See Jackson MS, Boycotts
for background and previous events.
By Easter, 70% of Black shoppers are
supporting the boycott
of
The boycott is energized and sustained by the
young activists of the NAACP Youth Councils. But against the entrenched
resistance of the White Citizens Council backed by state and local government,
they know that the boycott alone is not strong enough to break segregation in
Jackson Mississippi. Inspired by the Birmingham
Movement, they are convinced that similar mass protests are necessary in
As an employee of the national organization,
Medgar is prohibited from endorsing or participating in mass direct-action. But
the other NAACP activists in
Led by Mayor Allen Thompson, the
power-structure adamantly refuses to make any concessions or to meet with Black
leaders.
A mass meeting is called on May 21 at the
Pearl Street AME church. The cops surround the church, but over 600
people — a cross-section of the community, young and old, poor and
affluent — defy police intimidation to ratify the demands in the May
12 letter and democratically elect a 14-member negotiating committee.
Mayor Thompson refuses to meet with the
elected committee. Instead he appoints his own "Negro Committee"
composed of conservative, pro-segregation Blacks, such as Jackson State College
President Jacob Reddix who had previously suppressed civil rights activity on
his campus.
One week later, on Tuesday, May 28, after
training in the tactics of Nonviolent Resistance by Dave Dennis of CORE, young
activists Lois Chafee, Perlena Lewis, Anne Moody, Memphis Norman, Joan
Trumpauer, and Walter Williams, sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter on Capitol
Street in downtown Jackson. They are joined by youth advisor Hunter Bear.
Mercedes Wright (NAACP Georgia youth advisor) and Tougaloo Chaplin Reverend Ed
King act as observers.
The boycott pickets outside are immediately
arrested as usual. But, surprisingly, the cops do not bust those who are
sitting in. Instead, a mob of white teenagers and young men are allowed
(encouraged) to enter Woolworths to attack the sit-ins, cursing, punching,
covering them with mustard, ketchup, & sugar. Water mixed with pepper is
thrown into their eyes. Jackson Police Captain Ray and dozens of cops do
nothing as Memphis Norman is pulled from his stool, beaten and kicked. After he
loses consciousness, the cops arrest him. Joan too is beaten, kicked, and
dragged to the door, but with steadfast, nonviolent courage she manages to
resume her seat. FBI agents observe, and as usual do nothing.
Hunter Bear (John Salter) later described
what happened:
Someone struck me
several hard blows on the side of my face. I almost passed out and had to grip
the counter for support. My face was bleeding. Then I was struck on the back of
the head and almost pased out again. I was dizzy and could hardly hear myself
talking, but I asked Annie Moody what she thought of the final examination
questions that I had asked in Introduction to Social Studies. She smiled and
said that she felt they were much too tough. Joan Trumpauer began to talk about
her final exams. More ketchup and mustard were poured over us. Then sugar was
dumped in our hair. We talked on. [4]
George Raymond of New Orleans CORE arrives
and joins the sit-ins. Dr. A. D. Beittel, President of Tougaloo College, sits
down to join the students' protest. Unable to intimidate the sit-ins, the mob
begins to smash up the store. At that point, the police immediately order them
out. In
The Mayor meets with the Black
"leaders" selected by him and tells them he will desegregate public
facilities such as parks and libraries, hire some Negro cops, and promote a few
Black sanitation workers.
That night, more than 1,000 people attend a
mass meeting at Pearl St. Church to support the boycott and the sit-ins. The
young activists call for mass protest marches like those in
The next day, Wednesday May 29, the Mayor
denies that he made any concessions at all. He announces that protests will not
be tolerated and hastily deputizes 1,000 "special officers" drawn
from the ranks of the most virulent racists. A mob of whites and over 200 cops
prowl
That night a firebomb is thrown at Medgar's
home. The police refuse to investigate, calling it a "prank." The
following day, Thursday May 30, more pickets and sit-ins are arrested.
