years. 50 years ago on june 21 that three civil rights workers -- james chaney, mickey schwerner, andrew goodman -- were murdered in mississippi. we will go to jackson. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> we spend the rest of the hour on voting rights. june 21 marked the 50th anniversary of the murders of three young civil rights workers who traveled to mississippi for freedom summer in 1964. the historic campaign to register african-american voters is chronicled in a new documentary called "freedom summer" that aired on pbs american experience this week. this is the trailer. [indiscernible] to control the making of the law that controls me. control the government in which i live. >> i don't think people understand how violent mississippi was. vote,ck people try and they can get hurt or killed. >> [indiscernible] >> they would say, you're right, boy. we should be registered to vote, but i ain't going down there and messing with them why people. send in theo mississippi the summer upwards of 10

the summer after james chaney and andrew goodman and michael schwerner were all killed and their bodieshid inside that earthen dam in mississippi, president johnson signed the but just below the level at which we are willing to talk openly about it, outside of polite company and what we are willing to admit to in the light of day, there isn't actually a consensus view on the heroism of james chaney and andrew goodman and michael schwerner. they're not heroes to everyone. part of how you can tell that is what happened to james chaney's grave after they put him in the ground. a reporter was sent there in 1988 to his grave. this is what they found in 1988. >> the headstone has been knocked off by vandals, thrown in a ditch and now disappeared. this granite block, crudely labeled, 1964, james chaney, is all that now remains. >> they did bury james chaney with a proper headstone, but vandals broke it off and threw it in the ditch. it almost defies believing. james chaney's brother got him a new headstone the following year. today, because it is 50 years this week since james chaney was kille

on the heroism of james chaney and andrew goodman and michael schwerner.rt of how you can tell that is what happened to james chaney's grave after they put him in the ground. a reporter was sent there in 1988 to his grave. this is what they found in 1988. >> the headstone has been knocked off by vandals, thrown in a ditch and now disappeared. this granite block, crudely labeled, 1964, james chaney, is all that now remains. >> they did bury james chaney with a proper headstone, but vandals broke it off and threw it in the ditch. it almost defies believing. james chaney's brother got him a new headstone the following year. today, because it is 50 years this week since james chaney was killed, we sent a producer for this show to the cemetery where he is buried. a member of the church where james chaney is buried in the cemetery, a woman named ruby mcfarland, she showed us the site today. she was a college the year they were killed in mississippi. she also worked on voter registration. she walked us across the churchyard today and passed the many graves today

murder, where two of the volunteers from the north and one mississippi native, james cheney, andrew goodman, and basically were killed. they were taken by a sheriff and they were held until the clan could gather together. they were released. the clan came and killed them, they disappeared. and this became the great fear for all the people who worked in mississippi, because they knew that this could happen. so it is a really painful moment and what it does is it both inspires those who were in mississippi to keep registering but it also again puts national attention on philadelphia, mississippi. the f.b.i., which often wasn't very supportive of the civil rights movement, had to go find out what happened to these three civil rights workers. and ultimately when that was found out that sense of anger again, stimulated more people to come from the north. white and black, to be part of this, so in some ways, what freedom summer does what the murder of the civil rights workers does, is that it gives this country another visible moment where they've got to effect change because this is seen as some

horrible murder where two of the volunteers from the north and one mississippi native, james chaney, andrew goodman and sworn warner basically were killed. they were taken by a sheriff, and they were held until the klan could gather together. they were released, and the klan killed them. they knew that this could happen, and so it was a really painful moments, and what it does is it inspires those who were in mississippi to keep registering, but also again puts national attention on the sofa and mississippi. the fbi, which often was not very supportive of the civil had to findent out what happens to these civil rights workers, and ultimately when was not, that sense of anger again stimulated more people to come from the north, white and black, and be part of this, so in some ways, what freedom summer does, what the murder of these civil rights workers does is that it gives this country another visible moment where they have got to affect change because this is seen as something that should not happen in a free and fair america. >> you say that mississippi had the greatest risk. a rewardalso possibl

michael schwerner, james cheney and andrew goodman.stigating the burning of a local church where they planned to build a freedom school that summer, one of the many projects slated for the historic freedom summer of 1964. that courageous effort to bring students from around the country to the deep south to fight jim crow. >> we hope to send in to mississippi this summer upwards of 1,000 students from all around the country who will engage in what we are calling freedom schools, community center programs, voter registration activity, and in general a program designed to open up mississippi. >> the students who answered the call for help literally put their lives on the line. that year, only 7% of blacks in mississippi were registered to vote. 7%. and the freedom summer volume teers and civil rights activists were constant targetses of hate and violence. the night of june 21, 1964, schwerner, cheney and goodman were pulled over by local sheriffs who claim to have released them that night. authorities found their burned out car hours late

