Mississippi Freedom Project

 

The Mississippi Freedom Project Historical Research

The Mississippi Freedom Project was run in the summer of 1964 in the state of Mississippi and its purpose was to push for an increase in the number of blacks registering to vote. This is because Mississippi had one of the lowest rates of blacks registering to vote and this was due to institutionalized racism that made it mandatory for them to take a test with disproportionately hard questions about the different sections of the area constitution. The fact that success or failure was determined by white registration clerks did not help the matter. This freedom project was carried out as a concerted effort between several rights groups as detailed in the analysis of a pamphlet published with the intention of raising funds from the members of the different communities. The fictional work of one an influential African American author is also discussed and related to the plight of the black community during this period (Hall, 1233).

To gain a better understanding of the whole project, a fundraising pamphlet used to raise finances for the project was consulted and analyzed. The document that was selected from the Special Collection’s Library was a pamphlet for the Mississippi Freedom Project. This project was sustained by the efforts of the members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which their headquarters seems to be based in Atlanta Georgia. This movement began in the summer of 1964 in an attempt to register as many African Americans as possible in the state of Mississippi, which had historically excluded African Americans from voting (Colby and David, 123). The document is divided into seven sections, development of the Mississippi Project, Voter Registration, and Freedom schools, Community Centers, Research Projects, White Community Projects and Legal Projects. The purpose of this pamphlet was therefore to rally up support for the voting rights of African Americans through the financial contributions of well-wishers from both the black and white communities (Colby and David, 123).

The next major portion of this pamphlet talks about the establishment of Freedom School’s throughout the south in order to supply political education to blacks unavailable through public schools. The main purpose of these schools’ was for the development of young leaders. By mid- July thirty five Freedom School’s had been established which was three times the number expected. Each of the Freedom School’s saw an average daily enrollment numbers of 2,100 students.

Each school had highly individualized instruction with a low student to teacher ratio. The program included remedial work as well as seminars in political science, the humanities, and creative writing. Most of their daily discussions that took place in this setting centered on problems in the community. One of the things that comes to mind when I think of Freedom School’s and African American schooling in general is an example used during one of our readings earlier in the semester. In Richard Wright’s Native Son the Dalton’s had offered to send Bigger to school to get himself an education so that he may become a more productive member of society (SNCC, 1964).

Another activity that is going on towards this issue that is being addressed in this pamphlet is the legal work that is being done with African-Americans to help them establish defenses for the millions of African American’s arrested across the state each day. One of the characters that I immediately thought of from our past readings was Boris A Max from Native Son. Boris was a Jewish lawyer who works for the Labor Defenders, an organization affiliated with the Communist Party. Max argues, based on a sociological analysis of American society, that institutionalized racism and prejudice—not inherent ethnic qualities—create conditions for violence in urban ghettos.

In my opinion most of the pamphlet looked to white America for support in trying to rally the forces in support of blacks being able to get the right to vote. This point of view arises from the fact that the document’s text highlights the efforts of some white people who have supported its movement as well as the display of an image of a white person who appears to be teaching a group of black students. One of the last sections of the pamphlet is titled “Freedom in Mississippi Depends On You” it lays out the cost of different things such as establishing Freedom Schools and the costs of miscellaneous items needed for the effort and states that any kind of contribution to the effort would be a huge assistance (SNCC, 1964).

Two people’s names are mentioned in this document and this is in relation to the contributions they made towards the Mississippi Freedom Schools. They are Robert Moses and Ella Baker.

Robert Moses- Robert Paris Moses who was the director of SNCC was born on January 23^rd 1935 in Harlem New York. He was usually known as Bob Moses.  Robert Parris Moses was one of the most influential black leaders of the civil rights struggle who had a vision of grassroots and community-based leadership (Hall, 1235). Although Moses’ leadership style was different from Martin Luther King’s, King appreciated the contributions that Moses made to the movement, claiming they were inspiring.

