Howard Ball – författare

Few episodes in the modern civil rights movement were more galvanizing or more memorialized than the brutal murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney—idealists eager to protect and promote the rights of black Americans, even in the deep and very dangerous South. In films like Mississippi Burning and popular folk songs, these young men have been venerated as martyrs. Even so, the landmark legal dimensions of their murder case have until now remained largely lost.

Howard Ball reminds us just how problematic the prosecution of the murderers—all members of the KKK—actually was. When the State of Mississippi failed to indict them, the U.S. tried to prosecute the case in federal district court. The judge there, however, ruled that the federal government had no jurisdiction and so dismissed the case. When the U.S. appealed, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower court decision, claiming that federal authorities did indeed have the power to police civil rights violations in any state. United States v. Price (1967) thus produced a landmark decision that signaled a seismic shift in American legal history and race relations, for it meant that local authorities could no longer shield racist lawbreakers.

Ball weaves the tales of victims and perpetrators into a single compelling story in which the legal process becomes as much personal as political. Readers will learn how deputy sheriff Cecil Price and his accomplices planned the execution of the young freedom riders and how prosecutors and judges brought them to justice under conspiracy charges. Along the way, Ball introduces readers to a host of characters from the heyday of the civil rights era—with the NAACP, CORE, and SNCC on one side, and the KKK and its fellow travelers on the other, and politicians sitting squarely on the fence.

Although to this day the murderers have never faced murder charges, United States v. Price emphatically declared that the federal government would no longer tolerate the complicity of local and state authorities in the suppression of the constitutional rights of southern blacks. As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the murders in June 2004, Murder in Mississippi provides a timely and telling reminder of the vigilance democracy requires if its ideals are to be fully realized.

This book provides both an overview of the core dilemma in America--racism and the deadly impact it has had on American society--and an account of the ways in which the book''s contributors have attempted to deal with this dilemma in their own teaching practice. Two core essays explore the theoretical and historical issues involved in defining "races" and "ethnic groups" in the West, and issues of racial and ethnic inequality in American society. The volume then examines a variety of strategies for "teaching the conflicts" in comparative literature and politics; African American literature; law, history, and political science; sociology; religion; economics; anthropology; and art and music. A premise of this book is that multicultural education in colleges and universities must be transdisciplinary--based on the perspectives offered by a multiplicity of interrelated disciplines. Clearly, scholars across the disciplines have a great deal to learn from one another about issues of race and ethnicity in American society. This book shares such knowledge in order to provide relevant, accurate information about these issues and their consequences for individuals living in America. It also encourages university educators to understand the challenges we face as a society and to be idealistic enough to want to draw upon the various strengths of our culture to assist in the remaking of American democracy.

This book provides both an overview of the core dilemma in America--racism and the deadly impact it has had on American society--and an account of the ways in which the book''s contributors have attempted to deal with this dilemma in their own teaching practice. Two core essays explore the theoretical and historical issues involved in defining "races" and "ethnic groups" in the West, and issues of racial and ethnic inequality in American society. The volume then examines a variety of strategies for "teaching the conflicts" in comparative literature and politics; African American literature; law, history, and political science; sociology; religion; economics; anthropology; and art and music. A premise of this book is that multicultural education in colleges and universities must be transdisciplinary--based on the perspectives offered by a multiplicity of interrelated disciplines. Clearly, scholars across the disciplines have a great deal to learn from one another about issues of race and ethnicity in American society. This book shares such knowledge in order to provide relevant, accurate information about these issues and their consequences for individuals living in America. It also encourages university educators to understand the challenges we face as a society and to be idealistic enough to want to draw upon the various strengths of our culture to assist in the remaking of American democracy.