former bill clinton attorney who was also a freedom summer volunteer back in the day, and he was andrew goodman'sate during their training for this. david, the late maya angelou wrote in the forward to goodman's mother's memoir that those three young men represent 300,000 young men and women who dared, who had the courage to go to the lion's den and try to scrub the lion's teeth. so you were one of those 300,000. did you feel going in that you were risking your lives? >> well, i think at the beginning of the summer, people were worried. i think we knew we were going to go into harm's way, but i think everybody thought they were going to come -- we were going to come through it okay. >> what would you want people to know about andrew goodman and his legacy? >> well, i think he was a very brave young man. i only knew him for a week. i met him exactly a week before he was murdered. that week was a very high pressure week. we were learning a lot about mississippi history, voter registration techniques, self-protection, things like that. our rights or lack of them in mississippi. he was very serious.

the summer after james chaney and andrew goodman and michael schwerner were killed and bodies hid insidehen dam in mississippi, lyndon johnson signed the voting rights act into law. following summer. no more taxes, no more literacy tests or tricks designed to keep legal voters from actually being able to vote. johnson's signature on that law resulted directly from the sacrifices of people like those three civil rights workers who were killed in philadelphia, mississippi. but just below the level at which we are willing to talk openly about it, outside of polite company and what we are willing to admit to in the ligh polite company and what we are willing to admit to in the light of day, there isn't actually a consensus view on the heroism of james chaney and andrew goodman and michael schwerner. they're not heroes to everyone. part of how you can tell that is what happened to james chaney's grave after they put him in the ground. a reporter was sent there in 1988 to his grave. this is what they found in 1988. >> the headstone has been knocked off by vandals, thrown in a ditch and now dis

cheney, andrew goodman and ofhael shwerner in june 1964. rita bender is now a seattle professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights and brown university professor. the 2014e at organization of american historians annual meeting in atlanta. this is about 90 minutes. the freedom summer. this is an hour and a half. >> thank you all for being here. my name is jim campbell. i teach history at stanford

andrew goodman, michael sh schwerner and james cheney went there to help register african-american voters, but the opposition was widespread and brutal. the three men were killed by the klu klux klan. all these years later, those three men are considered heroes of the civil rights movement. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, rising gas prices and what you can do to minimize the pain. >>> and later, one school's recipe for student success and like any good meal, it's getting rave reviews. >>> we're back with a look at gas prices in this country, which have been soaring in the last couple of weeks as the conflict in iraq escalates. aaa says the turmoil in iraq is likely to keep prices high this summer. so what can you do to ease the pain? here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: for shavon lambert, there is nothing sweet about business this summer. rising gas prices make ten hours on the road very expensive. >> today i'm going to put in 70. $70. >> that's a lot of ice cream cones. >> yes. that is a lot. too many. >> reporter: with tensions in iraq, gas prices have skyroc

james cheney, andrew goodman and michael shwerner in june of 1964. rita bender is now a seattle university law professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights activist and brown university professor. they spoke at the 2014 organization of american historians annual meeting in atlanta. this is about 90 minutes. >> it's my pleasure to introduce today's panelist after which i'm going to shut up. of ground rul. the reason that there are these blinding lights, this event is being recorded by c span, so one consequence of that is they have asked that we use the microphone for questions from the floor. i'm afraid there's only one, so my hope would be that -- i hope we don't get one of these endless cues, but if you do have a question and are able, please come forward and speak into the microphone -- with your questions. if you are not able, we'll try to get the microphone to you. the speaker will speak, i hope, i expect quite briefly, and we will then throw this open into a conversation. it is as all of you know if you've been watchi

james cheney, andrew goodman, and michael shwerner in june of 1964. rita bender is now a seattle university law professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights activist and brown university

andrew goodman, michael sh westerner and james chaney went there to help register african-american voters, but the opposition was widespread and brutal. the three men were killed by the klu klux klan. all these years later, those three men are considered heroes of the civil rights movement. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, rising gas prices and what you can do to minimize the pain. >>> and later, one school's recipe for student success and like any good meal, it's getting recipe for student success and like any good meal, it's getting rave reviews. just take a closer look. it works how you want to work. with a fidelity investment professional... or managing your investments on your own. helping you find new ways to plan for retirement. and save on taxes where you can. so you can invest in the life that you want today. tap into the full power of your fidelity greenline. call or come in today for a free one-on-one review. i'm j-e-f-f and i have copd. i'm l-i-s-a and i have copd, but i don't want my breathing problems to get in the way of hosting my book club. that's why i

