Remembering Medgar Evers
By Brother Rogers
Better late than never. Medgar Evers, Mississippi’s civil rights leader who gave his life fighting for liberty and justice for all, is finally getting some long overdue recognition. On June 11, 1963, the same day that George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama – the same night that John F. Kennedy told a nationwide television audience that civil rights was a “moral issue” – Medgar Evers was gunned down from behind in the driveway of his home in Jackson.
Last week Mississippi’s two senators co-sponsored a resolution that was passed by the U.S. Senate declaring June 9-16, 2003 the Medgar Evers National Week of Remembrance. On Monday, June 16, a ceremony was held at Evers’ graveside in Arlington National Cemetery.
The little town of Decatur in Newton County, where Evers grew up but was denied the right to vote after returning as a veteran of World War II, held a 40th anniversary commemoration of his assassination and a tribute to his life.
Much of the credit for keeping his memory alive goes to his widow Myrlie Evers-Williams. Her indomitable courage and dogged perseverance also helped convict her husband’s killer three decades after two all-white juries failed to do so.
The unlikely success of the prosecution of Evers’ assassin opened the door for more successful convictions of civil rights era murders in the South. In effect, thanks to Myrlie, Medgar was still bringing about justice, even in death.
Who was this American hero whose legacy impacts all Mississippians 40 years after his death? Medgar Evers was handsome, articulate, polished and professional. He was a visionary who saw how wonderful Mississippi could be when unshackled from racism.
Nearly a decade before James Meredith successfully integrated the campus at Ole Miss, Evers applied for and was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School. He introduced Meredith to Thurgood Marshall and connected Meredith to the battle-tested civil rights attorneys of the NAACP. William Doyle writes in “An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962,” that “without Evers’ intervention, Meredith’s crusade would have ended.”
In his 1998 book, “The Ghosts of Medgar Evers,” Willie Morris described him as “the most visible and aggressive civil rights activist in the state.” As the first field secretary in Mississippi for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Evers courageously challenged the white power structure that was firmly in place at the time.
He investigated racial killings, such as the brutal murder of teenager Emmett Till that shocked the nation’s conscience. He encouraged blacks to register to vote, despite the fact that others had been beaten or killed for such activity. After the Brown decision by the Supreme Court in 1954, he strenuously advocated public school integration. He espoused equal access to public facilities and worked to achieve that goal by organizing economic boycotts, mass demonstrations and lunch counter sit-ins.
Medgar Evers did not get to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but he paid in blood so that others could. Supposedly, when offered a high paying job out of state and away from the problems of Mississippi, he declined and said, “If Mississippi can just lick this race problem, it will be the greatest place on earth to live.”
Today, Mississippi is a wonderful place to live. All of us – red and yellow, black and white – are the beneficiaries of the work of Medgar Evers. It is fitting that after 40 years we honor his life. Better late than never.
Brother Rogers works at the Stennis Center for Public Service and is a guest columnist.
Better late than never. Medgar Evers, Mississippi’s civil rights leader who gave his life fighting for liberty and justice for all, is finally getting some long overdue recognition. On June 11, 1963, the same day that George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama – the same night that John F. Kennedy told a nationwide television audience that civil rights was a “moral issue” – Medgar Evers was gunned down from behind in the driveway of his home in Jackson.
Last week Mississippi’s two senators co-sponsored a resolution that was passed by the U.S. Senate declaring June 9-16, 2003 the Medgar Evers National Week of Remembrance. On Monday, June 16, a ceremony was held at Evers’ graveside in Arlington National Cemetery.
The little town of Decatur in Newton County, where Evers grew up but was denied the right to vote after returning as a veteran of World War II, held a 40th anniversary commemoration of his assassination and a tribute to his life.
Much of the credit for keeping his memory alive goes to his widow Myrlie Evers-Williams. Her indomitable courage and dogged perseverance also helped convict her husband’s killer three decades after two all-white juries failed to do so.
The unlikely success of the prosecution of Evers’ assassin opened the door for more successful convictions of civil rights era murders in the South. In effect, thanks to Myrlie, Medgar was still bringing about justice, even in death.
Who was this American hero whose legacy impacts all Mississippians 40 years after his death? Medgar Evers was handsome, articulate, polished and professional. He was a visionary who saw how wonderful Mississippi could be when unshackled from racism.
Nearly a decade before James Meredith successfully integrated the campus at Ole Miss, Evers applied for and was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School. He introduced Meredith to Thurgood Marshall and connected Meredith to the battle-tested civil rights attorneys of the NAACP. William Doyle writes in “An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962,” that “without Evers’ intervention, Meredith’s crusade would have ended.”
In his 1998 book, “The Ghosts of Medgar Evers,” Willie Morris described him as “the most visible and aggressive civil rights activist in the state.” As the first field secretary in Mississippi for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Evers courageously challenged the white power structure that was firmly in place at the time.
He investigated racial killings, such as the brutal murder of teenager Emmett Till that shocked the nation’s conscience. He encouraged blacks to register to vote, despite the fact that others had been beaten or killed for such activity. After the Brown decision by the Supreme Court in 1954, he strenuously advocated public school integration. He espoused equal access to public facilities and worked to achieve that goal by organizing economic boycotts, mass demonstrations and lunch counter sit-ins.
Medgar Evers did not get to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but he paid in blood so that others could. Supposedly, when offered a high paying job out of state and away from the problems of Mississippi, he declined and said, “If Mississippi can just lick this race problem, it will be the greatest place on earth to live.”
Today, Mississippi is a wonderful place to live. All of us – red and yellow, black and white – are the beneficiaries of the work of Medgar Evers. It is fitting that after 40 years we honor his life. Better late than never.
Brother Rogers works at the Stennis Center for Public Service and is a guest columnist.
