| “Dedicated to everyone who believes in peace, love, and non-violence, let’s keep the torch burning.” inscription on the plaque of the statue of Medgar Evers at The Jackson Library. |
Not Like Medgar
Evers has generated controversy for his
fiery speeches, for being a self
promoter, for being a capitalist, for not
turning the other cheek, for not caring
what people think about him, all in
contrast to Medgar
In his defense he says, “I’m not Medgar
and regardless of what you think of me
don’t hold that against Medgar”. In
addition, his speeches let people know
that if they were being shot at or
firebombed while they were marching that
the other side could expect a return of
fire in self defense. Charles says he
was not condoning going in to start
violence but that the enemy should not be
expecting the marchers to just lie down.
Yes, Medgar carried a rifle in self
defense when he traveled but didn’t make
speeches to his supporters about
returning the fire.
Evers generated other controversies by
quitting the Democratic Party and
becoming a Republican in 1989 and for his
endorsement of George Wallace for Vice
President in 1972, Ronald Reagan for
President in 1980 & 84, and for President
Bush’s nomination of Charles Pickering
for the Court of Appeals in 2002 (who was
opposed by the Congressional Black
Caucus, NAACP, and NOW). Pickering did
get a recess appointment as Judge for the
Court of Appeals, which expired in 2004.
Among the reasons for the criticism was
that as a State Senator in the 70’s,
Pickering voted twice to give funds to
the anti-integration watchdog group, The
Mississippi Sovereign Commission. He
said he wasn’t aware that the group was
still functional at the time of those
votes.
Evers, who has a history of reaching out
to his enemies and believed that it could
help convert them and result in strong
support thereafter, reached out to George
Wallace for those reasons.
As for his support of Charles Pickering,
he says:
“I worked beside him when I was at the
NAACP and he was a local prosecutor. He
took the stand and testified against the
wizard of the Klan who was accused of
firebombing. He lost his fight for
reelection because of testifying…. He was
always fighting for the rights of
people…I supported him before and I still
do,”.
Evers who was accused of tipping off the
Mississippi Sovereign Commission when he
was marching and leading boycotts, said
that he would let them and the
authorities know in advance where they
would be marching and that some members
of the Commission would also be the same
people who were the local authorities.
His goal was to try to minimize the
number people getting hurt.
Evers whose views were sought by
Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan,
has been critical of the Bush
administration for its handling of the
war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and ‘no
child left behind’—“which is mostly
talk”--. Evers had joined the
Republicans because he was disenchanted
with Democrats for their wanting to keep
minorities overly dependent and taking
them for granted; he thought it wasn’t
good to have so few minorities in the
Republican Party and that he could be a
voice that would be heard and could
provide diversity.
As a result of the accomplishments of the
civil rights movement, he believes that
there is an opportunity to capitalize and
that it is important to make sure that
more jobs, business, contracts, and
positions of power should go to
minorities but not to the total exclusion
of those who had been in the majority.
No, he's not Medgar,but Charles Evers has
led a demonstration against Alcorn A & M
for punishing students & faculty who
supported civil rights protesters and he
led a demonstration to raise the wages of
service workers. There, too Charles
continued James Meredith’s Walk Against
Fear march in 1966, after Meredith had
been shot. Evers called for a federal
investigation following the murder of two
black marchers at Jackson State
University in 1970 as part of an anti-
Vietnam War protest, protested with
Fannie Lou Hamer for the charging of fees
for medicine to Medicaid patients, and
led a food march calling for the
Agriculture Dept to release food to the
poor.
Charles Evers became the first elected
black in Mississippi since Reconstruction
in 1969 when he was elected Mayor of
Fayette; he was reelected three more
times. Evers testified before the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission regarding the use
of “fear, delay, literacy tests, burning
of voter registration offices to keep us
from voting”, protested the murder of
Wharlest Jackson a tire worker who was
the treasurer of the NAACP in Natchez
Evers has generated controversy for his
fiery speeches, for being a self
promoter, for being a capitalist, for not
turning the other cheek, for not caring
what people think about him, all in
contrast to Medgar
In his defense he says, “I’m not Medgar
and regardless of what you think of me
don’t hold that against Medgar”. In
addition, his speeches let people know
that if they were being shot at or
firebombed while they were marching that
the other side could expect a return of
fire in self defense. Charles says he
was not condoning going in to start
violence but that the enemy should not be
expecting the marchers to just lie down.
Yes, Medgar carried a rifle in self
defense when he traveled but didn’t make
speeches to his supporters about
returning the fire.
