Niara McCauleyMr.KnightEnglish 2 HonorsBlock F1 April 2014Medgar Evers and the Trial of His MurdererMany of us have experienced discrimination at one point or another in our lives, whether it be for skin color, or religion, or even because we can act differently. Racial discrimination was a significant problem in the South. The murder of Medgar Evers and the trials of Byron De La Beckwith are prime examples of the extreme discrimination and racism that plagued the South during the 1950s and 1960s. Medgar Evers was an African civil rights activist -Americans. Evers helped bring national attention to the struggle of African Americans in the South. Evers ultimately paid the ultimate price for his commitment to civil rights for African Americans when he was assassinated in his own backyard by Byron De La Beckwith. The trials following Evers' murder illustrate the real miscarriages of justice resulting from racial discrimination. Medgar Evers was an African-American civil rights activist from Decatur, Mississippi. After marrying a classmate, Evers and his wife moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi. There, TRM Howard hired Evers to sell insurance for his company, Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance. Howard also served as president of a civil rights and self-help organization, the Regional Black Leadership Council (RCNL). Evers quickly became involved with the RNCL, giving it excellent training in activism. In February 1954, Evers applied to the segregated University of Mississippi law school and his application was rejected due to discrimination against African Americans. Evers then became the center of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the University of Mississippi. This case was facilitated by...... middle of paper...... and the murder of Evers were examples of prejudice due to skin color. All-white juries acquitted Beckwith not once, but twice, because of the racist mindsets involved. Medgar Evers ended up paying a high price for championing a cause that shouldn't have been controversial in the first place. In the end, justice was served where it was due, but not without the intense prejudice and discrimination that shook a nation. Works CitedDufresne, Marcel (October 1991). "Revealing the secrets of Mississippi racism". American Journalism Review. Evers-Williams, Myrlie; Marable, Manning (2005). The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches. BasicCivitas Books. “NAACP History: Medgar Evers.” NAACP. , January 24, 2012. The web. March 10 2014.