The Mississippi Freedom Summer

Basic facts/Overview

 * Organised in 1964
 * It was run by COFO
 * SNCC and CORE worked on the project
 * It sought to increase black voter registration in Mississippi and throughout the south
 * This happened prior to the presidential election in November that year
 * The project predominantly consisted of white student volunteers from the north
 * Mostly from privileged background


 * America took notice of the Mississippi Freedom Summer when three activists, two of whom where white, were murdered by segregationists who probably were a part of the Ku Klux Klan
 * Prior to this the Freedom Summer workers got frequently impeded and bullied by members of the white population in Mississippi

Mississippi was targeted because:

 * Its social and political demographics
 * Held one of the most hard-line white supremacist state governments


 * Highest percentage of black people - 45%
 * Black people in Mississippi experienced more beatings, lynchings and racial crime than in any other state


 * Virtually the poorest of all US states
 * Low levels of African American voter registration
 * 5% of voting-age blacks in the state got registered to cote in 1962 - 16% below national average

The workers

 * The 300 workers arrived in mid-June
 * Operated under the most difficult and dangerous circumstances


 * The police force of Mississippi's capital city of Jackson were prepared to deal with the workers in the same way as the authorities in Birmingham
 * "We are going to see that law and order is maintained - and maintained Mississippi style!" - Governor Johnson 
 * Equipped to meet any disturbances and heavily reinforced with extra shotguns, tear gas and even a tank on standby

The school system

 * It became apparent that the state had spent 82 dollars per white students but only 22 dollars per black student
 * It became evident that the educational curriculum was controlled
 * textbooks praising the southern way of life and ignoring black achievements


 * CORE, the SNCC and the NAACP established fifty Freedom Schools
 * People volunteered as teachers
 * The curriculum now included black history and the Civil Rights Movement philosophy
 * Aim was to correct the educational imbalance in Mississippi
 * Allowing political debate and artistic expression
 * Offering key subjects such as mathematics, science and remedial reading
 * The school promoted courses in acting, public speaking and journalism
 * 3 000 students attended
 * Three times greater than the anticipated number

Consequences

 * The freedom Summer had undermined the solidarity that existed in the Civil Rights Movement during previous years
 * A growing difference between those who agreed with King's ways of integration and non-violence, and those who felt that peaceful protest was not the best way of getting full racial equality and wanted a more radical approach


 * The registration of around only 1 600 African Americans
 * Viewed as a dismalfailure by some while others saw it as a small but vital step towards the democratisation of voting in Mississippi
 * MFDP actions ensured that there would never be a completely white delegation at a DemocratiC convention


 * The Freedom Summer secured enfranchisement for some black people in Mississippi and highlighted their struggle for media worldwide
 * Many in the Civil Rights Movement began looking for different remedies in solving the persistent problem of African American subordination