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: