth it though, but maybe it was considering we are all free people now. If I were to put myself in the shoes of a character I would choose the man who told the men to travel down to Birmingham. I wonder if he feels a sense of guilt considering he didn’t make it there alive. #4livestakentoosoon #civilrightsmovement

Blair March 19, 2022

March book 3 The Bombing of 16th Street First Baptist

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

Tags: activist, Civil Rights, John Lewis, SNCC

When reading pages 1-61 I felt like there were many things that stood out to me. To start off the main thing that stood out to me was the bombing of 16th Street First Baptist Church in Birmingham AL. The reason why I feel like this event stood out is because even though some of the blacks lost loved ones and family members, I feel like they were able to stick together to fight for what they loved. I felt that this was a very important event because as a college student I realized that even today everyone has to fight for what they want and need no matter how many obstacles it takes to succeed.
Growing up as a little girl there were many things my grandmother had to sacrifice for her children and also grandchildren. I feel like my grandmother had to fight many obstacles to get her in the peaceful place she’s in now. Growing up my grandmother didn’t really have anything for her just because of the environment she lived in. My grandmother had to pray many times to keep pushing through hard times because she knew that one day, she was going to be in the perfect place she always wanted.
The reason I felt like talking about my grandmother and the people during the bombing of the 16th Street First Baptist Church is because even though neither my grandmother nor the people of the bombing had much, they had to look in a positive direction to where they could change minds of other in the future no matter if they succeeded the first time or not. Also, both topics I talked about didn’t let anything hold them down no matter how many people tried to hurt them for them to give up.
Compared to then and now I feel like the news back then was very unequal. The reason I say that is because there were mainly only black being targeted no matter if they did anything or not. Back then I feel like whites got away with a lot of hate crimes just because of how privileged they were. Therefore, I feel that news has gotten a lot better with getting both sides of a story to where it’s like 50/50 of information being provided. I also feel like news now has made people realize how real life really is and how people can make the world a better place by using their voice instead of hiding their voice.
When looking at the choices the characters made in the book, I feel that their choices were worth it because they chose to fight for what they wanted for the future. I feel like they wanted their voice to be heard and remembered through all the pain and suffering they went through.
If I had to be a character in the book it would most likely be the police officers. I chose the police officers because I felt like they never sat and listened to what was going on around them. One thing I would change to make it a better situation would be putting myself in the protester shoes to understand the pain they’re going through just to have freedom and to live a better life like the whites at the time.

Makenzie March 19, 2022