The New York Times,
June 14, 1964
South Girds for Crisis
Massive Assault on Racial Barriers Planned for This Summer Creates Atmosphere of Tension
...Even the assurance of repressive law enforcement has failed to calm the fears of whites in some areas. Much of their anxiety results from rumor and misunderstanding. But it is nonetheless real.
The depth of this misunderstanding and apprehension is reflected in the reaction of many white Mississippians to the coming "Freedom Summer" operation. The project calls for a statewide program of voter registration drives, special academic training for Negro youths, adult citizenship classes, political action, a survey of the state's political and economic structure and a study of white attitudes...
...Probably the best that can by hoped for realistically in the Deep South's pockets of defiance...is a peaceful stalemate. There can be no substantial, lasting progress here so long as whites see signs of hope elsewhere that the nation will eventually tire of the civil rights controversy and leave them to resolve the issue in their own way, as was done in 1877.
The Birmingham Post-Herald,
August 7, 1964
5 Bullets in 3 Bodies
Study Shows, Shot From Front
FBI agents fanned out around Old Jolly farm today, questioning residents for clues to who killed three civil rights workers and buried them in a red dirt dam.
The FBI said it believed the three were victims of abduction and murder but steadfastly refused to confirm or deny widespread rumors of imminent arrests...
Private pathologists in Jackson identified the bodies of Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24, both white New Yorkers. The third body is apparently their Negro companion, James Chaney, but sufficient scientific background on Chaney has not yet permitted the FBI to confirm the identity officially...
The Boston Globe,
August 7, 1964
Editorial: Mississippi's Conscience
Some Mississippians who knew better mocked the search for the three missing civil rights workers, saying it was only a hoax. Now a nation horrified by mass racial violence in the North is stunned anew by the finding of the three bodes. This was cold-blooded vicious murder, the ultimate act of extremists...
...The next step must be the capture of the killers and their conviction by a jury -- in a state whose concept of proper justice in such cases has often been less than reassuring...
...It is hard to believe that the majority of the white community in Mississippi and its neighboring states are so monolithic that they are not torn by guilt.
The three were slain for helping Negroes make a reality of the right to vote. It was a lynching, in an atmosphere that only the people of Mississippi themselves can purge. The crime is on their conscience. They will have to live with it, and face the condemnation of an outraged world.
June 14, 1964
South Girds for Crisis
Massive Assault on Racial Barriers Planned for This Summer Creates Atmosphere of Tension
...Even the assurance of repressive law enforcement has failed to calm the fears of whites in some areas. Much of their anxiety results from rumor and misunderstanding. But it is nonetheless real.
The depth of this misunderstanding and apprehension is reflected in the reaction of many white Mississippians to the coming "Freedom Summer" operation. The project calls for a statewide program of voter registration drives, special academic training for Negro youths, adult citizenship classes, political action, a survey of the state's political and economic structure and a study of white attitudes...
...Probably the best that can by hoped for realistically in the Deep South's pockets of defiance...is a peaceful stalemate. There can be no substantial, lasting progress here so long as whites see signs of hope elsewhere that the nation will eventually tire of the civil rights controversy and leave them to resolve the issue in their own way, as was done in 1877.
The Birmingham Post-Herald,
August 7, 1964
5 Bullets in 3 Bodies
Study Shows, Shot From Front
FBI agents fanned out around Old Jolly farm today, questioning residents for clues to who killed three civil rights workers and buried them in a red dirt dam.
The FBI said it believed the three were victims of abduction and murder but steadfastly refused to confirm or deny widespread rumors of imminent arrests...
Private pathologists in Jackson identified the bodies of Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24, both white New Yorkers. The third body is apparently their Negro companion, James Chaney, but sufficient scientific background on Chaney has not yet permitted the FBI to confirm the identity officially...
The Boston Globe,
August 7, 1964
Editorial: Mississippi's Conscience
Some Mississippians who knew better mocked the search for the three missing civil rights workers, saying it was only a hoax. Now a nation horrified by mass racial violence in the North is stunned anew by the finding of the three bodes. This was cold-blooded vicious murder, the ultimate act of extremists...
...The next step must be the capture of the killers and their conviction by a jury -- in a state whose concept of proper justice in such cases has often been less than reassuring...
...It is hard to believe that the majority of the white community in Mississippi and its neighboring states are so monolithic that they are not torn by guilt.
The three were slain for helping Negroes make a reality of the right to vote. It was a lynching, in an atmosphere that only the people of Mississippi themselves can purge. The crime is on their conscience. They will have to live with it, and face the condemnation of an outraged world.