The Disappearance of Three Civil Rights Activists Inspired the Mississippi Burning Movie

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Previously, the www.hukumindo.com platform has talk about "Heavier Penalties Await for Vaping-related Offences in Singapore", "Keppres No.: 18 Tahun 2025 Tentang Pemberian Abolisi Untuk Tom Lembong", you may read also "Chinese Couple Disputes Over 29 Chickens in Divorce Court", "31 Judul Film Yang Wajib Ditonton Tentang Advokat" and on this occasion we will discuss about 'The Disappearance of Three Civil Rights Activists Inspired the Mississippi Burning Movie'. 

In 1961, although approximately 45% of Mississippi's population was Black, less than 7% were registered to vote. This low number was due to scare tactics and laws used to disenfranchise Black citizens there. Freedom Summer's goal was to counter this. Freedom Summer was a movement to encourage as many Black people as possible in Mississippi to register to vote.[1]

Hundreds of volunteers, many of them students from northern states, traveled to the South to help establish Freedom Schools. Freedom Schools taught Black history and civil rights, helped prospective voters pass literacy tests, and completed state-required ballot forms. However, the Freedom Summer initiative sparked intense and often violent resistance from white supremacists and local authorities in Mississippi. Black campaigners and voters attending the classes faced persistent intimidation and violence. Black churches were routinely burned, and activists were threatened and attacked.[2]

On June 21, 1964, three young staff members traveled to investigate the arson of Mount Zion Methodist Church in Neshoba County. They were James Chaney, a 21-year-old Black man from Mississippi, and his two white colleagues, Andrew Goodman (20, a Jewish New Yorker) and Michael Schwerner (24). After examining the charred remains of the church and interviewing members of the congregation who had been brutally beaten by Ku Klux Klan members, the three men left the scene to return to their offices. However, they were never heard from again. The men's disappearance prompted a major response from the US Department of Justice.[3]

Attorney General Robert Kennedy classified the case as a kidnapping, thus falling under federal jurisdiction. He ordered approximately 150 FBI agents from the New Orleans office to search the area for them. They were assisted by troops from a nearby naval air base. On July 23, the three men's car was found burned near a swamp. However, there was still no sign of the three civil rights activists. The investigation was codenamed Miburn, short for Mississippi Burning.[4]

Throughout July, FBI agents continued to comb the Mississippi swamps for the three missing civil rights activists. Instead, they repeatedly found the bodies of other black murder victims. On August 4, after six weeks of searching, FBI investigators finally discovered the bodies of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman, buried in a red clay dam near Philadelphia, Mississippi.[5] And if you have any legal issue in Indonesia territory, contact us for business inquiry, feel free in 24 hour, we will be glad to assist you. 

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References:

1. "Misteri hilangnya tiga aktivis yang menginspirasi film 'Mississippi Burning'", www.bbc.com, Myles Burke, 16 Agustus 2025, Diakses pada tanggal 26 Agustus 2025, Link: https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/c8607znnj5go

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.