Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. He became active in the civil rights movement after returning from overseas service in World War II and completing secondary education; he became a field secretary for the NAACP.
Evers was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens' Council. As a veteran, Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His murder and the resulting trials inspired civil rights protests, as well as numerous works of art, music, and film.
Medgar Evers was born July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi, the son of Jesse and her husband, James Evers; they owned a small farm and he also worked at a sawmill. Evers was the third of five children, after Charles and Elizabeth. His sister Ruth was the youngest. The family also included Eva Lee and Gene, Jesse’s children from a prior marriage. After the lynchings of family friends, Evers became determined to get an education. He walked 12 miles to and from school to earn his high school diploma.
Plot
Ghosts of Mississippi is a drama covering the final trial of Byron De La Beckwith (Woods), the assassin of the 1960s civil rights leader Medgar Evers. It begins with the murder and the events surrounding the two initial trials which both ended in hung juries. The movie then covers District Attorney, Bobby De Laughter's (Baldwin) transformation and alliance with Myrlie Evers (Goldberg), the widow of Medgar Evers, as he becomes more involved with bringing Beckwith to trial for the third time 30 years later. Some of the characters are played by the actual participants in this story.
Keywords: 1960s, activist, african-american, assassin, assassination, based-on-true-story, bigot, children, civil-rights, civil-rights-movement
In 1963 civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered in his own driveway. For 30 years his assassin has remained free. Is it ever too late to do the right thing?
In 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was gunned down in front of his wife and children. In 1994, the time was right for justice.
From the director of A FEW GOOD MEN comes a compelling TRUE STORY.
[Quoting Medgar Evers]::Myrlie Evers: I don't know if I'm going to heaven or to hell, but I'm going from Jackson.
Bobby: Grandpa Russell had guns all over his house and we don't have any guns.::Drew: I have a gun.::Bobby: Well, yours is a nuclear powered lasergun. I'm talking about handguns and rifles.
[Quoting Medgar Evers]::Myrlie Evers: When you hate, the only one that suffers is you because most of the people you hate don't know it and the rest don't care.
[about Medgar Evers' widow pursuing the murder case for decades]::Bobby DeLaughter: I think about her keeping this thing alive all this time. Imagine a woman loving a man so much.::Charlie Crisco: Hell, I can't even get a woman to love me while I'm still alive.
[Addressing the jury in summation]::Bobby DeLaughter: Today, thirty years later, I'm asking you twelve ladies and gentlemen to act boldly; to hold this defendant accountable and find him guilty... simply because it is right, it is just, and Lord knows, it is time. Is it ever too late to do the right thing?
Bobby DeLaughter: I don't see what difference it makes if a man was bushwhacked yesterday, today, or 27 damn years ago. Murder is murder. And it's still my job to bring the son of a bitch to justice. And it's still your job to help me.::Delamar Dennis: No! I did my job. I testified against the Klan. They shot out my windows, blew up my car, they hunted and harassed me for twenty five years. Don't that get me even for the wrong I done?::Bobby DeLaughter: We never get even for the wrong we've done.
Byron De La Beckwith: Free at last, free at last... Great God Almighty, I'm free at last!