Mrs. R Janell

PEARLS Hawthorne

Medgar Evers:

A Martyr for the Cause of the Civil Rights Movement

“Is it ever too late to do the right thing?” Thirty years after white supremist, Byron De La Beckwith was found not guilty twice by hung juries for the murder of Medgar Evers; a civil rights activist, the case was re-opened. Beckwith who had laughed at law enforcement had stated he would never be found guilty of killing a black man in Jackson, Mississippi. Mississippi during the 1960’s was considered to be one of the most racist states and resistant to the changes in Southern society that desegregation brought. Jerry Mitchell, a reporter for the Clarion-Ledger found evidence that there was jury tampering in the second trial and the case was re-opened in the 1990’s. Medgar Evers, field secretary for the Jackson, Mississippi NAACP was perhaps the first and most significant martyr in the struggle for the civil rights movement of the 1960’s prior to Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. He was assassinated ironically on the eve that John F. Kennedy, June 12, 1963 gave his famous civil rights speech

You will view the movie: “Ghosts of Mississippi” about Medgar Evers trial and his family’s fight to obtain justice over a 30 year period. Supplement the information you gained from the movie by using internet reference sources. Pretend, like Jerry Mitchell that you are a reporter and create a report which describes Medgar Evers’ trial, why he was targeted and how changing attitudes in the South from the 1960’s to the present affected the outcome. Include as well how Evers advanced the cause of the civil rights movement in his life and also in his death through the creation of landmark civil rights legislation.

Complete the four step American History Public Policy Analyst Worksheets as a basis of the research for your report. Each of the AHPPA steps must be included in your report. Below are the hyperlinks:

STEP 1 Identify the Problem

Step 2: Gather the Evidence

Step 3: Determine the Causes

Step 4: Evaluate the existing public policies

Use internet resources to complete the information.

The report is to be at minimum 2-3 typed pages, 12 font, double spaced, Times New Roman and 1” margins. A cover page can include a picture which reflects your report.

Medgar Evers

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers

www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm

www.africanamericans.com/MedgarEvers.htm

afroamhistory.about.com/od/medgarevers/p/bio_evers_m.htm

www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medgar_evers.htm

Jim Crow Laws

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/,

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories.html

Civil Rights

faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Civ%20Rts.html

“Ghosts of Mississippi”

findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n1_v27/ai_19121817

Civil Rights Act 1964

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=97

General Web Sites

Google.com

Yahoo.com

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Some weeks before his death, Evers delivered a radio address about the NAACP and its aims in Mississippi. "The NAACP believes that Jackson can change if it wills to do so, "If there should be resistance, how much better to have turbulence to effect improvement, rather than turbulence to maintain a stand-pat policy. We believe that there are white Mississippians who want to go forward on the race question. Their religion tells them there is something wrong with the old system. Their sense of justice and fair play sends them the same message. But whether Jackson and the State choose to change or not, the years of change are upon us. In the racial picture, things will never be as they once were." (Medgar Evers)

You will gain an understanding that Medgar Evers was the first martyr for the cause of the civil rights movement. His case showed the changing attitudes of the South over the years since the turbulent 1960’s. Justice and the court system did prevail. His efforts in life and death pushed President Kennedy to ask Congress to pass a federal Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly enhanced the status of African Americans, and other minority groups by legally putting an end to racial discrimination. This landmark legislation signaled a continuation rather than an end to the struggle for equality.

Social Studies

Standard 1:   History of the United States and New York

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Standard 5:   Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

English Language Arts

Standard 1:   Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3:   Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.