Medgar Evers

There stood a man looking at the University of Mississippi, the same college that had rejected him on February 1954. Who would have thought that that man, Medgar Evers, would become one of the reasons why the University became desegregated on December in the same year. Medgar Evers was an African American who grew up in Decatur, Mississippi where segregation was highly influential and significant. He was the middle child with four other siblings, and his most important and famous kin was Charles Evers. He influenced Medgar to join the movement. Additionally Howard, a president of Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) and his employer, introduced him to the work that activists did. He grew more involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and he eventually became the first field secretary for NAACP in 1954. Evers became enraged when he saw something that he found to be very stereotypical. Although it was more risky, he organized open rallies and boycotts against certain subjects such as buses and goods from whites. He coordinated these demonstrations to allow the movement to become a force impossible to ignore. He was and still is considered one of the most important leader in the Civil Rights Movement because he displayed the qualities of compassion, persistence, and reason.

Medgar's compassion towards his race was a reason why his thoughts and views were respected among leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. Evers was a person who cared and thought about others before himself. It was blatantly obvious that he cared for his fellow African American that even his wife, Myrlie Evers stated: "'Medgar felt the deprivation of every Negro as though it were his own. He suffered with every Negro whose suffering he knew.'"(Myrlie Evers). This quote proves how Medgar cared about those he worked for. This is important because it was something that kept him working. He gave his all in the work he did because he knew what it was like to be in that position first-hand. There were many things that weren't right in Medgar's eyes especially things that were about segregation: "'in Africa... a Congo native can be a locomotive engineer, but in Jackson... [a black] cannot even drive a garbage truck.'"(Medgar Evers). Evers made the comparison between a Congo native and an African American to demonstrate how two similar people were being treated differently based on where they lived. Because it didn't seem right to have different standards on a person due to the place where they lived, Medgar Evers worked to change this. His compassion was one trait that made him valuable to the Movement.

Another reason why Medgar Evers is a hero was because his perseverance influenced many people around him. Although Medgar Evers was castigated about his work by whites, he persevered to be able to change the things that he felt were immoral. Others constantly judged him, and he even got threatened sometimes: "In the weeks leading up to his death, Evers found himself the target of a number of threats. His public investigations into the murder of Emmett Till and his vocal support of Clyde Kennard left him vulnerable to attack."(qtd. in NAACP History: Medgar Evers) He was a tenaciously and self-assertive civil rights activist who was never fazed by any threats. We as people would most likely have stopped after being threatened by a group of people; however, because of his persistence he was able to influence others to join the movement. One of the people he changed was President Kennedy because he had admired Evers perseverance: "His death helped galvanize a generation of civil rights workers, and the measure Kennedy proposed the night of his death eventually became the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964."(qtd. in Leaders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party) President Kennedy created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because he was motivated by the people's determination and perseverance to prove that segregation is wrong. If they just gave up, many things would not be the same today. Persistent leaders such as Medgar Evers gave protesters the hope and strength to keep on working towards their goal.

Medgar Evers was a reasonable man who fought for the monumental problem of segregation because he felt that the Mississippi at the time was imbalanced and unstable. He had a strong sense of justice when it came to racial differences: "Medgar raged over the way black members of the NAACP were harassed with the threat of violence and economic pressure. He was especially infuriated at the practice of sex between white men and black women."(qtd. in Contemporary Heroes and Heroines) Evers felt that the whites were looking down on them when they were harassed. He wanted to stop these practices so that African Americans could converse with whites as peers, not as servants. In order to do so, he made petitions and organized boycotts. Medgar Evers' authoritative yet sensible actions back in the 1900's influence important people, such as former President Clinton, in present-day: "'Fighting for a world we can share instead of having to agree to let somebody else control it has always been a highly dangerous proposition. It is expensive in blood and life.'"(Bill Clinton) Former President Clinton understands why Medgar Evers was working to stop segregation. If someone has control of another person, it would become an endless cycle of hatred. Since that was not the America he envisioned, he worked rationally to change it in order to make all races treated the same regardless of race.

Medgar Evers was considered a hero because he had helped in breaking down the racial barrier, by persistently working to his goal. His reasonable ways as well as his compassion towards the subject were factors that eventually led to his success. Evers' compassion to the people affected by the movement is a huge inspiration because, even though he was having a hard time with the job, he made the people a priority. He also was and is an inspiration because he had persistence on what he was truly righteous. "Though Medgar became a victim of the civil rights struggles in the South and throughout the United States, his rage over racial injustices was a part of the larger movement that eventually brought change to the Mississippi that he loved."(qtd. in Contemporary Heroes and Heroines) Evers was reasonable and understood the African Americans, because he knew what it felt like to be different from others because of racism. The same man that stood at the college became a renown Civil Rights activist, and eventually succeeded in making the state of Mississippi change indefinitely.

Works Cited

"Leaders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party." Historic World Leaders. Gale, 1994. Biography in Context. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

"Medgar Wiley Evers." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1990. Biography in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2013

"NAACP History: Medgar Evers" NAACP. Biography. 2009-2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013 <http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-medgar-evers>

Southall, Ashley. "Paying Tribute to a Seeker of Justice, 50 Years After His Assassination." New York Times 6 June 2013: A11(L). Biography in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.