Segregation In Mississippi

People are afraid of change, and there is always resistance to it. This became the case a few decades ago, when blacks altered the social structure to fight for equality. In the novel Mississippi, the author Anthony Walton goes on a journey to understand Mississippi and its history, which focuses on the Civil Rights Movement. Walton often mentions how the people who were afraid of change were the ones in power. The government, the ones who are supposed to defend justice, abused their power to keep things from changing. While looking through the documentary series The Sixties as well as the “State of Siege” podcast, one continues to see this corruptness demonstrated endlessly. The American government, whether at the federal, state, or local …show more content…
When asked if Birmingham would keep segregation, Safety Commissioner Bull Connor responded, “I may not be able to do it, but I’ll die trying” (“A Long March”). He was known for using mass arrests, fire hoses, and police dogs to break up demonstrations (“A Long March”). The extremes of local law enforcement were also shown in the podcast; “Murders and lynchings were committed by local whites, with law enforcement either helping out or looking the other way” (“Mississippi”). Mississippi showed this in an instance when a black man was taken from jail and killed by a mob who initially had access to the man by “using keys provided by a deputy sheriff” (Walton 88). A well-known instance where a politician collided with the Civil Rights Movement was in 1962, when Governor Barnett stood in the way of James Meredith, the first admitted black student to Ole Miss, and publicly denied him admission (Walton 93). This helped the segregation movement gain power, as senators described Barnett’s work as “the most brilliant piece of statesmanship ever displayed” (Walton 93). There was also the White Citizens Council, known as the “white-collar Klan”, which put economic pressure on blacks by causing them trouble with banks and employers (Walton 244). The council made it nearly impossible for blacks to have the same opportunities as whites. Horace Harned, the council’s leader, states, “Most people prominent in politics in those days were members…” (“Mississippi”). Politicians such as Senator James Eastland and Congressman John Bell Williams would use the council’s newsletter to further their prejudiced agendas (“Mississippi”). Due to the influence and assistance of government officials, the fight for segregation