Medgar Evers Assassinated
by: Dr. Clint Wilson
One of the most tragic and defining events of the Civil Rights struggle took place when Mississippi NAACP official Medgar Evers was gunned down at his home by a racist sniper.
A shocked nation was reminded again of the depths of hatred and ignorance that existed among those who would deny Black citizens the most fundamental of human rights and dignity. The Evers assassination occurred only a few hours after President John F. Kennedy had urged Americans to be calm in the face of racial tensions in the South.
Evers’ accused assassin, Byron De La Beckwith, was not convicted until 1994, 31 years after the murder. At the time of his death Evers was 37 years old. De La Beckwith died in January 2001 at age 80 while serving out his prison term.
The New York Amsterdam News carried the following account of Evers’ murder.
LEADER, 37, SHOT IN BACK
JACKSON, Miss. – Medgar Evers, 37-year-old field secretary of the ...
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