A Brief History
On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers were kidnapped and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, an event commemorated in the 1988 feature film, Mississippi Burning. Advocating or campaigning for civil rights of various groups of people has been an historically dangerous business. Many people engaged in the struggle for civil rights throughout history have been murdered or executed for their efforts. Here we list 10 such people who have been martyred in the cause of freedom.
Digging Deeper
10. Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman, 1964.
A 21 year old African-American from Mississippi and 2 Jewish New Yorkers had been conducting voter registration efforts and investigating the burning of a church when Klan members, including a deputy sheriff kidnapped and murdered them. In 1967 5 suspects were convicted in federal court of depriving the 3 martyrs of their civil rights by killing them, and the last living suspect was convicted of manslaughter X 3 in 2005. Cracked fact: Chaney’s brother was radicalized by his brother’s murder and became an anti-white extremist, eventually going to jail for the murder of a man in Florida. Friends of Chaney were also likewise radicalized and murdered people in South Carolina and Florida.
9. Paul Guihard, 1962.
A French journalist covering the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi in Oxford (the first African-American student there), he was shot in the back by a white mob. His last report on the day of his death included “The Civil War has never ended.”
8. Malcolm X, 1965.
At first preaching a violent anti-white, anti-integration agenda and a representative of The Nation of Islam (Black Muslims), Malcolm (born Malcolm Little) took a trip to Africa and the middle east that cause him to reassess his platform. Still advocating for African-American rights, he left the Nation of Islam for more conventional Sunni Muslim faith and moderated his previously radical platform. He was killed by members of the Nation of Islam that felt betrayed.
7. Malala Yousafzai, 2009.
Although not actually killed, this girl was only 12 when she was shot in the face by an Islamic militant in her native Pakistan. Malala had been advocating for the rights of women and girls, especially for girls to be educated. In the incident that gained international notoriety the severely injured girl was taken to England for treatment, made a miraculous recovery, and continues to advocate for women’s rights despite death threats against herself and her father.
6. 20 Coal Miners, Ludlow Colorado, 1914.
In a massacre known as the bloodiest day in the US labor movement, about 20 coal miners were killed by Colorado state militiamen who were attempting to evict the 1000 or so miners and their families from their camp that they had occupied for about 7 months, on strike for the right to unionize and other workers’ rights.
5. Medgar Evers, 1963.
An NAACP field secretary, this activist for African-American civil rights was murdered by a member of theWhite Citizen’s Council. Shot in the back, he was rushed to a hospital that refused him entry because he was black! Only when the hospital officials realized who he was did they admit him, but it was too late. His murderer was subjected to trial by all white juries twice that resulted in hung juries both times. In 1994 Byron De La Beckwith was finally convicted of the murder.
4. Harvey Milk, 1978.
Milk was originally quiet about his homosexuality until about age 40, at which time he became a vocal advocate of gay rights and moved to San Francisco where he unsuccessfully ran for office. Appointed as a city supervisor, in the 11 months he was in office he was instrumental in passing gay rights legislation. He was gunned down along with Mayor Moscone by Dan White, another city supervisor that had resigned and resented what he thought was reverse discrimination against himself. Cracked fact: White used the famous “Twinkie” defense, claiming that his diet of junk food affected his thinking.
3. Rev. Bruce Klunder, 1964.
Protesting the building of a segregated school in Cleveland, Ohio, Klunder and other protesters put themselves in front of construction equipment to block constructions. Klunder was killed when he was crushed by a bulldozer that backed over him.
2. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968.
Probably the most famous person in the civil rights for African-Americans movement, King was gunned down under mysterious circumstances that many, including his family, believe was covered up by the US government. Cracked fact: King’s real name was Michael King. His father changed both of their names to Martin Luther King during a 1934 trip to Nazi Germany and the change was never legally registered.
