Fighting for Civil Rights
"Mississipi Burning"

pre-judge - verb - to make a judgement about a situation before you have all the necessary information. preju-dice - noun ~ (against sb/sth) an unreasonable dislike or preference for a person, group, custom, etc., specially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc. - verb ~ (against sb/sth) to influence somebody so that they have an unfair or unreasonable opinion about somebody/something.

Pay attention to the movie poster of the film "Mississipi Burning" presented above. It is sided by the explanation of the word prejudice. Listen to the face hidding behind the sheet; we can note it only by the eyes, shown by two holes, nicely made so that a white mask could be created.

But, it is not possible to see that the sheet used to create this mask had the clear intention to hide the faces of people with prejudice, that defend ideas of racial hate, that stand for the superiority of a human group in its relation with the others (in the film it is referring to the power of a white men in comparison to a black one, but, it was extensive to hispanic and other minorities) and that stimulated persecution to all of those who represented the rights of these minorities and tried to attempt against white power.

These people seemed to be so certain about their beliefs, ideological and political thoughts, but, were not courageous enough to publically assume their presence on prejudice groups such as the infamous KKK (Ku Klux Klan), responsible for some of the saddest and most pitiful pages of the United States history.

They dared to defy the laws of their country and kept on giving worst conditions of education, public transportation or work (among others) for black people. In some cases, unhappy with situations in which they were put in disadvantage, they would burn churches, kill entire families, hang people and leave crosses in flames in the backyard of innocent human beings. They could never face adversities with intelligence, creativity or, at least, dignity.

Also, I was worried to show the meaning of the words prejudge and prejudice so that we can realize that this words represent partiality, absence of knowledge (and information) and lack of study and research about a concept or idea. Also, the words stand for intollerance and aversion to different people (on regarding race, religion, political opinions,...).

When we compare the definitions about prejudge and prejudice given by dictionaries, we can conclude that people related to prejudice organizations (such as KKK) are not well prepared. They are uninformed and, because of their incapacities, they are not able to understand that above any difference of racial, sexual, religious or any other order, we are human beings, capable of realizations, of brotherhood, of producing, of generating life and, among other things, of loving.

Maybe this is the major difference between racists and all of those who stand for life, the capabilitie of loving. Maybe, because of that, we can consider ourselves truly humans and those who fight for prejudice not to be ready to live this possibility... It is up to us to teach them and to forgive them!

The Film

"Mississipi Burning" tell us the true story of two FBI agents, performed by the actors Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, that are sent to the north american state of Mississipi to investigate the disappearence of three young men that were struggling for the Civil Rights (two of them were white and the other one was black).

The agents were hosted with hostility by the local community, even by the political authorities and the policemen involved in the actions that preserved and stimulated prejudice. The black community was not cooperative. They were scared because they believed that, after the investigations were over, they could suffer new persecutions and that new deaths could happen. They preferred to remain in silence, saying nothing or just a few information about the disappearences, even if they knew something about it.

Threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, the agents are obliged to ask for reinforcements so that they can continue on searching for new statements that can help them find the missing young men. They look for and find corageous and determined people that are able to assist them on getting clues to the sollution of this intriguing mistery.

"Mississipi Burning" was indicated to awards in the United States and Europe, brought back serious debate about the racial issues (using a case that was solved but in which the guilty people were not punished by american justice) and gave us the opportunity to think about Civil Rights, not only in the United States, but also, in our countries.

P.S. 1- This film was nominated for the Hollywood Academy Awards in the following categories: best movie, director (Alan Parker), actor (Gene Hackman), Supporting Actress (Frances McDormand), edition, sound and photography. It won the photography prize. Besides that, Gene Hackman was nominated for the Golden Bear of the Berlin Festival and the movie had indications for the British Academy and the Golden Globe.

2- Some time after the release of the film "Mississipi Burning", another film, made for television by Warner Bros., was released. Its title was "Murder in Mississipi" (1990) and it tells the story of the three young men before their disappearence (what happens on the beginning of the thriller with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe).

For Teachers

1- What are Civil Rights? Begin your class by questioning your students about the meaning of this expression and verify that they will be very confused, not knowing exactly how the two words can be associated. Tell them to search for its meaning with law specialists (such as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, law teachers or students), ask them to look at in law dictionaries or single ones. As soon as they have the definitions, ask about the Civil Rights in your country.

2- Discuss with your students the concept of Race and, to complete the studies, the idea of ethnic group. Propose a research on the social indicators of your country so that you can define by them if prejudice exists or not and how it happens there. With the results, ask your students to create a marketing campaign in which they will fight against racism, prejudice and for the establishment of a better society (with more justice and brotherhood), in which the color of the skin, the sexual option or the religious belief of a person can't condemn him (or her) to persecutions, sufferings or humiliations.

3- Propose to your students to research in the internet for Non-government organizations that struggle against prejudice and racism. Tell them to ask questions and get enough information to create a new organization to set and ruled by them (they will use all the information they got in this research as well as in the movies, interviews, concept definitions and other activities they developed before).

4- Open space for discussions about a very special fight for Civil Rights in the world. Iniciate classes about Apartheid, the political regime that had prejudice supported by its laws. It ended by the 1980 and 1990 decades. It is a very strong theme because of the fact that prejudice and racism was defended by the laws of the country. After the researches they made, it must create a very hot debate.

João Luís Almeida Machado
Master Degree in Education, Arts and History of Culture (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, in São Paulo); Professor at Faculdade Senac in Campos do Jordão; Middle and High School teacher; writes weekly columns for the website Planeta Educação

Send e-mails, comments, suggestions and critics for:
profjoaoluis@planetaeducacao.com.br

Technical Information

Mississipi Burning

Country/Year of production:- USA, 1988
Lenght of time/Gender:- 122 min., Drama/Suspense
Directed by Alan Parker
Screenwriter: Chris Gerolmo.
Cast:- Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand,
Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gailard Sartain, Michael Rooker, Stephen Tobolowsky.

Links

In portuguese:
- www.adorocinema.com/filmes/mississipi-em-chamas/mississipi-em-chamas.htm
- www.cineguia.com.br/index.shtml?cod_filme=CNA15506&rg=0/

In english:
- http://us.imdb.com/Title?0095647