the murders of civil rights workers james cheney, michael schwerner and andrew goodman in 1964.0,000 armed federal agents, national guardsmen and military police just to enforce federal law allowing a black man to attend state college. a notion that was, shall we say, less than popular here. to be honest, that was about all i had for an image of the state of mississippi. that was all i knew. and it hadn't occurred to me to look further. but i have traveled the world since then, and i have visited and learned to love many places not my own, cultures and beliefs very different from the upper east side of manhattan. why can't i love mississippi? ♪ ♪ ♪ never gonna fall from my spot, i move all this, in september ♪ ♪ black eye october, so you be thankful the party's not over ♪ ♪ we won the race because they ran a lame campaign ♪ ♪ i'm cooking victory, you want a taste ♪ >> pyinfamous is a proud son and resident of mississippi, a youth mentor in jackson's church and public school systems, owner of a marketing agency and hip-hop artist. this town it feels empty, but where is everybody?

in 1964, james chaney, andrew goodman, and andrew schwerner beaten and shot by a group of klansmen. they had come to mississippi to register african-american voters as part of the free room -- freedom summer campaign. a number of klansmen numbers were charged with minor sentences. it took 40 meters before a murder conviction was handed down with a former ku klux klan's mend it was found guilty of murder in 2005. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to our listeners and viewers around country and world. the city of new york has reportedly reached a $40 million settlement with the five men who were wrongfully convicted of raping a female jogger in central park 25 years ago. anton mccray, kevin richardson, raymond santana, korey wise, and yusef salaam were arrested for beating and raping a white woman in central park. she came to be known as the central park jogger. the five were all black and latino between the ages of 14 and 16. their arrest made national headlines and initi

michael swerner, james early chaney and andrew goodman were in the state as part of the historic freedomfort to bring students into the deep south to fight jim crow. activists soon learned the men had been murdered by the kkk. a new documentary "freedom summer" on pbs record ares this stunning moment of grief and passion at chaney's memorial service. >> i want to talk about really what i really grieve about. i don't grieve for chaney because the fact i feel that he lived fuller life than in of us will ever live. i feel that he's got his freedom we are still fighting for. >> all the different emotions leading up to this particular moment rekindled to come out. looking out there and seeing ben chaney, james's little brother, i lost it. i totally just are lost it. >> don't bow down anymore. hold your are heads up. we want our freedom now. i don't want to have are to go to another memorial. i'm tired of funerals. tired of it. >> joining me now is stanley nelson, the emmy award winning director and producer of the pbs freedom summer documentary. he also produced the acclaimed films, the murde

james chaney, andrew goodman, and schwerner went to mississipms mississippi to register negroes as votersad been stressed that the federal government could offer them little protection. >> the bodies of schwerner, chaney and goodman were found later that summer, three young men murdered by the kkk trying to register black voters in mississippi. the man at the center of the battle, freedom summer, 50 years later he's back in mississippi organizing with the new generation. he will be my guest, coming up. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your

. >> reporter: on june 21, 1964, three young activists, andrew goodman and michael schwerner from new york and james cheney from mississippi vanished. >> the people who understood mississippi knew they were never going to be found alive. >> reporter: the bodies not discovered for six months. those murders dramatized in the movie "mississippi burning." >> it put this kind of shadow over the whole summer. [ gunshot ] >> reporter: for his film, nelson shares the real-life stories of the once young freedom fighters, who lived in fear every day. >> they put this noose over my head and attached to a long rope. they jumped back into the car. and i just saw myself being dragged to death. >> reporter: it wasn't just intimidation. they were killing people. >> one of the terms that people always use for what was happening in mississippi was terrorism. they were being terrorized. >> reporter: after freedom summer. after those murders. president lyndon johnson signed the voting rights act, which banned discrimination in voter registration. last year, a sharply divided supreme court struck down a k

james cheney, andrew goodman, and michael shwerner in june of 1964. rita bender is now a seattle university law professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights activist and brown university professor. they spoke at the 2014 organization of american historians annual meeting in atlanta. this is about 90 minutes. s an hour and a half. >> thank you all for being here. my name is jim campbell. i teach history at stanford university. it is my privilege and my great pleasure to introduce today's panelists after which i'm going to shut up. a couple of ground rules. the reason that there are these blinding lights, this event is being recorded by c span, so one consequence of that is they have asked that we use the microphone for questions from the floor. i'm afraid there's only one, so my hope would be that -- i hope we don't get one of these endless cues, but if you do have a question and are able, please come forward and speak into the microphone -- with your questions. if you are not able, we'll try to get the microphone to you. the

