Mississippi Burning Research Paper

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Pages: 3

On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers, two of which were white, went missing. Their bodies were found on August 4 of the same year. The discovery of the three corpses gained national attention, because the disappearance led to a huge investigation with the FBI, which was, “code-named MIBURN, for ‘Mississippi Burning.’” (Slain)

The two white men- Michael Shcwerner and Andrew Goodman- were in the south to help CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). In January of 1964, Shwerner caught the attention of white supremacists when he led a boycott in Meridian. Members of the Ku Klux Klan sought out Michael Schwerner to be killed, using the nickname, “Jew-Boy” for him.

The three men, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney met at a CORE training session
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Because this case made national headlines, the investigation evolved, and eventually, more than two hundred FBI agents were looking through the woods for the men’s …show more content…
According to Suzanne Goldenberg in 40 Years on, Mississippi Burning Case Finally Reaches Trial, “They sealed the state's reputation as a haven for racists - as did the authority's refusal to bring criminal charges for four decades. But the killings also prompted an outpouring of support for the civil rights movement.”

In a documentary titled, The FBI Files: The True Story of Mississippi Burning, covering this event in history, “The documentary is particularly successful in demonstrating that racist violence did not exist merely on the margins of society, but also had support from those in positions of power and authority – in this instance, Deputy Sheriff Price, who conspired with other Klan members, played a key role in their murder by abusing his position of authority by using his legitimacy as a police officer to enable the lynch mob.” (The FBI Files)

It was a regular occurrence for white people, who was an authoritative figure, to use their power for evil during the time period of Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. Many blacks were prosecuted for not doing anything, and the police wouldn’t bat an eye while white supremacist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, would kill people that belonged to a