Ill. teens seek justice for slain Civil Rights activists in 1964 Mississippi slayings by the KKK )

The Clarion Ledger ^ | December 27, 2003 | By Jerry Mitchell

[WKB]

Three suburban Chicago high school students are pursuing a unique history project: To see what they can do to get a reprosecution in the slayings of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Earl Chaney.

"When we heard the story of how the civil rights workers were killed after trying to do something good for mankind, it really touched us and made us want to do something," explained Allison Nichols, a student at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

[WKB]

MS ping

[WKB]

Does anybody know an easy way to avoid this crap when you post an article and books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books" onmouseover="window.status = 'goto: books';return 1" onmouseout="window.status=''">books.

[vetvetdoug]

Sorry, I am lucky to log on.

[WKB]

I know the feeling

[facedown]

"When we heard the story of how the civil rights workers were killed after trying to do something good for mankind, it really touched us and made us want to do something," explained Allison Nichols, a student at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Jeeeez....where does one start?

...trying to do something good for mankind...

Just a little hyperbole?

Adlai E. Stevenson High School

Liberal Loser High School?

Lincolnshire, Ill.

Little rich kids living out their parents' guilt trip.

[mtbopfuyn]

Those murders were a sad chapter of American history. The men involved should be tried but I doubt the kids can do much more than stir up racial conflicts. Every time there's some calm between some blacks and whites, someone digs up some past event and hate grows.

[WKB]

Those murders were a sad chapter of American history. The men involved should be tried but I doubt the kids can do much more than stir up racial conflicts. Every time there's some calm between some blacks and whites, someone digs up some past event and hate grows


My thoughts exactly. If they were my relatives I would want justice but this usually creates more problems than it solves.

[MoralSense]

Wilie Morris, former editor of Harper's (back when being a Southern liberal was a good thing), wrote a wonderful book called "The Courting of Marcus DuPree." You football fans will remember DuPree as one of the biggest washouts of a big talent in football, but when Morris wrote, he was still a high-schooler of enormous promise. And the murders of those three civil rights workers happened in DuPree's hometown, so Morris re-told that story, very, very well. It's one of the best books I've ever read, and I recommend it highly.

[Theodore R.]

There was a high school in Plano, TX, which undertook a similar project in the middle 1970s -- obtaining posthumous restoration of citizenship of Robert E. Lee. Congress restored Lee's citizenship in 1975 based on the work of those high schoolers. If I am not mistaken, those students may also have cleared the name of Dr. Samuel Mudd in the Lincoln assassination.

[SuziQ]

The kids might just might get lucky. A Mississippi jury finally convicted Byron de la Beckwith. Someone might finally roll over on the guys who killed these three.

My sister and b-i-l were living in Starkville at the time, and when they would come down to visit us in Hattiesburg, they had to travel through the Philadelphia area. My b-i-l always carried a gun; left it on the front seat just in case they were stopped it wouldn't be considered concealed. It was scary time.

[Alouette]

Run spybot.

[WKB]

I remember my great grand daddy telling me about those days.
Just Kidding.
I remember those days as a teenager.
I wish every person that committed a civil rights crime
would be caught or die. I am tired of hearing about it but I am sure that wouldn't stop it either.
I really don't think the south and MS in particular will ever out live that part of History

[onyx]

From your link:

RACE AND ETHNICITY

White folks: 5,748 -- (94.1 percent of population)

Black or African American folks: 31 -- (0.5 percent of population)

----------------------

"Little rich kids living out their parents's guilt."

Could be. I think any investigation at this point in time will only serve to cause trouble. Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice was denied a long time ago.

[ken5050]

Just catching up post Christmas....I concur with your sentiments. As one who was a teenager in NYC at the time, it's hard to convey how galvanizing the murders were to a whole generation of kids growing up. Of course, we thought then that Miss, and the deep south, was like, a foreign country..yet it was hard to fathom that this COULD happen in America. The mrudrs, and the pics from Selma of the police dogs being loosed on the marchers, were probably responsible for convincing the majority of non southern Americans that things had to change.....FWIW, I do recall that in the FBI investigation of the three murders, there was some speculation that the kids had, if not been "set up" then at least sent by the civil rights organizers into a place where something could/would happen..( similar to today sending three Jewish wearing yamulkas into the Gaza strup)..so, were they "sacrified" to the cause?