Ella Baker- Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist beginning in the 1930s. She was a behind-the-scenes activist, whose career spanned over five decades. The organization SNCC emerged from a meeting that she setup. Baker was one of SNCC’s highly revered adult advisors, called the “Godmother of SNCC” She worked alongside some of the most famous civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, and Martin Luther King, Jr. (SNCC, 1964).

The document also makes mention of several organizations that came together to ensure the success of the program. They include the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Council of Federal Organizations (CFO), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) among others

Democratic Party of Mississippi- The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was an American political party created in the state of Mississippi in 1964, during the civil rights movement. It was organized by black and white Mississippians, with assistance from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), to challenge the legitimacy of the white-only US Democratic Party.

Council of Federal Organizations (COFO)- The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) was a coalition of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations operating in Mississippi. COFO was formed in 1962 to coordinate and unite voter registration and other civil rights activities in the state and oversee the distribution of funds from the Voter Education Project. It was instrumental in forming the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. COFO member organizations included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)- The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)  was one of the organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in April 1960. SNCC grew into a large organization with many supporters in the North who helped raise funds to support SNCC’s work in the South, allowing full-time SNCC workers to have a $10 per week salary. Many unpaid volunteers also worked with SNCC on projects in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Maryland. SNCC played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides, a leading role in the 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party over the next few years. SNCC’s major contribution was in its field work, organizing voter registration drives all over the South, especially in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi (SNCC, 1964).

Two places are mentioned in the pamphlet and they are Mississippi and Forrest County. Mississippi was mentioned because this state was the focus of the rights activists and the blatant denial of voting rights that African Americans had been subjected to. In Forrest County two additional freedom schools were opened to meet an unexpected demand. There are six schools there now, with an enrollment of 675 (SNCC, 1964).

There are many different ways of interpreting history and by extension historical documents. One way of contextualizing these documents is through the use of biographical information of the individuals and organizations that are represented in the documents. This exercise is based on a historical document titled “The Mississippi Freedom Project” and the purpose is to make use of the names of people and organizations represented in the document as reference points with the aim of better understanding the document.

This document was probably published towards the end 1963 and it is during this period the Civil Rights movement’s strength was increasing owing to the fact that it had begun enlisting the participation of a larger demographic that was previously accessed. The Freedom Project kicked off in 1964. Rather than focus exclusively on the black community, this movement began enlisting the help of the middle class, the whites and also those who were in institutions of higher learning. The publication must have been motivated by a sudden increase in the concern that blacks held for their rights (SNCC, 1964).

From the document that has been provided, only one name appeared and that was Robert Moses. He was the project director who led the SNCC into Mississippi in 1961. During the 1960s, this Harvard educated teacher played a key role in the Civil Rights movement especially in the leadership of the SNCC. Non-Violence was a favored approach in the fight for the rights of African Americans who were still largely considered to be second-class citizens with few rights and privileges. A man of his stature with the eloquence he had had the potential to inspire the confidence of the African Americans and at the same time appeal to the reason of the members of the white community to empathize with the plight of blacks in American society (SNCC, 1964).

Given the fact that some of the racism was based on draconian laws from the Jim Crow Era, it was imperative that the push for civil rights be fought politically. This would serve to speed up the legislative changes that would eventually stop some of the racist laws such as segregated schools and the denial of voting rights for blacks (Colby and David, 123). At the time of publication of this document, several political parties were in existence. The Democratic Party of Mississippi was an all-white political party based in Mississippi and it is highly probable that this party was in support of the oppressive laws. The Freedom Democratic Party was formulated by the blacks who lived in Mississippi as a response to the existence of the Democratic Party of Mississippi with the aim of ensuring that interests of blacks are also taken care of in the same way that those of whites were being considered.

The Council of Federal Organizations was a conglomerate of civil rights organizations from different parts of the country and it was formed primarily with the intention of using this as a central point through which the clamor for voting rights for the blacks who had for the longest time been marginalized through the denial of this right to vote. This was not a political party per-se but more of a unit that helped to network them and ensure that the operations of the different civil rights groups worked in harmony towards a common goal especially with the issue of voting rights (Colby and David, 123).

