Historical Lens of The Film

Mississippi in 1960's

Racism in Employment

Women Work as Maid and Baby Sitter

One of The Black Being Kicked In Front of The Public

The pictures above shows what were actually happened to the black people in Jackson, Mississippi during 1960's. They were not treated equally compare to the white people. During that years, the blacks are considered as a low level race. Therefore, they do not received equal rights in getting jobs, education and public accommodation. After that, there was a Civil Right Movement where the blacks get their chance to stand up for their right.

The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi

• Mississippi was the site of key events during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. After World War II, African-American veterans came home to Mississippi. Inspired by the rhetoric of a war against fascism, veterans like Medgar Evers worked to improve conditions at home. After the war, Evers sold insurance and was dismayed by the widespread poverty among black Mississippians that he saw as he went door to door. As a result, Evers went to work for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Jackson, Mississippi. He expanded the NAACP's membership rolls in Mississippi, registered voters, and raised awareness about racial violence against African-Americans. As white Mississippians felt more threatened after Civil Rights milestones, such as the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision that desegregated schools, Evers became a target because of his successful activism. In 1963 Byron De La Beckwith, a Ku Klux Klan member, assassinated him.

Mississippi in 2011

James Craig Anderson

The brutal murder of James Craig Anderson in Jackson, Miss., on June 26 invokes an all too familiar theme in Mississippi history: racism. According to news reports, the 49-year-old African American autoworker was assaulted by a group of white teens, including 18-year-old Deryl Dedmond Jr., and then fatally run over in a truck. This crime, tragic and vile as it is, seems to only be the latest example of long-standing racism that appears to permeate Mississippi to the core.

The alleged murderers began their night drinking at a party when Dedmond turned to his friends and said, "Let's go f**k with some niggers." After climbing into their vehicles, they eventually found Anderson in a parking lot near the plant where he worked. After pulling into the parking lot, the teens began beating Anderson while shouting, "White Power" along with racial slurs. Anderson crumpled to the ground. Unbeknownst to the assailants, their assault was caught on camera. After the beatings, some of the teens got into a green truck, ran over Anderson and then fled the scene.According to reports, Dedmond, during a phone conversation with one of his friends, boasted that he "ran that nigger over."

The incident is likely to stir memories in those old enough to recall the civil rights era. Contrary to Gov. Haley Barbour's remarks that it "wasn't that bad" in Mississippi, there were several high-profile murders of African Americans during those years.

This shows that the racism towards the black people is still occur in Jackson , Mississippi in the year where the film was screened.