Evers generated other controversies by
quitting the Democratic Party and
becoming a Republican in 1989 and for his
endorsement of George Wallace for Vice
President in 1972, Ronald Reagan for
President in 1980 & 84, and for President
Bush’s nomination of Charles Pickering
for the Court of Appeals in 2002 (who was
opposed by the Congressional Black
Caucus, NAACP, and NOW). Pickering did
get a recess appointment as Judge for the
Court of Appeals, which expired in 2004.
Among the reasons for the criticism was
that as a State Senator in the 70’s,
Pickering voted twice to give funds to
the anti-integration watchdog group, The
Mississippi Sovereign Commission. He
said he wasn’t aware that the group was
still functional at the time of those
votes.
Evers, who has a history of reaching out
to his enemies and believed that it could
help convert them and result in strong
support thereafter, reached out to George
Wallace for those reasons.
As for his support of Charles Pickering,
he says:
“I worked beside him when I was at the
NAACP and he was a local prosecutor. He
took the stand and testified against the
wizard of the Klan who was accused of
firebombing. He lost his fight for
reelection because of testifying…. He was
always fighting for the rights of
people…I supported him before and I still
do,”.
Evers who was accused of tipping off the
Mississippi Sovereign Commission when he
was marching and leading boycotts, said
that he would let them and the
authorities know in advance where they
would be marching and that some members
of the Commission would also be the same
people who were the local authorities.
His goal was to try to minimize the
number people getting hurt.
Evers whose views were sought by
Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan,
has been critical of the Bush
administration for its handling of the
war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and ‘no
child left behind’—“which is mostly
talk”--. Evers had joined the
Republicans because he was disenchanted
with Democrats for their wanting to keep
minorities overly dependent and taking
them for granted; he thought it wasn’t
good to have so few minorities in the
Republican Party and that he could be a
voice that would be heard and could
provide diversity.
As a result of the accomplishments of the
civil rights movement, he believes that
there is an opportunity to capitalize and
that it is important to make sure that
more jobs, business, contracts, and
positions of power should go to
minorities but not to the total exclusion
of those who had been in the majority.
No, he's not Medgar,but Charles Evers has
led a demonstration against Alcorn A & M
for punishing students & faculty who
supported civil rights protesters and he
led a demonstration to raise the wages of
service workers. There, too Charles
continued James Meredith’s Walk Against
Fear march in 1966, after Meredith had
been shot. Evers called for a federal
investigation following the murder of two
black marchers at Jackson State
University in 1970 as part of an anti-
Vietnam War protest, protested with
Fannie Lou Hamer for the charging of fees
for medicine to Medicaid patients, and
led a food march calling for the
Agriculture Dept to release food to the
poor.
Charles Evers became the first elected
black in Mississippi since Reconstruction
in 1969 when he was elected Mayor of
Fayette; he was reelected three more
times. Evers testified before the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission regarding the use
of “fear, delay, literacy tests, burning
of voter registration offices to keep us
from voting”, protested the murder of
Wharlest Jackson a tire worker who was
the treasurer of the NAACP in Natchez
and who was killed when his truck was
blown up following his promotion to a
position that had been exclusively held
by whites. Evers organized a boycott of
Armstrong Tire & Rubber where Jackson had
worked.
Evers pressed for the enforcement of the
Civil Rights Act in 1965 when he
contacted Nicholas Katzenbach, RFK’s
successor as Attorney General, calling
for the integration of swimming pools and
parks in Mississippi and called for a
federal investigation, too. Ever has
continued to fight for equality,
integration, and promotion of minorities
and is not shy about using his radio show
to let his listeners know about injustice
as well as to keep Medgar’s name alive.
He has encouraged minorities to run for
public office.
Present & Future
Evers offered the following insights:
NAACP
“They need to change directions and deal
more now with economics. Occasionally, I
go to the local chapters meetings but not
the national one.” Evers would not take
direction from Roy Wilkins, Executive
Secretary of the NAACP New York office
and resented them telling the Mississippi
office how to run things. Evers felt
that the New York office should have
provided guards and protection for
Medgar, and should have spent more time
supporting voter registration, boycotts
and marches, and less time on using the
courts to bring about change.
SNITCHING
“If you know something is wrong you’ve
got to stand up and report it. It’s up
to the community white and black to start
getting involved and stop letting things
happen…don’t just report it, take the
number and name of the person you report
it to and hold them accountable. That
goes for the politicians as well, once we
elect them we’ve got to make them be
accountable.”
EX-PRISONERS VOTING
“Once you’ve paid the price and served
you should be able to get full
citizenship back. Why not? What are you
trying to do, make them another
criminal. You’re trying to penalize them
twice.”
