Ghosts of Mississippi
- PG-13
- Year:
- 1996
- 130 min
- 1,283 Views
It is better to settle
these matters in the courts...
... than on the streets.
And new laws are needed
at every level.
men see right.
We are confronted primarily
with a moral issue.
The heart of the question is...
to be afforded equal rights...
...and equal opportunities...
... whether we treat
our fellow Americans...
...as we want to be treated.
If an American,
because his skin is dark...
...cannot eat lunch
in a restaurant open to the public...
...if he cannot send his children...
... to the best public school
available...
...if he cannot vote
for the officials who represent him...
...if, in short, he cannot enjoy
the full and free life...
... which all of us want...
... then who among us
would be content...
... to have the color
of his skin changed?
Who among us would then be content...
... with the counsels
of patience and delay?
One hundred years
of delay have passed...
...since President Lincoln
freed the slaves...
... yet their heirs, their grandsons
are not fully free.
They are not yet freed
from the bonds of injustice.
They are not yet freed
from social and economic oppression.
And this nation, for all
its hopes and all its boasts...
... will not be fully free
until all its citizens are free.
We preach freedom
around the world and we mean it.
And we cherish our freedom
here at home.
Are we to say to the world...
...and much more importantly,
to each other...
... that this is a land of the free,
except for the Negroes?
That we have no second-class citizens,
except Negroes?
That we have no class
or caste system...
...no ghettos, no master race,
except with respect to Negroes?
Now the time has come for
this nation to fulfill its promise.
The events in Birmingham
and elsewhere...
...have so increased the cries
for equality that no city...
...or state or legislative body
can prudently choose...
... to ignore them.
The fires of frustration
and discord...
North and South...
are not at hand.
Redress is sought in the streets.
We face a moral crisis
as a country and a people.
It cannot be met
by repressive police action.
It is a time to act
in the Congress...
...in your state
and local legislative body...
...and above all,
in all of our daily lives.
...and our task...
...our obligation is to make
that revolution, that change...
...peaceful and constructive for all.
Those who do nothing...
...are inviting shame
as well as violence.
Those who act boldly
are recognizing right...
...as well as reality.
Medgar!
-Get down!
-Get the baby!
Medgar!
Oh, my Gosh!
Daddy! Daddy!
Daddy, I love you!
Daddy, don't die!
I want my daddy!
Turn me loose.
Turn me loose.
Medgar Evers believed in this country.
It now remains to be seen
whether his country believed in him.
The Citizens Council's raised
thousands for your defense.
Money's pouring in
from all over the South.
Nice likeness.
What do you think, boys?
Mr. Beckwith, glad to see you.
Mighty glad to be here.
And isn't it true
your husband was the first...
...to attempt to integrate
the University of Mississippi?
At the time of his death,
he was involved in a lawsuit...
...to integrate the public
school system, wasn't he?
Your husband must've had quite
a few enemies, would you agree?
Yes, he did.
Your eldest boy,
his name is Kenyatta, isn't it?
Darrell Kenyatta Evers.
Kenyatta's a Mau Mau name, isn't it?
Objection.
Sustained.
Isn't it true that over 100 people
were arrested during a demonstration...
...that your husband
organized boycotting...
...a department store in downtown
Jackson known as Kennington's?
Who's that?
Ross Barnett.
You're kidding.
Nope. You don't see that
every day of the week.
A former governor shaking hands
with an assassin in front of the jury.
There's not a court in America
What's America got to do
with anything?
This is Mississippi.
Byron De La Beckwith.
-You live in Greenwood, Mississippi?
-Y es, sir.
My mother was a Yerger.
Her mother was Susan Yerger...
of Mrs. Jefferson Davis.
No, sir!
Your Honor, may l?
Mr. Beckwith, is this your rifle?
Let's see.
Well, it bears a similarity...
...but I couldn't say for certain.
I don't record the
serial numbers of my weapons...
...and my gun was stolen
from my home several days before...
...this whole business.
How do you feel, Delay?
I got tears in my eyes.
For Dixie, huh?
In summation...
...not only did surveillance cameras
provide us with a visual record...
...of the crime being committed...
...but four eyewitnesses observed
the defendant removing his mask...
...upon exiting the convenience store.
Short of you ladies and gentlemen
attending the actual event...
...we don't feel the state
could have a stronger case.
Thank you.
Counsel?
Hey, Bobby. How'd it go?
Through a combination
of superior lawyering...
...and a less than stellar performance
by our criminal, I got a conviction.
Congratulations.
My rape victim's reluctant to testify.
Can you handle the Harrison motion?
-You bet.
-You're a lifesaver.
-DeLaughter, your wife just called.
-What'd she want?
To remind you you're having lunch with
her mother and your parents at 1:00.
How could I forget?
Bobby.
-You seen this?
-Yes, I have.
the re-prosecution of De La Beckwith.
Ed, this guy was killed
over 25 years ago.
Dig up whatever you can on Medgar Evers
and be in my office at 3:00.
Ed, this is ridiculous.
Well, sure it is.
But if we try to bury this...
...she'll have every black politician
climbing all over me.
My office, 3:
00.Do we have any files here
on Medgar Evers?
Who?
that got himself shot in the 1960s?
I just saw that file. It was next
to the one on the Lindbergh baby.
Clara, just bring me what we have.
Good afternoon, sir.
Did you make Hinds County safer today?
You know how it is with criminals.
It's like finding a gray hair.
You pull one and two more pop up
to take its place.
I love those earrings.
Have you worn them before?
I've had them for quite some time.
I just never wear them during the day.
You see that nonsense
about the Sovereignty Commission?
Yeah, isn't that awful?
That fool, Rea Hederman.
Since he took over that paper...
...Iiberals like Jerry Mitchell
been trying to rewrite history.
The Sovereignty Commission was a fine
organization that did a lot of good.
Dixie, would you pass me the butter?
Why do they dig up things
that happened 25 years ago anyway?
Medgar Evers' widow
wants to reopen the case.
You can't be serious.
Ed asked me to look into it.
You just tell him, "No, thank you."
When will these people get it through
their heads that the '60s are over?
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