[WKB]

so, were they sacrificed to the cause?


Welcome back to the Free (Republic) World.
I don't ever remember hearing anything like that
but it would not surprise me.

[ken5050]

The simple fact of sending out two white Jewish kids with a black, and in a car that had northern license plates ( I forget which state) is like painting a target on them....there's much to suggest that they were purposefully sent in harm's way...the civil rights equilvalent of "walking point" on patrol..

[Phsstpok]

As one who was a teenager in NYC at the time, it's hard to convey how galvanizing the murders were to a whole generation of kids growing up. Of course, we thought then that Miss, and the deep south, was like, a foreign country..yet it was hard to fathom that this COULD happen in America.

Of course, nothing like this could happen in NYC at the time because all of those people knew where their place was. Now, in the 70s and 80s they got uppity and tried to move into the burbs and into the white people's neighberhoods or to date their daughters. That's when the baseball bats came out and they got their heads bashed in or they were chased out onto the Long Island Expressway to die in traffic.

These kids would do better investigating the crimes committed by their parents or their peers in their lilly white neighberhoods.

My grandfather was sherriff of Neshoba County, Mississippi in the depression. He served only one term and he's the only sherriff in Mississippi who came out of office poorer than he went in. In no small part that was because he had no patience for the Klan.

I was raised in the NYC area by a father raised in Philladelphia, Mississippi and a mother raised on Indian reservations all over the country. I was brought up to respect all people, regardless of their race or religion. My peers in the NY area weren't. The only black people they knew were their maids. I went to college in Boston and lived in Southie in the early 70s. Don't even start with me about racism and the South.

Are there bigots in the South? Yep. Were horrible crimes committed in the South in that time? Yep. Were horrible crimes of exactly the same nature committed in the great enlightened cities of the North in the same time for the same reasons? Yep. Are similar crimes happening now in all parts of the world, North, South, US, Africa, Asia and oh so enlightened Europe? Oh yeah.

[ken5050]

NO argument with anything you wrote, my friend, and my comments weren't intended as a disparagement of the south, merely trying to explain what the world was like here in the north at that time...NYC was then overwhelmingly liberal Dem, and Jewish....this was before all the Jews moved out to the suburbs...and we were inculcalted, indocrinated, if you will, with the images of the "evil" south...to northerners, the "south" was Miami Beach, with a vast wasteland populated by rednecks in the surrounding states..that's why the murders had such a profound effect on many teenagers at the time....it made them activists....I probably would have gone down that same path of "orthodox" thought, if not for one teacher in HS who got me to think for myself...if you wanna know the true definiton of "lonely" and "abused"..it's a 15 year old handing out Goldwater literature on the corner of the Grand Concourse and Fordham Road...

[Joei]

First of all I’d like to point out that 2 people are killed over this. I hope you realize that three human lives are gone. Forget who there were, what they’re names are. Forget everything you know about them. Just know that they are dead. And here you guys are saying that JUST because they went down to the south they DESERVED to die.

--"When we heard the story of how the civil rights workers were killed after trying to do something good for mankind, it really touched us and made us want to do something," explained Allison Nichols, a student at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.
Jeeeez....where does one start?
...trying to do something good for mankind...
Just a little hyperbole?
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Liberal Loser High School?
Lincolnshire, Ill.
Little rich kids living out their parents' guilt trip.--

You don’t know who we are. You don’t know anything about these kids, my friends. You’re judging us based our your demographic print our from a web site. I grew up in the ghetto of Chicago and just because I move to Lincolnshire and decide to do something GOOD for people, I’m “rich kids living out their parents' guilt trip” Thank very much for verifying your views on stereotyping.

--Those murders were a sad chapter of American history. The men involved should be tried but I doubt the kids can do much more than stir up racial conflicts. Every time there's some calm between some blacks and whites, someone digs up some past event and hate grows.--

Someone tries to provide closure and JUSTICE for the families (cause they did have families). Welcome to the real world man, It’s not stirring up hate, THERE still is hate in the world as it is.

----- If you don't know anything just based on what you THINK you know. You don't know. You don't know thema and you know even less about thier parents. Good people try to do good things. You migth want to do that every now and them.-----