Mississippi Burning was a term the FBI used to refer to the series of church burnings in Mississippi. During the summer of 1964, at least 20 churches were fire bombed. When the FBI was called to investigate the burnings, as well as physical attacks, they used the term Mississippi Burning (MIBURN for short) to refer to the collective series of incidents. The fires were set by the members of the KKK. Churches had been set up as Freedom Schools, where African-Americans could go to get schooling to improve their job opportunities and obtain the literacy skills needed to pass state voter registration exams. Without passing these tests, they could not vote, a Constitutional right. Thus, the KKK had motive and reason to burn the churches, to strike down the African-Americans' fight for equality. What is your response to knowing the meaning behind the term Mississippi Burning? Image from www.screenrush.co.uk
5 comments:
I fine it horrible that people felt the need to burn down churches because they didn't want fellow citizens to vote because of their skin color.
I didn't know that these "freedom schools" had been set up in churches. It is appalling that people would go to such lengths to prevent others from expressing their right to vote because of such intense prejudice over skin color. I don't understand how such hatred could exist in the world, especially in such a "modern" country such as America.
It is very uosetting to learn that the KKK had such animosity towards African Americans that they felt the need to burn down their churches.
One of my students of English level 2 (EFL), from Los Andes university, Bogotá-Colombia, wrote the following, after having watched the movie:
"I think that the term is so important because gave to us an idea about the situation that the black people had to live in Mississippi and in others states in U.S. and all the bad treatments that they had to bear just because they were Negroes."
Another of my students of English level 2 (EFL), from Los Andes university, Bogotá-Colombia, wrote the following, after having watched the movie:
"The title of the movie "Mississippi Burning" is so appropiated to sum pu all situations acurred there. Mississippi was a place of violent whites who killed Negroes, and with the intervention of FBI the situation of racism changed."
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