A Good Article on Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner

"A Season for Justice," from Cincinnati's CityBeat. Here are two key excerpts:

'State terrorism'
Killen's arrest produced varying reactions in those most affected by the deaths of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, with one recurring theme: It's a good start, but more still needs to be done.

"Well, it's about time; I mean, it certainly is time," says Carolyn Goodman. "It's 40 years and the man's been running around."

Momeyer, who had been skeptical the case would even go this far, sees the indictment as only a first step.

"I think it a good thing and a hopeful sign that Killen has been indicted," he says. "But I don't think it is nearly enough. There are more culprits and higher authorities still being protected from exposure, and justice requires their prosecution as well. There is much to hope for but much as well to still be concerned about."

Schwerner has cared less about prosecuting the individuals responsible than shedding some serious light on the situation in which his brother, Chaney and Goodman found themselves in 1964 Mississippi.

"I'm interested in what the role of the Justice Department and the FBI was in not only letting the Mississippi police do nothing but also be on the side of the Klan," Schwerner says. "The problem for me is that it was not a handful of people who were responsible for this. It was state-sanctioned terrorism; in fact, it was supported."

Ben Chaney, the younger brother of James Chaney, has returned to his original suspicions that the investigation was no more than a "sham."

"My initial reaction was optimism, even if cautious optimism, but why no one else?" he says. "It comes out to be a charade. He's not the only one, and he's just being used as a fall guy to protect the rich and powerful."

Chaney would like to see the FBI head the investigation, not the Mississippi Attorney General's office. He also thinks the state is going to go after only Killen and Bowers and call the case closed.

"They're really trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but fortunately we are aware of it," Chaney says.

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A changed South
In 1989 Steve Schwerner and Mickey's widow, Rita, returned to Mississippi for the 25th anniversary of Freedom Summer. Steve Schwerner says the most shocking thing for Rita was to see black state troopers.

"Politically, the state has changed dramatically," he says. "Mississippi has the largest number of black state legislators in the country. Socially, the state has changed significantly. But economically, it has changed little. Everything is controlled by the same small group of white men as before, and it is still the poorest state in the nation."

Schwerner compares the situation to what civil rights leader Malcolm X once said about New York: "In Harlem, blacks had always had the right to vote, and segregation was illegal. But it still exists; the right to vote doesn't do a damn bit of difference."

Schwerner says gaining suffrage and eliminating Jim Crow laws were necessary for progress, but the next step is how to really integrate the economy.

Chaney says Mississippi still has a long way to go before blacks will be on an even playing field with whites.

"Over the past 30 years, there have been a lot of hangings that have taken place, though they've been ruled 'suicides,' " he says. "Many people think it's a continuation of the structure that was in place in the '60s."

He concedes Mississippi has many black elected officials but says these officials are "impotent" because most of their campaign funds come from white people.