Mississippi Burning

This film contains some strong language and some violent scenes.

# Gracious Lord

# Take my hand

# Lead me on

# Let me stand

# I am tired

# I am weak

# I am walking

# Through the storm

# Through the night

# Lead me all through the night

# Take my hand, gracious Lord

# And lead me home

# Take my hand, gracious Lord

# And lead me home. #

CRICKETS CHIRP

What the...?

What is it?

What do they want?

I don't know.

Just pass me.

Pass.

Is it a cop?

I can't see.

-What the fuck are they playing at?!

-They ain't playing!

-What are we going to do?

-I don't know.

Hold on.

There's a truck too.

Shit, it IS a cop.

-You'd better stop.

-OK.

Sit tight. Don't say anything. Let me talk.

All right. We'll be all right. Just relax.

Y'all think you can drive any speed you want round here?

-You scared us, man.

-Don't you call me "man", Jew-boy!

-What should I call you?

-Nothing, nigger-lover Jew-boy.

Yes, sir.

Hell, you even smell like a nigger, Jew-boy.

Take it easy. We'll be all right.

Sure, nigger-lover.

MAN: He's seen your face. That ain't good.

Oh, it don't make no difference no more.

Ho! Shit, we're into it now, boys! GUNSHOTS

Well, you only left me a nigger, but at least I shot me a nigger!

LAUGHTER

# Now listen, you communists niggers and Jews

# Tell your buddies to spread the news

# The day of judgement will be nigh As the Lord looks down from high

# Will his battle be lost by mixing races?

# We want beautiful babies - not ones with brown faces

# Never, never, never, I say!

# The Ku Klux Klan is here to stay! The Ku Klux Klan is here to stay! #

The Ku Kluxes write rotten lyrics!

Just read the file, Mr Anderson. I can do without the cabaret.

-You don't like me, do you, boss?

-I do, but not your sense of humour.

Sometimes that's all you've got. How long have you been in the FBI?

-Three years.

-Right out of college!

-No, from the Justice Department.

A Kennedy boy! Now I see.

No. I don't think you DO see. Let's get this thing straight.

I haven't had a pimple in years. I even go to the bathroom by myself. So, you can quit this "boss" stuff.

-They put me in charge because I've seen this before.

-Birmingham? Montgomery?

-Oxford. I was with Meredith.

-You got hit with a brick, so they gave you promotion, right?

-No. Shot in the shoulder.

-At least you lived. That's important.

No, Meredith lived. THAT'S what's important.

What's got four eyes and can't see?

What?

Mississippi!

# Never, never, never, I say! The Ku Klux Klan is here to stay! #

-Big building for a small town.

-Yeah.

Howdy.

Good morning.

My name's Alan Ward. I'm with the FBI.

Federal Bureau of Integration!

That get-up ain't quite undercover.

-We're here to see Sheriff Stuckey.

-He's right busy now.

You'll have to wait - or come back.

We'll wait.

MAN'S MUTED VOICE >

Listen to me, you backward shit-ass. You've got two seconds to get the Sheriff, or I kick the door in.

DOOR OPENS

Looks like we got company. Some Hoover boys come down to visit. How you doing?

Good!

-Sheriff Stuckey.

-Rupert Anderson.

Rupert, we've been expecting you. I assume you've met Deputy Pell?

Sure did.

Here to solve our nigger problem?

-No, it's just a Missing Person case.

-Hm. Well, come on.

Say, you want your boy in on this?

I'm Special Agent Ward, and I'm in charge of this case. It's a little more serious than Missing Persons.

I don't think so, boy.

I think it's a publicity stunt cooked up by that Martin Luther King fella.

At 3pm Deputy Pell says he arrested three boys for speeding. He held them until 10pm, then released them.

They drove off. He says he followed them to the county line,

and never saw them again.

-Why didn't they make a phone call?

-Why should they?

-Mr Anderson, these boys were trained activists.

They always call immediately on release.

They could have phoned from the hotel lobby.

-It doesn't follow.

-Maybe they went for a beer.

-No. The Civil Rights Office in Rossville made some calls.

The Sheriff's Office here said they'd no idea where the boys were. First lie.

By who? Sheriff's Office or Civil Rights Office?

-Who would YOU believe?

-Mr Ward, I was a Sheriff in a Mississippi town like this.

-Yes, I know.

-Lying don't come into it.

We're miles from the rest of the world. If a Sheriff says, "That's what happened,"

-then that's what happened.

-Let's go eat.

CHATTERING

-We're full, honey. Y'all want to wait?

-Is it worth it?

-We're not full for nothing! Want to see the menu?

-Sure enough.

-Thank you.

-Y'all gonna wait or leave.

-We'll wait, cos we want to be near you!

-There's some empty seats down there.

