"The Ghosts of Mississippi" Film Review

     The movie Ghosts of Mississippi opens with original, historical films. The first things to be scene by the audience are black and white films of protests, African-American men voting, famous African-American athletes, a "colored entrance" sign, a "segregation forever" poster, a dance hall, etc., which are all original footage according to the IMDb review of the film. Immediately following the historical clips, the audience reads "This story is true." on the screen. However, in my opinion - and the opinion of many others - although this is based on the true events of the murder of Medgar Evers, the film Ghosts of Mississippi does not focus enough on the right things in order to be used as a good teaching tool. Ghosts of Mississippi focuses more on the life of Bobby DeLaughter - the lawyer who proved Byron de la Beckwith guilty of Medgar Ever's murder - than anything else. Much like the film Glory, Ghosts of Mississippi is based off of primary sources (such as newspaper articles), but certain things are added, dramatized, or simplified in the film.
     After the black screen with the words "This story is true." fades out, the audience is transported to "Mississippi Delta, June 1963". The first thing the audience views is a Shriner's Symbol - a symbol often worn or carried by members of the KKK - hanging from the rear view mirror of a car. Then the camera pans over to show the face of who the viewer will later come to understand is Byron de la Beckwith. The audience sees Beckwith (played by James Woods) waiting outside Ever's home, then shooting Evers (played by James Pickens Jr.) in the back as he gets out of his car. According to FindLaw.com, this scene accurately - if not a little dramatically - depicts how the murder happened, with Myrlie Evers (played by Whoopi Goldberg) and the three Evers children running out to their father has he dies. The viewer then sees as Medgar Wiley Evers is buried in Arlington National Cemetery - where Evers is actually buried (The Mississippi Writer's Page).
     The next scenes take place in Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi. They show Beckwith casually walking into the courthouse, cuffed but jovially speaking to all the white police officers. As he walks in he is treated as if he is an old friend of the police officers, not as if he is being tried for the murder of another person. Then in the courtroom, the former governor of Mississippi walks in and shakes Beckwith's hand. The audience sees Beckwith being treated much more nicely than Mrs. Evers, then reads the titles of several newspapers saying "Mistrial Decreed in Beckwith Case", "Second Beckwith Trial To Be Held In April", and "Beckwith Goes Home After Second Mistrial". The murder, the burial, and the following two trials are depicted correctly in the movie, but after that the film shifts its focus to something that - in my opinion - is not as important.
     Once the film is done showing Ever's murder and the events immediately following, the audience is introduced to Bobby DeLaughter in "October, 1989", who takes on Evers case twenty-five years after the murder. The rest of the movie focuses on his home life and his work on the case, and the audience rarely sees the Evers family until the end of the movie. The viewer sees Bobby at home with his kids, separating from his wife, getting married to a new wife, talking with his parents, etc. While most of these things are historically what happened, the producers of Ghosts of Mississippi could have tried focusing a little less on what was happening in his life, and more on what was happening in the Evers' lives and the progress of integration over those years.

Film Project - Post 4

Bibliography
1. Ghosts of Mississippi. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin, and James Woods. Colombia Pictures, 1996. Amazon.

2. Coxwell, Merrida. "FindLaw's Supreme Court of Mississippi Case and Opinions." Findlaw. Thomson Reuters Business, Dec. 1990. Web. 17 May 2017.

3. Raymond, Henry J. "Breaking News, World News & Multimedia." The New York Times. The New York Times, 1990. Web. 17 May 2017.

4. Padgett, John B. "Medgar Evers." MWP: Medgar Evers (1925-1963). The University of Mississippi English Departmet, Aug. 1997. Web. 17 May 2017.

5. History.com Staff. "Ku Klux Klan." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 17 May 2017.

6.  "Race Discrimination: U.S. Supreme Court Cases." Findlaw. Thomson Reuters, 2013. Web. 17 May 2017.

7. Colick, Lewis. "Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)." IMDb. IMDb.com, 3 Jan. 1997. Web. 17 May 2017.

8. Bond, Julian. "Ku Klux Klan A History of Racism and Violence." SPL Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center, 2011. Web. 17 May 2017.

