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“[Mississippi] is the decisive battleground for America. Nowhere in the world is the idea of white supremacy more firmly entrenched, or more cancerous, than in Mississippi.”
- Michael Schwerner.
He along with Andrew Goodman and James Earl Chaney were murdered by the Klu Klux Klan in Jessup Country, MS. Incidentally, it happened exactly 42 years ago on 21st June, 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. I watched the movie, Mississippi Burning starring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe couple of days back without fully knowing the enormity of the incident. The movie is a powerful depiction of blind hatred that literally makes your blood boil. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. The movie had its share of criticism though as it was accused of showing the FBI in a positive light.
Do you think things have changed much in Mississippi after 42 years? Probably to a great extent but I still think deep down people may carry a suppressed form of intolerance toward “colored people”. It takes couple of generations to move on.
by Patrix | on Thursday, June 22nd, 2006 at 6:00 am | 
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June 22nd, 2006 at 6:21 am reply
Pat,
Glad you picked it up. Yes, probably deep south they do not like colored people so much. Takes time, after all visible forms of discrimination are easier to remove, what to do about the subtle forms?
Education, perhaps?
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:56 am reply
In the deep south, they don’t even like them Yankees from up north - forget the colored people.
Interestingly though, quite a few Indians have been succesful in business down south in Alabama, Lousiana, Mississippi etc. - Mira Nair depicted them in the film Mississippi Masala and I personally came across a couple recently who actually taught in a high-school in Alabama while maintianing a carpet cleaning business.
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:13 pm reply
It is interesting that you should bring up the topic of KKK and racism. I am not sure if you know this, Texas A&M UNiversity (TAMU) has had a history of racism, bigotry and being a haven to the KKK. Ross Sullavan, the person whose statue is erected in front of the academic building in TAMU campus, was a Knight of the KKK. The top floor of the Cushing Library has the KKK uniforms stored and preserved (not for display). People have told me that some of the uniforms actually have blood stains on them.
No one likes talking about it, and some of them even deny it. I have had people tell me, when asked “Why is Ross Sullavan referred to as Sir?”, “He was a knightly gentleman, he was very chivalarous. That’s why”. Interesting how reality is obfuscated and even denied :)
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:41 am reply
Confused, I wish education was the answer but I have seen plenty of occassions both in the US and India where prejudice and discrimination is prevalent irrespective of education. Honestly, there is no short-term solution to eradicating prejudice.
Bongo, somehow desis may not face the full brunt of discrimination because they haven’t had any historical reason to do so. Discrimination against blacks stemmed from the fact that they considered them inferior (as human beings) or even a different species altogether. Also, religious conservativeness played a part.
Srikanth, I was aware the Texas A&M didn’t exactly live up to be the paragon of tolerance but this revelation is shocking. I never knew that Ross Sullivan was a higher-up in the KKK. Must try to sneak up to the Cushing Library sometime and get someone to show us the KKK uniforms…would make a great scoop.