The Mississippi Freedom Project

Analysis of a historical document

The Mississippi Freedom Project

There are many different ways of interpreting history and by extension historical documents. One way of contextualizing these documents is through the use of biographical information of the individuals and organizations that are represented in the documents. This exercise is based on a historical document titled “The Mississippi Freedom Project” and the purpose is to make use of the names of people and organizations represented in the document as reference points with the aim of better understanding the document.

This document was probably published towards the end 1963 and it is during this period the Civil Rights movement’s strength was increasing owing to the fact that it had begun enlisting the participation of a larger demographic that was previously accessed. The Freedom Project kicked off in 1964. Rather than focus exclusively on the black community, this movement began enlisting the help of the middle class, the whites and also those who were in institutions of higher learning. The publication must have been motivated by a sudden increase in the concern that blacks held for their rights.

From the document that has been provided, only one name appeared and that was Robert Moses. He was the project director who led the SNCC into Mississippi in 1961. During the 1960s, this Harvard educated teacher played a key role in the Civil Rights movement especially in the leadership of the SNCC. Non-Violence was a favored approach in the fight for the rights of African Americans who were still largely considered to be second-class citizens with few rights and privileges. A man of his stature with the eloquence he had had the potential to inspire the confidence of the African Americans and at the same time appeal to the reason of the members of the white community to empathize with the plight of blacks in American society (SNCC, 1963).

Given the fact that some of the racism was based on draconian laws from the Jim Crow Era, it was imperative that the push for civil rights be fought politically. This would serve to speed up the legislative changes that would eventually stop some of the racist laws such as segregated schools and the denial of voting rights for blacks. At the time of publication of this document, several political parties were in existence. The Democratic Party of Mississippi was an all-white political party based in Mississippi and it is highly probable that this party was in support of the oppressive laws. The Freedom Democratic Party was formulated by the blacks who lived in Mississippi as a response to the existence of the Democratic Party of Mississippi with the aim of ensuring that interests of blacks are also taken care of in the same way that those of whites were being considered.

The Council of Federal Organizations was a conglomerate of civil rights organizations from different parts of the country and it was formed primarily with the intention of using this as a central point through which the clamor for voting rights for the blacks who had for the longest time been marginalized through the denial of this right to vote. This was not a political party per-se but more of a unit that helped to network them and ensure that the operations of the different civil rights groups worked in harmony towards a common goal especially with the issue of voting rights.

The reason why Mississippi was selected by the SNNC because the scenario that it presented was ideal for the cause that it was fighting for and this led it to send some of its more influential leaders under the guidance of Robert Moses to set up offices. This place had a large population of marginalized black people and this meant that the SNCC’s presence here would have been extremely relevant and also helped in drumming up support for changes in the system towards a society more inclusive for blacks. Mississippi also had a serious challenge in that a huge proportion of the people who lived here stayed in squalid conditions.

Reference

SNCC (1963) Manuscript of the Freedom Project