The Mississippi KKK had been on their WORST behavior during the summer of 1964, dubbed “Freedom Summer.” They burned twenty churches, brutalized and disappeared countless of our people.
And what happened to James Chaney was sinister AF.
Chaney was an organizer with Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He was driving on backroads headed for Meridian when police arrested him for allegedly speeding. He was traveling with two white CORE organizers and because of this, things get even worse.
While in jail, the sheriff held them for longer than necessary, denied their phone call requests and before letting them go demanded they get out of town immediately. Chaney and the other organizers never made it home.
For a while there was silence but because James Chaney was murdered with two white northerners, the police cared more than usual. “The slaying of a Negro in Mississippi is not news. It is only because my husband and Andrew Goodman were white that the national alarm has been sounded.” Rita Schwerner said.
This serves as a crucial reminder for us.
Even in death, white supremacy finds a way to overlook our humanity–but we should never be their martyrs. We must always take care of one another and raise Hell every time they kill us and try to get away with it.