Ghosts of Mississippi essays

Ghosts of Mississippi essays On the night of June 13th 1963, President John F. Kennedy was giving his speech on Civil Rights. Among the many thousands of people in America viewing this event on National Television were Myrlie Evers and her three children. Suddenly, this occurrence was rudely disrupted by the deathly sound of a loud gunshot. Frantically running to their driveway, Myrlie and the kids found Medgar Evers shot in the back and lying in a pool of blood gasping for his last breath. Myrlie clung on to her husbands body as she and the children wept for this mans life. Almost thirty years later, the man charged with this murder would be tried again in a court of law, in front of a different jury of eight blacks and four whites. Justice was going to be served in the state of Mississippi no matter how long it was going to take. This murder case was tried in the racist state of Mississippi in the racist period of 1963. The judge was also a racist white man by the name of Moore and the jury consisted of twelve men. All white. Much evidence was presented to the court, such as the gun used to kill Medgar Evers consisting of fingerprints belonging to the convicted, Byron de la Beckwith. Byron and his vehicle were also spotted at the parking lot of Joes Drive-thru, a block away from the Evers household, on the night of the murder. On the other hand, two white men, Holly and Cresswell, claimed to have witnessed Byron de la Beckwith at a gas station in Greenwood, 90-95 miles away from the scene, on the same night. This case was tried twice ending both times in a hung jury, leaving Byron innocent and free of charge. Twenty-six years later, on October 1989, Myrlie Evers seeks to reopen the Medgar Evers case. A Mississippi lawyer named Bobby Delaughter, the son-in-law of Judge Moore, slowly took this task into his hands and dug up information and such on this forgotten trial. Upon making this decision, his wife leaves him, but he l...