With the public school term ending the next
day (Friday, the 31st), high school students begin mobilizing for mass marches
to begin as soon as school lets out. At Lanier and Brinkley High, Youth Council
activists lead several hundred students singing freedom songs on the lawn
during lunch break. Cops force the Lanier students back into the building with
clubs and dogs. The school is surrounded, and parents are beaten and arrested
when try to reach school.
To protest police brutality, Tougaloo
students and community adults stage a nonviolent protest at the Jackson Federal
building (site of Federal Court, FBI, and US Marshal's offices). Even though
they are on Federal property and their action is protected by the First
Amendment, they are immediately arrested by the
As soon as school lets out for the summer on
Friday May 31st, close to 600 Lanier, Brinkley, and Jim Hill high school
students join students on summer break from Tougaloo and
Hundreds of cops, troopers, "special
deputies," and sheriffs surround the church. Whites in cars prowl the city
waving Confederate flags. Led by NAACP youth organizer Willie Ludden, the
students march out of the church two-by-two on the sidewalk. Carrying American
flags, they start towards the downtown shopping district on
That night 1500 people attend a huge mass
meeting. Though the students planned to go jail-no-bail, NAACP lawyers who
oppose mass marches convince many of them to bond out. And the minors are
forced to sign a no-demonstration pledge before being released. But a hard core
of protesters over the age of 18 hold out, refusing to sign the pledge.
On Saturday, June 1st NAACP national head Roy
Wilkins, Medgar Evers, and Mrs. Helen Wilcher of
On Sunday June 2nd, the Jackson NAACP offices
are locked up tight and there is no place for marchers to gather. Using their
control of funds, the national NAACP leaders oust the student and Youth Council
activists from the democratically elected strategy committee and replace them
with conservative ministers and affluent community "leaders" who
oppose Birmingham-style mass action. The new, reconstituted, committee agrees
to refocus on the boycott, voter registration, and court cases.
Over the following days the national NAACP
leaders prevent any new mass marches. Without the sustaining energy of mass
action, morale sags and attendance at mass meetings drops, though a hard core
of students are still holding out in the stockade, refusing to be bonded out.
On Thursday, June 6th, a
Though the boycott continues to be effective,
store-owners dare not go against the White Citizens Council by hiring Blacks or
integrating facilities no matter how much business they lose. Without the
pressure of sit-ins and mass marches, neither local officials nor the Federal
government have any reason to challenge the status quo. And without the
defiance of young protesters inspiring the courage of their elders, the NAACP's
voter registration drive has little success.
See Jackson
Sit-in & Protests for background and previous events.
After a late meeting, and bouyed by President
Kennedy's eloquent address to the
nation on civil rights, NAACP state Field Director Medgar Evers returns to
his
Hiding behind a bush with a high-power rifle
is KKK and White Citizens Council member Byron De La Beckwith of
At the time of his assasination, Medgar Evers
is the most prominent leader of the
Medgar's assassination is part of a KKK plot
to simultaneously murder freedom workers in three states:
Evers — a former Sargent in the
U.S. Army and World War II veteran — is buried with full honors in
the Arlington National Cemetery on June 19.
On June 23, De La Beckwith is arrested for
the murder. His fingerprints are on the rifle, witnesses place him at the
scene, and he boasts of his crime to White Citizen Council and Klan buddies. An
all-white jury refuses to convict him. During the trial, De La Beckwith is
visited by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett and Major General Edwin A. Walker
who had helped incite the white mob when James Meredith integrated Ole Miss
in 1962. De La Beckwith is tried a second time, and again an all-white jury
fails to convict him. As Medgar's friend Sam Baily put it: "A white man
got more time for killing a rabbit out of season than for killing a Negro in
Medgar's brother Charles takes over as NAACP
Field Secretary and continues working in the freedom struggle. Myrlie and the
children move to
Finally, in 1994 — after a thirty
year campaign for justice — the state of
See Medgar
Evers Assassination above for background and previous events.