we mourn james chaney, andrew goodman. they and so many others made this possible.the time, the civil rights act was incomplete without the voting rights act. president johnson and dr. king would get the passage in the next congress. today those stand among the greatest legislative of our country. as we bestowed the congressional gold medal on dr. martin luther king and coretta scott king, we must insist on the truth. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act, we must pass the bipartisan voting rights act in this congress. thank you all. >> ladies and gentlemen, the republican leader of the united states senate, mitch mcconnell. >> america is a land of promise and opportunity. it is conviction that unites all of us americans, and one we'd repeat quite often. for too long in this country, that wasn't the case for a large segment of our population. for nearly a century after the civil war, african americans were denied the most basic of american freedoms. a cancer of intolerance and injustice was allowed to metastasize while many with the power to stop

james chaney, michael sworner and andrew goodman. on june 21, 1964, these three activists, one african-american and two jewish, were kidnapped and murdered for working to register black voters. their lives, the lives of james chaney, michael sworner and michael goodman, were claimed by hate, yet their faith and quality and justice and right to vote lives on today through the black jewish alliance borne out of the civil rights movement. i proudly honor these men and i'd like to thank the organization for ethnic understanding for championing this cause. for 25 years, the foundation has advanced the values shared by the jewish and african-american communities, including tolerance, equal rights and justice. as a jewish american, it's an honor to fight for these values here in congress today and every day. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. >>

three young civil rights workers, james cheney, andrew goodman, michael schwerner disappeared on junet after being arrested and released. their bodies were found 44 days later. 18 people were charged in the case by federal authorities. seven were convicted. that stirred national outrage, became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. dr. martin luther king jr. commented on what the killings meant for the country. >> it's a haunting, poignant question. a question facing everybody under the sound of my voice tonight and every person who lives in this nation. it's not so much who killed those young men, but what killed them? and when we move from the who to the what, in a strange sense, their death involves all of us. >> i want to bring in civil rights activist and harvard law professor lonnie guenere. you were in mississippi this past week. what were your thoughts being there 50 years later, and thoughts as well about where we are today? we've had some setbacks with some of these voter suppression laws. but is this what they were fighting for and fighting for the past 50 years to get

. >> james cheney, andrew goodman and michael, all under 25.of the night. the car the three men had been driving was found two days later burned. an nbc news broadcast described it as gutted by fire. president johnson called mississippi senator james eastland to see what could be done. >> jim, we have three kids missing down there. what can i do about it? >> well, i don't know. i don't believe there's three missing. >> we've got their car down here. >> i believe it was a publicity stunt. >> the bodies were found 44 days later about buried beneath a 15-foot earth en dam. eight men were convicted including these two men. the on the right county sheriff deputy cecil price, the man who had arrested cheney, goodman and michael and who alerted the kkk to their whereaboutses and held them in jail just long enough for the klan to arrive, follow the men as they left jail and make sure they never made it home. on the left is local preacher who wasn't convicted until 2005. on this day, june 21, exactly 41 years after the crime. the deaths shocked the nati

i met with andrew goodman, who was murdered down there, his brother, yesterday, because a year ago almost to the day if not to the day the supreme court in shelby vs. holder ruled part of the voting rights act unconstitutional. and our chief justice said it's no longer needed. he was wrong, it's needed. everyone should be entitled to vote. and there are issues about states right now denying people the right to vote. long i.d., madam speaker, lines, ending early voting, different problems being placed before people to stop them from voting. that's anti-american. and yet it's occurring in this country right now. there is a voting rights amendment act proposed right now bipartisan, but limited bipartisan, mr. sensenbrenner, a few other republicans, i could count them on both my hands, are co-sponsors along with democrats. to pass a law that would require preclearance in states that have hown by actions and deed discriminatory practices that would inhibit the right to vote. and stop it before it becomes discrimination. but we've got just a pause it of republican support -- paucity of republic

cheney, andrew goodman and ofhael shwerner in june 1964. rita bender is now a seattle professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights and brown university professor. the 2014e at organization of american historians annual meeting in atlanta. this is about 90 minutes. the freedom summer. this is an hour and a half. >> thank you all for being here. my name is jim campbell. i teach history at stanford university. it is my privilege and my great pleasure to introduce today's panelists after which i'm going to shut up. a couple of ground rules. the reason that there are these blinding lights, this event is being recorded by c span, so one consequence of that is they have asked that we use the microphone for questions from the floor. i'm afraid there's only one, so my hope would be that -- i hope we don't get one of these endless cues, but if you do have a question and are able, please come forward and speak into the microphone -- with your questions. if you are not able, we'll try to get the microphone to you. the speaker