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In 1964 three civil rights workers were murdered on the night of June 21–22 in Philadelphia, Mississippi. They were James Earl Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman and Michael "Mickey" Schwerner from New York City, who were abducted, shot at close range and killed by members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office, and the Philadelphia Police Department of that city in Mississippi. The three young men had been working on the "Freedom Summer" campaign, attempting to prepare and register African Americans to vote after they had been disenfranchised since 1890. The disappearance and feared murders of these activists sparked national outrage and a massive federal investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation referred to this investigation as "Mississippi Burning" (MIBURN). They found the bodies of the three workers 44 days after they disappeared; they were buried in an earthen dam near the murder site. After the state government refused to prosecute, the federal government initially charged 18 individuals with civil rights violations. Seven were convicted and received relatively minor sentences for their actions. Outrage over the activists' disappearances helped gain passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. ==Background== In the early 1960s Mississippi, as well as most of the South, defied federal direction regarding racial integration.〔http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/mississippi/e1.html, American Radio Works. Retrieved 19, 2012.〕〔http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/New-York-Times-Chronology/Browse-by-Date/New-York-Times-Chronology-September-1962.aspx, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. September 21, 1962, Retrieved 19, 2012.〕 Recent Supreme Court rulings had upset the Mississippi establishment, and white Mississippian society responded with open hostility. Bombings, murders, vandalism, and intimidation were tactics used by white supremacists to discourage black Mississippians and any Northern supporters. In 1961 Freedom Riders, who challenged segregation of interstate buses and related facilities, were attacked along their route. In September 1962, the University of Mississippi riots had occurred to prevent James Meredith from starting at the school. The Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a splinter group, was created and led by Samuel Bowers of Laurel, Mississippi. As the summer of 1964 approached, white Mississippians prepared for what they perceived as an invasion from the north. College students had been recruited to aid local activists conducting grassroots community organizing, voter registration education and drives in the state. Media reports exaggerated the number of youths expected. One Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) representative is quoted saying nearly 30,000 individuals would visit Mississippi during the summer.〔 Such reports had a "jarring impact" upon white Mississippians and many responded by joining the White Knights.〔 More belligerent than other KKK groups, the White Knights soon attracted a following of nearly 10,000 white Mississippians. In 1890 Mississippi had passed a new constitution, supported by additional laws, which effectively excluded most black Mississippians from registering or voting. This status quo had long been enforced by economic boycotts and violence. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) wanted to address this problem by setting up places called Freedom Schools and starting voting registration drives in the state. Freedom schools were established to educate, encourage, and register the disenfranchised black citizens. CORE members James Chaney, from Mississippi, and Michael Schwerner from New York intended to set up a Freedom School for black people in Neshoba County to try to prepare them to pass the comprehension and literacy tests required by the state. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mississippi civil rights workers' murders」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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