Some of the 2008 candidates,
Evers is quick to emphasize that "I don’t
speak for no one else but me" regarding
the candidates but did offer the
following:
BARACK OBAMA
“I like him, I’m a Republican but if he
gets the nomination, I’m going to vote
for him. I think he would help bring
this country together. I really do. It’
s not because he’s black but because he’s
qualified."
HILLARY CLINTON
“I like her stand on education. She also
didn’t bad mouth him when all of the
problems were happening.. She’s a good
woman but in my own personal opinion this
country will never elect a black or woman
in my lifetime. Remember this is an
Anglo Saxon white male dominated world
and they just do not want nobody in power
like that. That’s just me speaking and I
don’t speak for nobody else.”
JOHN EDWARDS
“I like John Edwards but my choice for
the Democrats would be Obama.
RUDOLF GUILIANI
“Of all of the Republicans running, he’d
be my choice, he’s a former mayor and I
guess he knows what it’s like to be a
part of it.”
JOHN MCCAIN
“I don’t like McCain. He supports this
damn war too much for me. He’s
supporting Bush almost 100% and the war
is wrong! They (The Republicans) have
problems with me because I never will
endorse killing or destroying. Bad as it
might have been, Iraq is a hell of a lot
worse off now than it was under Saddam.
That’s just me.”
“Dedicated to everyone who believes in
peace, love, and non-violence, let’s keep
the torch burning.”
Inscription on the Plaque of the Statue of
Medgar Evers at The Jackson Library.
blown up following his promotion to a
position that had been exclusively held
by whites. Evers organized a boycott of
Armstrong Tire & Rubber where Jackson had
worked.
Evers pressed for the enforcement of the
Civil Rights Act in 1965 when he
contacted Nicholas Katzenbach, RFK’s
successor as Attorney General, calling
for the integration of swimming pools and
parks in Mississippi and called for a
federal investigation, too. Ever has
continued to fight for equality,
integration, and promotion of minorities
and is not shy about using his radio show
to let his listeners know about injustice
as well as to keep Medgar’s name alive.
He has encouraged minorities to run for
public office.
Present & Future
Evers offered the following insights:
NAACP
“They need to change directions and deal
more now with economics. Occasionally, I
go to the local chapters meetings but not
the national one.” Evers would not take
direction from Roy Wilkins, Executive
Secretary of the NAACP New York office
and resented them telling the Mississippi
office how to run things. Evers felt
that the New York office should have
provided guards and protection for
Medgar, and should have spent more time
supporting voter registration, boycotts
and marches, and less time on using the
courts to bring about change.
SNITCHING
“If you know something is wrong you’ve
got to stand up and report it. It’s up
to the community white and black to start
getting involved and stop letting things
happen…don’t just report it, take the
number and name of the person you report
it to and hold them accountable. That
goes for the politicians as well, once we
elect them we’ve got to make them be
accountable.”
EX-PRISONERS VOTING
“Once you’ve paid the price and served
you should be able to get full
citizenship back. Why not? What are you
trying to do, make them another
criminal. You’re trying to penalize them
twice.”
Some of the 2008 candidates,
Evers is quick to emphasize that "I don’t
speak for no one else but me" regarding
the candidates but did offer the
following:
BARACK OBAMA
“I like him, I’m a Republican but if he
gets the nomination, I’m going to vote
for him. I think he would help bring
this country together. I really do. It’
s not because he’s black but because he’s
qualified."
HILLARY CLINTON
“I like her stand on education. She also
didn’t bad mouth him when all of the
problems were happening.. She’s a good
woman but in my own personal opinion this
country will never elect a black or woman
in my lifetime. Remember this is an
Anglo Saxon white male dominated world
and they just do not want nobody in power
like that. That’s just me speaking and I
don’t speak for nobody else.”
JOHN EDWARDS
“I like John Edwards but my choice for
the Democrats would be Obama.
RUDOLF GUILIANI
“Of all of the Republicans running, he’d
be my choice, he’s a former mayor and I
guess he knows what it’s like to be a
part of it.”
JOHN MCCAIN
“I don’t like McCain. He supports this
damn war too much for me. He’s
supporting Bush almost 100% and the war
is wrong! They (The Republicans) have
problems with me because I never will
endorse killing or destroying. Bad as it
might have been, Iraq is a hell of a lot
worse off now than it was under Saddam.
That’s just me.”
“Dedicated to everyone who believes in
peace, love, and non-violence, let’s keep
the torch burning.”
Inscription on the Plaque of the Statue of
Medgar Evers at The Jackson Library.
| Medgar, the Movement & More an interview with Charles Evers - by David Koppel |
Not Like Medgar
Present & Future
Present & Future
| by David Koppel © 2007 |