American History

The book Three Lives for Mississippi by William Bradford Huie is an account of the investigation that revolved around the disappearance of three young activists who were later on found dead in Neshoba County. It took place in 1964, which was referred to as the year of Freedom Summer by the civil rights movement. The three lives were those of James Chaney a 21 years old, black American from Mississippi and the other two were Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, both from New York. It was a book that shows the dedication of three young men who at a very young age were persecuted because of what they believed in and what they were fighting for. A young black man and two Jews, one from the South and the others from the North they joined forces in their efforts of alleviating the minorities condition.

The tragic event happened at the night of June 21. The three went to Longdale to investigate on the burning of Mount Zion United Methodist Church, a church that was serving as a rendezvous for civil rights activist groups. They had just finished a weeks training from the Western College for Women campus in Oxford, Ohio, about the strategies that may be employed on how to have the blacks registered to vote. Chaney was a local activist for the Freedom Movement Schwerner was a volunteer organizer for Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) while Goodman was a Freedom Summer volunteer.

They knew that they were under close watch by the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens council, which is why, they were keen in reporting to the Council of Federated Organizations about their itineraries in compliance with their standard security procedures. However, they were spotted and Chaney was charged for over speeding while the two were taken in for investigation. They were detained and were not allowed to make any phone calls. Later on, it was announced that they were released. However, days passed but no one has seen the three.

The disappearance prompted the search for the three which ended up with the authorities finding their bodies buried in Neshoba County. Autopsy reports showed how beaten Chaneys body was while Goodman and Schwerner were both shot to death. The situation caused an outrage by the people who sympathized and were angered by the death of the three activists. Then President Lyndon Johnson used their reaction to influence the passage in July 2 of the Civil rights Act of 1964 as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The author was able to show in the book a detailed account of what happened that night based on research conducted within the exact location where the incident happened. It can be said that compared to others, it was a quite more accurate account because the author had a real feel of the location and the situation and he had gathered first hand information about the incident from the witnesses. Thus, he did not just present and analysis based on the news or other secondary resources but extracted them on his own.

Although what happened to the three young men was tragic, it can be said that their lives were not taken in vain. There are good things that came with it including the passage of the laws stated above, which were actually a realization of what they were fighting for. The murders not only united the people in certain ways but they also resulted to the freedom of the Southerners from the white supremacy. The story is also inspiring because it shows how strong were the convictions of the African-Americans and the Jews in acquiring equality especially in terms of Civil Rights. Such part of history is very worthy of studying because it will show how much was sacrificed to be able for us to enjoy the rights and liberty we have today. It will somehow give us a chance to appreciate the courage of other people if that is the least that we could do to thank them. Thus, I give a salute for Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman, the three lives that were sacrificed for Mississippi.