1. John Brown, 1859.
A white abolitionist that was attempting to arm American slaves in order to foster abolition of slavery by force of arms, Brown had led a raid on a federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia and was captured, tried, and convicted of murder and treason (against the state of Virginia), sentenced to death and executed. At his trial, Cleveland, Ohio attorney Hiram Griswold argued that Brown had not personally killed anyone and that he could not commit treason against a state that he did not live in or owe loyalty to. Brown was and is often portrayed as a crazed radical, perhaps even mentally ill, but people who corresponded with him while awaiting execution found him quite thoughtful and rational.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Mitchell, Don. The Freedom Summer Murders. Scholastic Inc., 2016.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2659 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=2659">69 Comments
Number 10 really got to me. The fact that Chaney’s brother became an anti-white extremest and then his friends did the same after their deaths speaks to loyalty. However, how far should one go? Probably not to the point of murder.
I think this article was very interesting. Learning about the different inspirational people throughout the Civil Rights movement. These people believed in freedom and didn’t stop until they got it, or in some cases until they tried their hardest.
It’s sad that all of these people were injured or killed trying to achieve equality.
I still can’t believe that it was normal for a hospital to reject a patient due to their race.
Some of these stories are very sad. It is good that we have came so far from this.
I had never heard of some of these martyrs. I feel their stories should be heard more
In the case of Medgar Evers, I find it sad and quite wrong that the hospital would not help a shot and dying man just because of the color or his skin. That sickens me. Also it is sad that it took 31 years for his murderer to be convicted.
I cant believe that Klunder was killed by a bulldozer that backed over him.
It is sad, and I understand that this is much later than when it was first said, but I believe that the quote, “the Civil War has never ended”, was and is true in terms of racial equality and human coexistence.
Some of these stories were really sad. The craziest one was that Klunder was killed by getting backed up by a bulldozer.
It’s sad that so many miners were killed. They had families to support and go home to.
The number one person John Brown i have never heard of
I’m really not surprised that majority of these people listed are black, homosexual or Muslim. It seems as though in the world today if you are any of those types of people you have the biggest problems among others for just being yourself. It’s heartbreaking.
Reading about the man being backed up on by a bulldozer is terrifying.
Many people have been unjustly killed throughout history in attempts to achieve equality.
The Ku Klux Klan is a scary group of people who are still active today. As a nurse, I find the story about Mr. Evers very sad.
It is awful to see how fear of someone or something that is the tiniest bit different from you can be the focus of such horrible violence. From Mr. Evers to Mr. Milk to Miss Yousafazi, hatred of any kind should never be tolerated.
It is sad that Medgar Evans could not get admitted into a hospital because he was black. When a person is dying it is their job to save their life no matter who it is. It should not have mattered what kind of social status he had to finally get admitted after it was already too late.
These stories are so tragic. It is sad that people could be killed and denied of assistance due to their skin color. So many people got away with so much.
This was an interesting article to read. I think that it is sad these people were killed trying to reach equality.
It is so sad to see the mercilessness of people who were clearly in the wrong.
I have read the book about Malala. It is interesting to learn more about her as will as these other people.
20 coal miners lost their lives over a coal mining strike, that is certainly something that would never happen in the world today.
Burning Mississippi is one of my favorite movies. It is such an example of the tragedies that occurred in the South back then. I just cannot imagine the hate that existed all from the color of someones skin.
This article was interesting but also upsetting to see how hard people fought to have equality.
A lot of people died standing up for others’ rights, which is wrong, and I’m sad that more of these people are not famously recognized, at least not from my knowledge.
Again, I do not understand how people can be treated so poorly by the difference in color of their skin or what they believe in. The fact that it continues to occur today is sickening.
I have heard of several of these names and their stories. I do not understand why people treat other people with such cruelty just because someone doesn’t have the same color skin, or believe in the same religion as them. It is sad to think that even after the Civil War and several movements, these kind of things are still occurring.
It was sad to read these cases about discrimination. If we want to be respected by others, we should treat others equally first. No one can say that a group of people are better than another group of people. Everyone live in the world is equal.
People should be treated equally, we cannot define a person good or not by their color skin or where they from.
I have heard the story of Malala before, and her story has continued to touch me. She was shot in the face when she was only twelve years old, and continue to have the strength to fight for women’s rights at such a young age.
The strength of some people amazes me. I’m glad she pushed through and continued to fight.
The strength that some of these people possessed was incredible, that they could remain this strong while fighting for something so important.
It is truly a shame that these people were killed just by trying to make the world a better place.
I did not know some of these people but its sad to know they died for what they believed in.
