Ap Us History: Ghosts Of Mississippi

GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI Sibyl Lin AP US History May 31, 2019 The Ghosts of Mississippi refers to a real-life drama movie directed by Rob Reiner. It recalls the killing of a black activist, Medgar Evers, and the pursuit of justice by Bobby DeLaughter and Myrlie Evers that followed. Mr. Evers was NAACP’s field secretary and his killer Byron De La Beckwith was apprehended nine days after committing the crime.The movie is based on a true story that narrates the trial and ultimate sentencing of Beckwith who assassinated Medgar Evers, the legendary civil rights leader. This paper tries to show how closethe film got in depicting the accurate events that surrounded the murder of Evers and the pursuit of justice that followed. The film begins with the shooting of Medgar Evers in June 1963 while he was standing in his driveway. The murder was executed by Beckwith who wasput into two times with the offense but went free after three white juries reach a deadlock.Although the suspect was the murderer, it was impossible to convict him during this period and place due to the white-superior social circumstance. No white had been punished due to the murder of blacks. The atmosphere in the courtroom of Mississippi was racist and corrupt that Ross Barnett, the governor of Mississippi walked up to Beckwith and shook his hand.The movie also covers the relationship between Bobby DeLaughter and Myrlie Evers and the roles they played in the process of seeking for justice. DeLaughterwas involved more in seeking justice for the family of Medgar Evers by ensuring that Beckwith is tried for the 3rd time after three decades. On the 5th of February 1994, Beckwith was eventually convicted after being free for thirty years providing justice to the family of Medgar Evers.[Barlowe, Jamie. "The" not-free" and" not me": Constructions of whiteness in Rosewood and Ghosts of Mississippi." Canadian Review of American Studies 28, no. 3 (1998): 31-46.] [Billings, Andrew. "Achieving authenticity in the film Ghosts of Mississippi: Identity and authorship in historical narratives." Western Journal of Black Studies 24, no. 2 (2000): 80.] The film in most part portrayed historical facts correctly. It focuses majorly on the efforts of DeLaughter to bring the accused - Beckwith to justice at the beginning of the 1990s. As shown in the film, DeLaughter was initially reluctant to bring the accused to trial because it was his belief that there was no sufficient evidence to convict Beckwith. The film truthfully shows that DeLaughter’s father-in-law, Judge Moore attended the trial sessions that did not succeed in convicting Beckwith in 1964. In the film, it is shown that Judge Moore was not only a racist person, but also kept the weapon that killed Mr. Evers as a souvenir. In this case, the film was accurate in capturing the historical fact. On the 28th of January 1994, the third trial of Beckwith began with DeLaughter working alongside District Attorney Ed Peters on the case. With the murder’s fingerprints on the murder weapon and the presence of new witnesses, they were on the right track to convict Beckwith. As portrayed in the film, the witnesses narrated how the accused had bragged about murdering Mr. Evers. The events that characterized the third trial are accurately portrayed in the film, and it is safe to say that the film was truthful in representing historical facts.[Hoerl, Kristen. "Representing Byron de la Beckwith in Film andJournalism: Popular Memories of Mississippi andthe Murder of Medgar Evers." Western Journal of Communication 72, no. 1 (2004): 62-82.] [Coleman, Wim, and Pat Perrin. Racism on Trial: From the Medgar Evers Murder Case to Ghosts of Mississippi. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishing, 2009.] While there are some inaccuracies in the film as well. The directors ...