9. Johnson, Malcolm. "Historical Accuracy Is Dramatic Weakness In `Ghosts Of Mississippi'."Tribunedigital-thecourant. Hartford Courant, 03 Jan. 1997. Web. 17 May 2017.

Film Project - Post 3

Ghosts of Mississippi Party
Dinner Menu

 Main Course:

Mississippi Dinner

 - Chicken Fried Steak (without the gravy)
 - Collard Greens (without the bacon/ham)
 - Cornbread & Purple Hull Peas
 - Mashed Potatoes (without the gravy)
 *each food item is missing something just like America was missing something it needed in order to be "whole"
 *the theme of the food is a typical Mississippi dinner

Dessert:
 Mud Pie with Whipped Cream Ghosts

Film Project - Post 2

Ghosts of Mississippi Party
Exhibit:
1. The films from the beginning of Ghosts of Mississippi (which are original films) to play on repeat.      Featuring original films of protests, a speech given by Medgar Evers, famous African-                          American athletes, dance halls, etc.

2. The rifle used by Byron de la Beckwith to murder Evers.

Beckwith's Rifle

3. The Shriner's Symbol prop from Ghosts of Mississippi found in Beckwith's car (often used by members of the KKK). 

Shriner's Symbol

4. KKK Uniform

Uniform worn by KKK members

5. Klandestine by William H. McIlhany II

Klandestine

6. Newspaper Articles about the murder

Newspaper article about Ever's murder

7. Newspaper Articles from First Two Trials in 1964

      NY Times

8. Newspaper Articles from Third Trial 1990's

       NY Times

Film Project - Post 1

Ghosts of Mississippi Party
Guest List:

Medgar Evers

1. Medgar Evers (deceased) - could tell us about his work in the NAACP and other groups working toward integration

Myrlie Evers

2. Delmar Dennis (living?) - former KKK member, then left and worked for the FBI; could give insight into what it was like in the KKK

3. Myrlie Evers (living) - could tell us firsthand about her experience in the trials (where the entire jury was white and the odds were stacked against her)

4. Byron de la Beckwith (deceased) - could give us his perspective and mindset (it's not a real party until an argument breaks out)

5. William H. McIlhany II (living) - author of Klandestine and The ACLU on Trial; could tell us about his research on the KKK and other subjects

Byron de la Beckwith

6. Bobby DeLaughter (living) - could tell us about his experience trying to prove a white man guilty of murdering a black man 25 years after it happened

7. James Picken Jr. (living) - actor who played Medgar Evers in Ghosts of Mississippi (also Dr. Webber in Grey's Anatomy)

8. Darrell Evers (deceased) - could tell us about his experience growing up and watching the changes happen

WWI Poster Analysis

1. Propaganda is a method used by the government to get people to do or think something through the use of ads, signs, posters, etc.

2. Propaganda (as defined by dictionary.com): information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, institution, nation, etc.

3. Set #1

4-6.  On the first poster, the reader's eyes are immediately drawn to the words "WAKE UP, AMERICA!" at the top of the page. After that, the audience notices the woman asleep in a chair wearing a hat and dress with the pattern of the American flag on them. Finally, the viewer notices the words at the bottom "CIVILIZATION CALLS EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD!" The author of this poster is targeting everyone in America (including women and children) to do their patriotic duty instead of "slacking off" like the woman on the poster.
        In the second poster, the audience first sees the giant gorilla wearing a German helmet, carrying a woman in distress, and wielding a club with the word "kultur" on it (meaning "culture" in German). Then the reader notices the words "DESTROY THIS MAD BRUTE" and "ENLIST, US ARMY". The author of this poster was reaching out to young, American men to join the army and "save the young maidens" who are being "held captive" by the monstrous Germans.
        In the third and final poster, the viewer first notices the giant "Hun" (meant to represent the barbaric Germans) looking across the ocean from the pile of rubble it created from the countries it's "destroyed". Next the audience's eyes are drawn to the words "Beat back the HUN with LIBERTY BONDS". The author of this poster wanted to convince all American citizens to buy liberty bonds to "defend their country" from the Germans.

7. I think that propaganda was a smart idea: using people's emotional response to a picture and/or phrase to convince or coerce them into doing something. I also think that it can be good when it's used for the right reasons, but can also be an "abuse of power" so-to-speak if used for the wrong reasons.

8. The federal government felt it necessary to invest in producing propaganda posters during WWI, because if they didn't remind everyone that there was a war going on across the ocean, the people in America would be able to just pretend it wasn't happening. So the government needed to create and circulate propaganda to remind the Americans and encourage them to participate.

Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau

Eddie Aikau

      Even though the film Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau focuses on the life and surfing career of Eddie Aikau, it allows the viewer to gain a deeper understanding of imperialism in the 19th century. Several people are interviewed in the film; during his interview, one of Eddie's siblings talks about the arrival of the Australians. He said that they came in, took over, and offended the native Hawaiians in the process. The Australians who had come to Hawaii to surf (which is a sport that was created by Hawaiians) were rude to the natives that had grown up there. Just like the United States did with the smaller nations of whom they had taken control. They came in, took over, and used the resources they found to their advantage - all while completely disregarding the native peoples and their cultures. The filmmakers interviewed one of the Australian surfers, and he told the audience that he hadn't even aware that he was offending the Hawaiians until Eddie Aikau sat him down and told him about the history of the Hawaiians. Likewise, the US was probably unaware - or just didn't care - that they were changing everything for the native peoples without taking a minute to ask them about their history or what they wanted.

How to Analyze a Political Cartoon

     When analyzing a political cartoon, the first thing you do is look for familiar people, places, or things to figure out what the cartoon is about. Then you look for speech or thought bubbles that indicate what the author's opinions are. After that, you look at the positioning of the people, places, or things to see if it is suggestive of anything. That's all that I'd know to do when looking at a political cartoon.
     A few things I didn't think about that was in the cartoon analysis guide below were to look at the title, pay attention to what you notice first, notice what actions are taking place in the cartoon, and take note of the time period in which it was made.
     Cartoon Analysis Guide This guide sums up the process that I would use when analyzing a political cartoon.

Incorrigible - Philippines

     In this cartoon, the first thing you notice is Uncle Sam, who would obviously be representing the United States. Then your eyes are drawn to the boy in Uncle Sam's lap who has the word "Filipino" written across his back who represents the Philippines. This cartoon is showing America punishing the Philippines for "misbehaving". Then you see the slip of paper sticking out of Uncle Sam's hat that says "Spanish Receipt for $20,000,000" implying that Spain owes the US money. 

Now, Will You Be Good? Uncle Sam (to Filipino)
 "See what I do for a good little boy?"

In this cartoon, you first notice Uncle Sam - once again representing the United States - watching over two children. The child on the right is meant to represent Cuba, dressed in a hat and holding a flag of US colors, already submitting to the influence of America. The child on the left (on whom Uncle Sam is focused) is supposed to be the Philippines. Unlike Cuba, the Philippines have not yet fallen under US control, so they don't get the "toys" that Cuba gets from America.

Filipino's First Bath

     In this cartoon, President McKinley (known by the name "McKinley" written across the top of his bathing suit) is seen holding an unruly child over a body of water labeled "civilization". The child is meant to represent the Philippines (this is assumed based on the title "Filipino's First Bath"). The Philippines is once again seen as a "dirty" child that needs to be "cleansed" by the US. In the back, two other children representing Cuba, are getting dressed in clothes similar to the US flag after their "bath". 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Kids from the Children's March reading a newspaper in jail. 

   The Civil Rights act of 1964 "forbade discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race in hiring, promoting, and firing". It prevented people from using race or gender to discriminate against another person. 
   In my opinion, people today still discriminate against others in a bad way. Especially in the south or with older people who may have old-fashioned backgrounds. Some of the people who were alive during the time of segregation or who were raised on those beliefs by someone who was alive then, are still racist or sexist and discriminate against others. It's not so much large scale discrimination by a group of people, but more individual people who discriminate. 
    Nothing can really be done about those who still discriminate that isn't being done already. Because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is now illegal to discriminate because of someone's sex or race when it comes to things such as hiring a person. I don't think there's much else that we can do. 

    I liked the movie and hearing about the march from the perspectives of the people who participated in it. I also thought it was cool how the makers of the film used an old-fashioned camera to reenact some of the scenes, and then added them in with some of the original film. 
    I'm excited to go to Birmingham and see where the march took place. I think it'll be interesting to actually visit Birmingham instead of just driving past it on the way to Florida or a volleyball tournament. I've passed Birmingham several times, but I don't remember ever actually being in Birmingham and visiting. 

Source:
National Archive - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Children of the Civil Rights Movement - The Children's Crusades

Clubwomen and Women's Clubs

      The first article I read was from the Indianapolis News titled Clubwomen Will Be Drafted Into Service. According to the newspaper, in the past it would take a long time to hear back from the women who were elected to be part of the board of the Indiana Federation of Clubs, if they even heard back at all. The Indiana Federation of Clubs (IFC) is part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), which, according to gfwcindiana.com, is "an international organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service." The Indianapolis News states, "Clubwomen must serve in the capacity assigned to them, she [the president of the IFC] says." Because women often took a really long time to respond to being elected, or didn't respond at all, the IFC began drafting them instead of letting them decide to do the work.

      The next article to which I was directed was an article titled Club or Home? Mrs. Joseph C. DeNoon, of Pittsburg, Thinks No Woman Can Do Both Justice, and Chose Husband and Children from The San Francisco Chronicle. It stated, "Generally speaking, they [men] look upon the foundation of these organizations [women's clubs] as evidence of the uplift and the broadening of the influence of the female sex." However, not all men were happy with eating a cold meal because there wife was out participating in a women's club all day instead of staying home cooking and cleaning.  The article continues with, "... among women themselves there is a decided difference of opinion. Some are strong for the uplift; others are as keenly determined that the uplift movement should be confined to the home." Many women felt that women's clubs were a good thing and wanted to participate. However, a lot of other women felt that it was their job to stay home and remain the dutiful wife and mother. The argument of whether women should stay home or participate in women's clubs went national. The San Francisco Chronicle states, "Since when there has been a chorus of dissent from her [Mrs. DeNoon's] clubwomen, and the whole question of whether or not a woman can afford time for clubs is being argued over again throughout the nation."

       These opinions help clarify what I read in the first article. Women weren't accepting their positions once they were elected, because they felt that they didn't have the time or the ability to participate in a women's club and  remain a good mother and wife to their family. In order to make sure that the IFC had a board, the president began drafting the women that were elected to do the work instead of giving them the option to decline the positions for which they were elected.


Sources:
- Basic Newspapers: used to find information about clubwomen
- GWFC Indiana Federation of Clubs: used to define the Indiana Federation of Clubs
- The Indianapolis News - "Clubwomen will be drafted into service"
- The San Francisco Chronicle - "Club or Home?"

Dangerous Work Conditions

- half of all the work-related deaths happened in the coal mining and railroad industries around 1900
- though there aren't nearly as many worker deaths now, they still happen regularly in ocean fishing, construction of big bridges and sky scrapers, and other dangerous jobs

Library of Economics and Liberty - Working Conditions

The Progressive Era

1. Progress is advancement towards a societal or personal goal.

2. The Progressive Era is defined as the 1890s to 1920s This period of time was when political and social movements took place to rectify the problems introduced to America by industrialization.

3. Progressive reforms all had to do with social and political improvements and changes during the Progressive Era. (Source 3)

4. Major goals of Progressives: (Sources 1 & 2)
      (1 Essential goals worth striving for/ Necessary changes
       2 Good Goals – not strictly necessary but could really improve life
       3 Strange Goals
       4 Not a good idea)
 - Make cities cleaner and healthier (1)
 - Make workplaces safer (1)
 - Improve the treatment of workers and customers (2)
 - Income tax (16th Amendment) (2)
 - Ban on alcohol (3 & 4)
 - Protect social welfare (1)
 - Promote fairness (2)
 - Control big businesses (4)
 - Promote efficiency in government and business (2)

