Mississippi Burning: My Thoughts

Hi readers, today I am going to voice my opinions about the movie, Mississippi Burning. First, let me provide some basic background information about this movie. This movie was based on the killings of three civil rights activists in Mississippi in 1964, and is a subject of controversy due to the incorrect portrayal of the African Americans and the FBI agents, among other issues.

Whether the movie is a factual one or an intense exaggeration of the true events, I do not know, but today, let me voice my feelings on this movie. Personally, I find this movie culturally important, as it mirrors the treatment and segregation of the African Americans in the not-so-distant past. The main gist of the film, to me, is the portrayal of how the African Americans were so badly treated in the past. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) also appealed to me, as I was intrigued by how the idea of white supremacy was so ingrained in some of the white men back then. What drove them to use such extreme and brutal measures? Could it be due to their ethnocentrism? Or could it be due to some sort of belief in their mind that the blacks were something that should be removed from society at all costs (similar to the final solution to the Jewish question)? Whichever it was, the movie definitely provided an insight of how the whites were greatly against the blacks at that time, carrying out actions like lynching and the burning down of the churches, which was a sacred place for the blacks. The movie also demonstrated how the blacks were obviously marginalised in the past, with examples of segregation (coloured seats) and the big difference in the living conditions of the blacks and whites. One thing that set me thinking was the trial in which the arsonists were charged with arson, but only had suspended sentences of a mere five years? Where is the justice here? Why was society so fervently biased against the blacks? Just because the houses belonged to the blacks, does this justify the burning of the houses, which is obviously an inhumane act. What really angered me was the blatant lack of inequality at that time. Everyone was human and by right, no one was superior to another; but why exactly are people of different skin colours treated as lesser beings? Luckily, today, no such extreme cases of racism are seen in society, sure, people that seem “different” still get teased occasionally, but at least the mockery do not materialise into physical harm, which is a great result of modernisation.

Despite all the controversy surrounding this film, one thing is for sure, this film is a great representation of the treatment of the blacks in America before Martin Luther King Jr. It really challenges one to think about the whole idea of human rights, whether one being is inferior to another solely based on outer appearances. This film was truly culturally significant and an eye-opener, and I really enjoyed it.

Cheers,
Roystan