On the morning of Medgar
Evers Assassination (June 12), former Tougaloo student Colia Lidell (now
married to Bernard Lafayette and working for SNCC in Selma, Alabama), Hunter
Bear (John Salter), Perleana Lewis, Willie Ludden of the NAACP, and Dave Dennis
of CORE, lead a protest march of 200 people, half of them adults, from the
Masonic Temple (NAACP HQ) on Lynch Street. They are blocked by a swarm of
hundreds of cops who arrest 150 and violently force the others to disperse with
clubs and guns.
The young activists mobilize for a mass
meeting at
The next day, (Thursday, June 13) after
training in nonviolent tactics by Dave Dennis of CORE, the young activists
stage a mass march from
That night there is another huge mass meeting
in the sweltering Blair Street AME church. In memory of Medgar, SCLC offers to
set up a "Medgar Evers Memorial Bail Bond Fund," but NAACP national
officers in
On Friday, June 14, young activists again
gather for a march, but national NAACP leaders tell them that if they are
arrested that day they won't be out of jail in time to attend Medgar's funeral
scheduled for Saturday. Everyone is expecting a massive demonstration in
conjunction with the funeral. Most of the young demonstrators don't want to
risk missing the funeral march, so only 37 are willing to protest. It is Flag
Day, so they go downtown carrying American flags, but no signs of any kind.
They are beaten and arrested, their flags seized.
The city agrees to allow a mass funeral
procession from the Masonic Temple to Collins funeral home on Farish street,
but only if none of the marchers carry any signs advocating integration or an
end to segregation, and the march is silent with no singing, chanting, or
speech-making allowed — in other words, that it cannot in any way be
considered a demonstration. The national NAACP leaders agree to those terms and
forbid the young activists from engaging in protest activity during or after
the funeral procession. Though bitterly disappointed, the militants who had
worked so closely with Medgar understand that unity and discipline are
essential.
On Saturday, June 15, more than 5,000 people
march in solemn funeral procession to honor Medgar Evers. Among them are Nobel laureate
Ralph Bunche, Dr. King, SNCC workers from the Delta, and thousands of Blacks
from all over the state.
An army of
The police phalanx manages to block the
marchers just short of
With Medgar dead, the national NAACP leaders
and conservative ministers bypass the elected steering committee and take
complete control of the
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, President
Kennedy and his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy pressure Mayor Thompson
to make some concessions to the NAACP/minister committee because otherwise they
won't be able to forestal new protests. In return for a no-demonstrations
pledge, the Mayor agrees to hire six "Negro Police" and eight Black
crossing guards, promote eight Black sanitation workers, and he promises that
the City Council will hear Negro grievances in the future. But he refuses to
accept a biracial committee. Nor is there any agreement on the part of
store-owners to desegregate lunch counters, rest rooms, or other public
facilities, hire Blacks, or use courtesy titles such as "Mister" or
"Miss" to Black customers.
[Today, the term
"Negro Police" might be assumed to refer to law officers who are
Black, but in the South of the 1960s that term had a special and particular
meaning. While the specifics varied from one town to another, for the most part
"Negro Police" were paid less than white cops, often had different
badges (or no badges at all), could only work in Black neighborhoods, and were
usually not permitted to arrest a white person even if they observed that
person commit a crime. As a general rule, they were armed with clubs, but not
guns. "Negro Police" could not work with, or ride with, white
officers in any role that might imply equality with a white cop (female police
officers of any race were unheard of). In some jurisdictions, "Negro
Police" were not considered peace officers by the local judicial system.
Freedom Movement activists of CORE, SCLC, and SNCC did not consider the hiring
of "Negro Police" to be any kind of victory, but rather a
continuation of segregation.]
On Tuesday, June 18, the son of a White
Citizens Council leader forces another car into a head-on collision with an
auto driven by Hunter Bear in an assassination attempt disguised as a road
accident. Rev. Ed King is riding with him. Just before the crash,
Disheartened and disillusioned by the
national NAACP's actions, those Youth Council students who continue their
Freedom Movement activity turn to SNCC and CORE organizing projects outside of
As Movement veterans, we note the following
about the Jackson Movement of 1962-63 and the assasination of Medgar Evers: