Across the country in the1960’s many African Americans suffered
from the injustice of the law. Although Ms. Alberta Jones was a part of the
judicial system her life seemed to be only a miniscule portion of it. In the
year before her murder, three young males; civil rights voting advocates like
Jones, were shot and killed. Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James
Chaney were killed by a Ku
Klux Klan lynch mob near Meridian, Mississippi. The
three young civil rights workers were working to register black voters in
Mississippi. The trio were pulled over by Sheriff Cecil Price, an active member
of the Klan, and held them in custody while other members of the Klan prepared their
demise. The trio wouldn’t have gotten so much national attention if it weren’t for
the fact that Schwerner and Goodman were white and all three were members of
Congress of Racial Equality. The FBI
fully investigated the disappearance of these men and with the help of an
informant, the trio’s murderers were brought to justice. The FBI charged 18 men
with conspiracy to violate Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney’s civil rights. Several
were convicted 8 were acquitted and in a jury of all white peers the outcome
remained deadlocked on three. Although Alberta never received her justice, the two
stories of how these individuals were chased or kidnapped, beaten, shot and
probably terrified of their evident doom remains constant. It goes to show that
maybe if Alberta had a white female companion maybe the outcome of her story would’ve
been different. Also if James Chaney would have been by himself, would he have
gotten the same amount of media and federal attention? I would have to say in Alberta’s case she
probably would have had a better chance of survival, whereas James we would’ve never
heard his story.