MURDER OF EMMETT TILL
A young 14-year old boy was murdered for flirting with a white woman. His murderers were the white woman’s husband and brother. They made him carry a 75 pound cotton gin to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and strip. The men then later brutally beat him, gouged his eye, shot him and lastly, threw his tortured body in the river.
MURDER OF JAMES CHANEY, ANDREW GOODMAN, and MICHAEL SCHWERNER
This incident involved the disappearance of three civil rights workers on behalf of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Two of them were white New Yorkers and one was a local African-American.
MURDER OF MEDGAR EVERS
Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist; he worked with the NAACP and contributed to many other groups and organizations. In the NAACP he helped organize boycotts and was also a leader in many other projects. His achievements as an African-American man, however, gained him enemies. On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot in the back of the head in his own driveway. The murderer is suspected to be Byron De La Beckwith (later to become member of KKK). Beckwith wasn't convicted of murder immediately, but eventually, he was sentenced to life in prison. EVers' murder attracted national attention; it was personally addressed by JFK and other leaders.
MALCOLM X ASSASSINATED
The nonconformist and charismatic former leader of the Black Muslims, Malcolm (Little) X was assassinated on February 21, 1965. He preached of black superiority ("black power") and of the necessity of segregation between blacks and whites.