The Unfortunate Truth in Mississippi Burning

The Unfortunate Truth in Mississippi Burning

Mississippi Burning is a movie that presents a clear picture on how southern discrimination finally came to a halt. It was not very easy for some counties like Jessup county that was it the movie. It was a different world and when the FBI was sent in the hidden life was greatly exposed. The rural life that held discrimination against the civil liberties and constitutional rights of African Americans and Women was brought to light. Another problem was the corrupted police and political system that blockaded the advancement of the county. This presented a large problem that the FBI had to deal with when they came in to investigate what happened to the civil rights workers.

In the movie, there were many scenes that portrayed the lack of civil rights and constitutional principles that were given to the African Americans and women. The opening scenes of the movie presented this with everything that was for public use. The water fountains were separated and the restaurants were divided right down the center. This way of life had been beaten into the African Americans ever since the end of slavery. This was also shown in the movie when the FBI agent went onto the other side of the restaurant and began talking to a young man. Even though it was not his fault, later that night the towns local Ku Klux Klan members kidnapped him, beat him, and left him in a cage in a cotton field. Not only would they beat them, they would also use fire to instill fear in the African Americans. In the movie, there were examples of this where one of the K.K.K members proclaimed that the African Americans were never able to vote because they burned down the polling offices. Another way they would instill fear with fire is burning down the African American Churches and places of worship. This prevented them from having their fundamental rights of freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the freedom to vote. Not only were the African Americans being restricted but the Women were too. The examples of this were presented in the Deputy's wife. They were also restricted of their freedom of speech through domestic abuse. This was presented in the film when the Deputy's wife finally told the FBI what her husband was involved in and where he had hidden the bodies. When the husband found out that his wife was the one who told on him he almost beat her to death. The women were afraid to speak up for themselves because they were afraid of that happening to them. The reason that all of this discrimination was so bad was because the law was involved with the discrimination.

The African Americans of the town that this incident occurred in was very lucky that the FBI came down to help. If they had not, nothing would have been done with the murders. The Local Police at that time in the south was very corrupt. The town that this event took