I did not know that Martin Luther King’s real name was Michael King. These people sacrificed so much.
It’s so awful these people were killed by doing something good in the world
These people were just standing up for what they believe in. I hate that some people cannot have an open mind about somethings.
This was a pleasure to read. Good for these people standing up for what they believe is the right thing. Not worried about the bad that can come from it, but focused on the good.
Open mindedness leads to progress. Without progress we become outdated and irrelevant.
I have so much respect for these people and all of the others that were willing to sacrifice so much to stand up for what they believed in
The story of Malala is always an interesting one. I never knew she survived getting shot to the face. She definitely deserved the Nobel Peace price she was awarded for all of her efforts for women’s rights.
It is truly amazing what people did in order to stand up for what they believed in.
Horrific acts of hate against those that would stand up for everyone.
I’d never heard of John Brown before. While I don’t condone violence I can understand why he was trying to arm the slaves, so they might free themselves.
It is a shame that color of skin was viewed as such a problem or issue. It is hard to understand that this ever occurred since our current society is far from this behavior.
These are horrible acts people not respecting other people or human life. I am grateful for the ones who stood up against the distorted views of how society should be.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the best on this list. In the world today, more of these protesters should follow his example and lead with peaceful intelligent protest.
MLK was the greatest civil rights activists ever. He preached in front of millions using peace to get what he wanted for the African American community.
I respect those who have the courage to stand up for what they believe in.
MLK, Macolm X, and Medgar Evers. These men were the forefathers of the civil rights movement.
All these people had a great impact on the civil rights movement and should never be forgotten because most of them paid ultimate prize for standing up for what they believe in.
One can usually associate violence with the many protests and arguing of rights or personal beliefs by others. Here are numerous stories about the involvement of our society by various institutions fighting for their causes.
Wow, RIP to all of the people who lost their lives trying to fight for civil rights and equality. America was once an extremely racist country.
I feel like this article is more relevant than ever considering the current state of our country.
It is a hard pill to swallow to see this list of martyrs. They cared enough to fight for others rights.
There was a lot of greats that fought for our rights to many to choose from but one I am more familiar with is dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What I like about these articles is how it shows advocates for civil rights from all over the world and for all different types of civil inequalities. It wasn’t just civil rights fro African Americans, you also had Harvey Milk who stood up for gay rights, the Colorado miners who fought for the right to unionized, or even Malala Yousafzai who fought for middle eastern women’s rights. It is nice to be reminded that there more people fighting for all different types of civil rights in the 60’s and 70’s than the civil rights movement. Even though the civil rights movement was especially significant and important for our nations history, I also feel like the sacrifice of these other people should also be remembered.
It is nice to see people stand up and speak up for there believes. However, it disheartening that they had to die tragically because of their believes.
The saying is true that hate breeds hate. Many of these stories mad me think of that saying. It was interesting to know that MLK and his father’s names were changed after their trip to Nazi Germany. I wonder what the name represents? I found the ‘Twinkie’ comment very comical.
I think on the way it was challenging to obtain the civil right, which led to this kind of sacrifice for the movements to the level that these civil right workers could be kidnapped and even killed as they were fighting for their rights . I pay much respect for these individuals as well as all people who had the will to sacrifice their lives by standing up for the things they believed.
I never knew of most of the people on this list, I do find it interesting that the Martin Luther King and his father changed their names. I wonder why they changed them and what the meaning was to them.
I did not know many of these people listed either. Martin Luther King Jr. was the one I had learned the most about when growing up.
I would add William Luke, he was hung by the KKK in 1870 for educating African Americans and selling them firearms for safety. The Klan was also upset that Luke boarded with an African American family. As an education major, I hold a high level of respect for those who seek to educate, this man paid with his life.
The one that stands out to me, and that I remember very well is Martin Luther King Jr. I have heard a couple more, but not often.
It’s amazing to see all the different Martyrs that lost their lives fighting for the civil rights of others. Martin Luther King Jr. was such an amazing man and Malcolm X.
So much hate.
All these people had a great impact on the civil rights movement and should never be forgotten because most of them paid ultimate prize for standing up for what they believe in.
All of these martyrs have made an impact on history and they will forever be remembered.