3 Innocent Lives Taken by the KKK
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/ 
To start, I liked the way you organized your blog post. You provided a bit of background information in the first paragraph before continuing. You then used the next three paragraphs to go more into depth about the three Civil Rights workers who were killed. I think this was a great organizational method to use because it gave each person or “idea” their own paragraph. It showed that you are able to separate your ideas well. You then concluded the post with a paragraph that wrapped up your ideas and beliefs. This again was a good move to make because it made the post more personal and showed your opinions. You also listed the sites you got your information from, which is key when getting information from other places and using it. All in all, you did a great job organizing this blog post.
In each of your paragraphs about the three men, I think you provided just enough information without it being too much. I enjoyed reading and learning more about each of them. I feel that proving this information not only established your credibility so you could provide your own opinions, but it established a sense of credibility for the men. The credibility that they deserve.
Lastly, I agree with the statement you made about joining a cause that might be harmful if it was something that I found extremely important. I too have been raised to always stand up for what I believe in, and I feel I will always live by that. I hope that we would all have the courage these three men did. It seems so devastating and heart breaking, but I think if we look at it from the position that they were standing up for what they believed in, it is quite heroic
I really like how you summarized each man. I think it’s highly important to remember WHO died, not just their names and their cause of death. Remembering who people were – their goals, relationships, accomplishments – makes their death that much more impactful.
I find it significant that only one of these three men were White. Well, Goodman was a Jewish-American, and therefore during that time may have been perceived as a different race (as that was the case during WWII). However, maybe he was considered White instead. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed, Schwerner was also Jewish (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schwerner). That leaves the only non-White man to be Chaney, who was actually Black.
Your willingness to get harmed for a cause is very respectable. Having role models to encourage and raise you to stand up for what you believe is right, fighting against what you believe is wrong, is an ideal that isn’t always the case. So, I’m glad you were able to have that in your life. I, myself, also am lucky enough to have those in my life who encourage me to hold tight onto my beliefs and help and defend others who need that help and defense.
I think, in most cases of injustice if not all, putting up with the risk of death for your cause is a noble action. To know you may face discrimination or violence if you defy what those in power say and still make your voice heard is a very brave thing. I find it especially brave to read about men like Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney and still be willing to stand up for what you believe when you feel necessary. It’s something I believe we all wish we could do and it’s definitely something we should all strive to do.
Overall I enjoyed reading your blog post you had a good day until good information you were talking about some key points and you also mentioned what you may do in their scenario. One thing you could do differently next time you come on here to make a blog post is being more personal in the beginning instead of at the end I was waiting for you to make the connection which you eventually did but it just took a while to get to it. Another suggestion I have for you is to not necessarily list the fact that we already know from the book you kind of leaning towards restating what was already stated in the book. Next time talk about specific points in the book and just overview of what happened. I would like to know your point of view on what happened with the KKK. Do you think they were wrong? who was right? Would you fight back against them or would you give up? I guess overall you did a pretty good job of writing it’s just that it comes off a bit boring because it just seems like reading the story again. Another question I have for you is how do you feel about the KKK killing all three men and not just James Earl Chaney? Does it surprise you that all three men were killed that night? Or do you think that the KKK did it because they were hanging around a black person? I have other questions but I think that is enough.