Sources:
1. Google - "goals of the progressive movement"
2. Reference.com - "What were the four goals of the progressive movement?"
3. Google - "progressive reforms"

What People Thought the Future Would be 100 Years Ago

    One hundred years ago, people were trying to predict what the future (our present) would be like. Some of the thing they came up with were a little strange and didn't come true, but other ideas - although, not spot-on - were pretty close to some of the thing we do have today. Here are a few examples of what people thought things would be like today:

firefighters with bat wings

domesticated seahorses

 1. flying cars
 2. domesticated animals              (especially ocean life) that       could be used for                     transportation or work
 3. firefighters with bat wings 
 4. space travel on a regular           basis
 5. high tech education

high tech eduction

 6. video chatting

video chatting

     7. blimp boats
     8. automated bathrooms
     9. robot barbers
   10. mobile homes
   11. radium fire places

    Some of these things, such as the domesticated animals, bat-winged firefighters, and hover cars were pretty hopeful and seem to be more of a "wish list". Other things like the robots performing jobs and high tech education seem to be more on the warning side. People could feel threatened that robots would put them out of jobs, or that their kids could be hooked up to machines.
    Maybe not all of the predictions came true, some of them are pretty far from our reality today, but others came pretty close to being spot-on predictions. The mobile home that was predicted may not be the exact one we have today but it was pretty close. The same goes for video chatting, but giant domesticated seahorses that we can race and ride across the ocean would have to go in the "didn't really happen" category.
     Most of the predictions seem to be about types of transportation, like the blimp boat, the hover cars, and animals.
     Personally, I don't think that we will have another time of drastic change like the one that happened 100 years ago, but I do think that things will continue to change gradually.



1. Wired - Here’s How People 100 Years Ago Thought We’d Be Living Today
2. Up Worthy: 11 ridiculous future predictions from the 1900 world's fair — and 3 that came true.

Animals During Urbanization

     Some may think that when the United States started to urbanize, people would have left their animals on the farms, but this was not the case. As people started to move from the rural countryside to the more densely populated urban cities, they brought their animals with them. Animals performed jobs, they were kept as companion pets, the way animals were kept and treated made people start thinking about cleanliness in a way they never had before, and having animals even started changing what was considered to be a part of the "private sphere" of people's home lives. Urbanization had a huge affect on the lives of animals.

Pigs in the city streets near a residential area.

     At the start of urbanization, people used animals mainly for work and food. In late 1850's and early 1860's New York City, cows and pigs - which were an important food source for the lower-class city residents - were kept in the outskirts of the city near the residential areas and were fed wastes rather than actual food. This made for poor-quality food, add that to the unsanitary conditions - which caused putrid smells for the people close by - led to newspaper articles that coerced the New York City government to take action. The livestock was taken over by the government, who were now able to control the quality of urban food (Source 8). This was the beginning of people caring about what they were eating, and the start of the Department of Health in urban cities. 

Horse-drawn carriage (1900)

     Another instance that helped early cities in the US realize that they needed to improve the conditions of the city to be more sanitary was the Great Epizootic. During the early 1870's, horses and mules were used as work animals, usually pulling carriages or hauling heavy work materials. In 1872 and epidemic that originated in Toronto spread to all the horses in the majority of the major cities of the US. For two weeks, horses in big cities such as Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco were all unable to work because they caught distemper. Many people were very annoyed at the lack of a work force, and construction and transportation was halted for a brief period of time. Dr. Andrew Smith, a veterinarian at Ontario Vet College even voiced that he thought of it as a "considerable loss and annoyance to owners of horses and to the community generally"(Source 8) People in the city realized that their multi-species communities made for unique ecological conditions and an easy was for disease to spread that was unlike that in the rural countryside. 