The reason why Mississippi was selected by the SNNC because the fact that blacks in that State were being deliberately shut out of the electoral process through draconian laws that demanded them to satisfy ridiculous preconditions such as a written test and exorbitant fees. This place had a large population of marginalized black people and this meant that the SNCC’s presence here would have been extremely relevant and also helped in drumming up support for changes in the system towards a society more inclusive for blacks .  .

Discussion of “The Bluest Eye” By Morrison Tony

This book is focused on the life of a young girl, Pecola whose life is punctuated by misfortune upon misfortune. The fact that her parents, Polly and Cholly are constantly fighting greatly contributes to her inferiority complex and strong desire for blue eyes since she believes her own physical appearance is ugly and the cause of the problems she faces at home. One day her drunken farther Cholly rapes her and upon reporting this to the mother she is disapproved as her mother does not believe what happened. This incident is repeated severally and as a result she gets impregnated by the father. This brings great shame to the young girl who is barely in her teens. Pecola still believes that it is her ugliness which makes her attract these problems (Morrison, 2007).

In one of the narrator’s flashbacks, she recalls that Cholly too had a difficult childhood, being abandoned by his mother at four days and later being humiliated by two white men who found him in a compromising position in and forced him to continue as they watched. Her desire for blue eyes is a manifestation of her desire to become white since she believes a change in her race will make her life better. Out of desperation she goes to a quack shaman who deceives her into believing that she will indeed turn and have blue eyes. The baby eventually dies and Pecola loses her sanity as she lives with Pauline who had since moved from her previous residence (Morrison, 2007).

Relation of this story to African American History

This story’s characters represent the African American community and its plight in the United States of America during the struggle for equal civil rights (Hall, 1233). Cholly, Mr. Henry and the girls’ father Mr. MacTeer. The bitterness exhibited by Cholly can be linked to unfortunate and at times humiliating situations. His being abandoned and discovered represents the slavery that brought the blacks to the United States. The challenges he faced being humiliated by the two white men is similar to the manner in which slaves were stripped off their dignity during that dark period. As a result some such as mr MacTeer strove to do the best to be a good father and provider while others like Cholly took out their bitterness on all those around them making them in effect abusive men who were lost in alcoholism (Morrison, 2007).

Pecola, Polly, Freida, Claudia and the three prostitutes represent the African American women of the time. The refusal of the sisters’ seeds to germinate due to the barren ground indicate the great limitations that had been placed on their desire to develop and come up with different projects that would make them independent. The prostitutes further emphasize the undignified state of these women during the time period. Pecola’s plight too is representative of the challenges women in this community were exposed to. These challenges included lack of financial opportunities, sexual abuse and also abusive relationships. The institutionalized racism led many black women to hate themselves and in turn desire to have lighter skin and others to desire other features of white people. This led many of these women to desperation (Morrison, 2007).

While it is a known fact that there was institutionalized racism that created hegemony of whites above blacks, there seems to have been a lot of racial discrimination taking place within the black community on the basis of skin tone and gender to a lesser degree. Though a fictious work, this novel brings up interesting angles of the lives of African Americans and the struggles they faced in a country that was scarcely prepared to recognize them as citizens who were worthy of all manner of civil rights. The struggles that these women faced can be compared to the opposition faced by the courageous men and women who had to put up with threats of murder, beatings and arrests as they pushed for the registration of black voters in Mississippi.

Works Cited

Colby, David C. “The voting rights act and black registration in mississippi.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 16.4 (1986): 123-138.

Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd. “The long civil rights movement and the political uses of the past.” The Journal of American History 91.4 (2005): 1233-1263.

Morrison, Toni. The bluest eye. Random House Digital, Inc., 2007.

Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Mississippi Freedom Project Transcription. 1964

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