Mississippi Civil Rights Workers' Murders - Background

Background

In the early 1960s Mississippi, as well as most of the south, was in total defiance of federal authority. Recent Supreme Court rulings had upset the Mississippi establishment, and white Mississippian society responded with open hostility. Bombings, murders, vandalism, and intimidation were tactics used to discourage colored Mississippians along with their Northern supporters. In 1961 Freedom Riders, who challenged institutionalized segregation, encouraged social unrest among the colored underclass. In September of 1962, the University of Mississippi Riots had occurred to prevent James Meredith from matriculating, and President Kennedy was assassinated a year later in another southern state.

Out of the social unrest came the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. A splinter group created and lead by Samuel H. Bowers of Laurel, Mississippi. As the summer of 1964 approached, white Mississippians prepared themselves for what they perceived as an invasion from the north. Media reports exaggerated about the number of youths to set up voting registration drives. One COFO representative is quoted to saying nearly 30,000 individuals would visit Mississippi during the summer. The reports had a “jarring impact” upon white Mississippians and many responded by joining the White Knights. More belligerent than other KKK groups, the White Knights would soon command a following of nearly 10,000 white Mississippians, preparing for a conflict not seen since the American Civil War.

In response to white Mississippian authority, colored Americans created organizations such as COFO, CORE, NAACP, and other similar groups to address institutionalized segregation and other hostilities. In Mississippi, colored referred to people of non-European heritage such as Black Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and Asians. Colored Mississippians usually had "separate but equal" facilities from that of white Mississippians. In Mississippian society, it wasn’t uncommon to see two water fountains labeled for White and the other Color or a movie theater with colored only section.

At the time, most colored Mississippians were denied the power of voting, a privilege of educated white Mississippians. CORE wanted to address this problem by starting voting registration drives and setting up places called Freedom Schools. Freedom schools were to educate, encourage, and register the disenfranchised colored citizen. CORE members James Chaney and Michael Schwerner intended to setup a Freedom School for colored people in Neshoba County.