Boston Terriers ("America's dog") 

Black and white photo of a Saint Bernard

     The role of animals in the home also adapted during this time period. Before urbanization, the only pets that were really kept - usually just in the homes of the wealthy - were big dogs kept as hunting partners or child companions. Not until the end of the urbanization period does one see small dogs and other animals kept inside the home. According to Source 5, at the beginning of urbanization in the 1880's, the most popular dog breeds were gun dog (spaniels, setters, and pointers), then in the 1890's it was the Saint Bernard, then the Collie in the 1900's, and finally in the 1910's the most popular dog breed is the Boston Terrier. The Boston Terrier (or "America's dog") is the first really small "companion dog" that wasn't kept for any other purpose than to keep the owner company. This marks the start of pets used as symbols of class or status in the home, or simply for entertainment. Around this time, birds became very popular because they could be kept in a small space and provided "music" to the owners. Instead of going to an opera or a theater, the owner of a bird simply had to sit in his or her home and listen to their small, convenient pet as they sang.

ASPCA giving water to a carriage horse.

    Animals in the city also had an affect on what was considered to be part of the "domestic sphere" of everyday life. With some animals performing work in the cities, and others being kept as pets inside the homes, they were considered part of the "public sphere" and the "private sphere". The people's ability to see how the work animals were treated in public led to the creation of the ASPCA, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and new morals for the treatment of all animals, whether they were used for work or kept as pets (Source 2). A saying arose during urbanization that went, "A man who beats his beast is a man who beats his children." This saying is a great example of how people viewed animals in the home the same way that they viewed their children. They would show them off to guests, making sure that they were well-behaved and taken care of properly. Animals became symbols of the moral stability in a home. 
     Urbanization changed the way animals were kept and what role they played in the lives of their human counterparts. The keeping of animals during urbanization even changed the way that humans viewed things like hygiene in the city communities. Animals also had an affect on urbanization. Without work horses or mules to haul heavy materials, construction would not have happened as fast as it did in the beginning of urbanization. Urbanization changed many things for animals as a whole, but animals also helped the process of urbanization happen. 




Citations:

1. NY Times - Pet Sounds: a review of a book that gives a general background on domestic animals in America
2. Backstory- Pet Friendly: A History of Domestic Animals - a podcast on the history of domestic animals
3. Express - A secret history of pets: Why humans have kept animals as pets since ancient times: used to get dates of important animal events
4. Library of Congress - Books that Shaped America: used to get a description of The American Woman's Home
5. The CSM - Most Popular Dog Breed: which breed of dog was most popular for each decade from 1880's to present
6. NY Times - Coney Elephant Killed: newpaper article about the execution of a circus elephant, used to get the perspective of people on animals during that time period
7. History Matters - The American Woman’s Home: a more detailed description of the book in order to get an idea of what role pets played in the home
8. ASEH 2013: International Perspectives on Urban Animals in the Nineteenth Century - several accounts of events having to do with animals in cities during urbanization

MLK Speaker Review (Peggy Wallace Kennedy)

   Peggy Wallace Kennedy, the speaker that came today to talk to us during Randolph's MLK community time, had a lot of interesting and important points to make on what it was like in Alabama during a time of segregation and racism. Though she may have had used the old style of giving a scripted speech, which made it very hard for this generation of students to stay engaged through the whole thing, she spoke on many subjects that she was able to experience firsthand - as opposed to only being able to hear about it through older people like our generation.
   One of the most interesting facts that stuck in my brain was the fact that her father, Governor George Wallace, ran first as a "racial moderate" candidate and lost. I thought that was understandable seeing as Alabama is one of the states more well-known for its inclination towards racism during that time. What surprised me about her statement was that her father had run as a racial moderate in the first place. Last week, they informed us that the daughter of Governor George Wallace was coming to speak to us on what it was like to have a racist government official for a father. This made me expect to hear all about how she felt having a racist father in the government. I did not expect her to talk about how he used to invite some of his African-American coworkers to lunch in his office so they didn't have to deal with the segregated cafes around their workplace. After she told us about his losing the election where he ran as a racial moderate, she told us that he later ran again as a racist and won. She was disappointed in him for giving up on who he was just to gain power.
   Another thing that surprised me was when Mrs. Kennedy told us that she knew Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter. Not only that, but stood arm-in-arm with her! She told us that the two of them represented the "little black girl and little white girl" that Martin Luther King Jr. had spoken of in his "I Have a Dream" speech.