This past Sunday I watched Mississippi Burning a movie I
would not normally watch in my house but one my husband said “Come on it’s a really
good movie”. Well for once he was right.
If you have never seen the movie it takes place in the 60’s during the
time of Martin Luther King and his peaceful protest and three boys go
missing. Now Mississippi is one of the
last states that wanted integration and it espicially shown in this small town. I am not sure I would have survived in this
town or this era when segregation was such a huge demise of our country. The depiction of how African Americans were
treated was just appalling. Houses
burning down, lynching, and even just mutilating a person, it was horrid to
watch the cruelty that another person had to endure because they did not have the
right skin color. There was no equity
for African Americans in this movie they were treated as less than second class
citizens and had no rights to vote.
They were inferior to white people and were treated as animals.
I could never in my life imagine living in a time in which I
could not be friends or even speak to African Americans because of their skin
color. It brings me back to my visit of
the Holocaust in DC and the overwhelming sickness of hatred a person could feel
for another. It was horrid to be quite
frank and something I never want anyone to endure. It was almost like walking through the halls
of the Holocaust museum in silence because there were no words to express the
dehumanizing of an individual.
In the end, though the two FBI agents were able to figure out
who killed the three boys and had each of them arrested and sentenced to prison
for 7 to 10 years and although that is not enough time for human life it was
the turning point for this town which was suffering. The town got a new start because these men
got locked up and people were able to live again. In the real world we know that scenarios such
as these were great attributions to the fight of equity as African Americans
have the right to vote, segregation is over, and people no matter what their
skin color are all have equal opportunities protected by civil right laws in
the United States. However, I would have wished for less violence, more open minds, and peace to solve the discrimination and prejudice of the world.
You are right it is a very moving movie. I'm afraid I would have been the individual who would have been persecuted for having African American friends. You mentioned your experience with visiting the Holocaust and how it made you feel. Living in Germany I’ve had the opportunity to visit Dachau, in Munich. Just walking around the camp gave me goose bumps. The pictures and the stories about what happened on the ground that we were walking on was truly chilling.
ReplyDeleteI also was impressed by that movie. I think quite often we try to diminish the impact that these events have had on a race or a culture. The holocaust is an excellent example of this. Losing family members and friends because one race deems that you are not worthy of life is a terrifying thought. Being accountable as individuals to speak against these injustices is the only way that we can limit the damage that could be done.
ReplyDeleteI to have watched this movie time and time again. It floors me how harsh it use to be in Mississippi. It's sad that today we still have people that think with the same mind frame nowadays. I could not imagine growing up in this time, it's hard enough to just watch the behavior but to actually be a victim, oh my.
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