-Er, Mr Ward...

-That's coloured. Don't even think about it. There's someone leaving here.

-Aren't you hungry, Anderson?

DINER FALLS SILENT

Good afternoon. Looks good.

May I ask you a few questions? I'm looking for some information.

-I've got nothing to say to you, sir.

-Just a few questions.

I ain't got nothing to say, sir.

Three Civil Rights boys came here to propose setting up a voter registration clinic.

Before the locals got a chance to say yes, the Klan burned them down.

Give a man a vote, but don't let him use it. What did your office say?

That the boys came back to apologise to the congregation.

"Sorry you folks didn't get to vote. Most of you didn't know you even had one.

"Now you've got no place to go on Sundays."

Apparently, after they came back here, they spoke to some locals.

-That's where we should start.

-They won't talk to you.

These people would rather bite their tongues off than talk to us!

Bureau procedure, Mr Anderson.

The church caught fire, and you ran home?

Yes, sir.

-Then four white men stopped you?

-Yes, sir.

These men attacked your husband?

Yes, sir.

And you can't identify them?

No, sir.

-Did you report this to the police?

-No, sir.

-But you told the Civil Rights boys what happened?

-Yes, sir.

Ma'am, did they tell you where they were going after that?

< No, sir.

Nothing?

No, sir.

All right. Thank you, ma'am.

You're welcome.

KNOCKING ON DOOR

POUNDING ON DOOR Come on, boy. Open up!

-Is your brother Hollishere?

-Yes, sir.

-We want to see him.

-Why?

Wake him up. That's the man!

Come here, boy!

Hollis! >

-Get back here, fucking nigger!

-Hollis!

PIGS SQUEAL

Better not catch you talking to the FBI!

-You'll be dead, boy!

-Aargh!

BABY CRIES

You admire these kids, don't you?

Don't YOU?

I think they're being used.

I think they're being sent down here in their sneakers to get their heads cracked open.

Maybe they believed in what they were doing.

-Did it occur to them they'll end up dead?

-Maybe.

Washington sure as hell knew.

Some things are worth dying for.

Down here, they see things a little differently.

They feel some things are worth KILLING for.

Where does it come from - all this hatred?

When I was a boy, there was a negro farmer living near us called Monroe.

He was... I guess he was just a little luckier than my daddy was.

He bought himself a mule.

That was a big deal around town. My daddy hated that mule!

His friends were always kidding him that they'd seen Monroe ploughing

with his new mule,

and how Monroe was going to rent another field now he had a mule.

One morning, that mule just showed up dead.

They'd poisoned the water.

After that, there was no mention of that mule around my daddy.

One time, we were driving past Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He'd packed up and left.

I looked over at my daddy's face...

..and I knew he'd done it.

He saw that I knew. He was ashamed.

I guess he WAS ashamed.

He said to me, "If you're no better than a nigger, son, who ARE you better than?"

You think that's an excuse?

It's no excuse - it's a story about my daddy.

-Where does that leave you?

-He was so full of hate, he didn't know that being POOR was killing him.

EXPLOSION

Get the light! Get the LIGHT!

You OK?

I guess they know we're here.

Aargh!

CAR WHEELS SCREECH

-Now you know what you're getting into.

-I'll call for more agents.

-Will it make a difference if I tell you that's the wrong thing to do?

-No.

CHATTERING

The whole place for 75 a month. It's central. It's perfect.

Hmm. There's room for a hundred more agents. Two hundred in the balcony(!)

I'll take any help I can get to find the boys.

When does the show start(?)

DRAMATIC MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

-Who's the big shot?

-It's the Klan.

No pointy hats, but plenty of pointy heads.

Let me run a check on the plates.

-Good afternoon, gentlemen.

-Anderson. Say hello to Mayor Tilman here.

-How do you do?

-Mr Mayor. Mr Barber.

This looks like the place to be.

Even for me.

Nothing like a barber shop for jawing your socks off!

-Where are you from, Anderson?

-Barton, Mississippi. A spit from Tennessee.

Then, you know how we all feel down here. We don't take to outsiders telling us how to live our lives.

I tell you, our niggers were happy till those college kids stirred things up. Nobody was complaining.

Nobody dared!

We got a real peaceful community. They're just like any other folks.

You can push them too far. Way I figure it, it's like three sticks of old dynamite -

you shake it up, and we're going to be scraping up bodies.

I'm just here to investigate the missing kids.

If this boiled down to gravy - it wouldn't cover a steak.

Them kids you're looking for - I'll bet they're sitting up in Chicago right now,

-drinking a cold beer and laughing about all this commotion.

-I sure hope so!

You can tell your bosses people got the wrong idea about the South. You know what I mean.

Everybody running about backwards and illiterate, eating sow-belly and cornpone three times a day.

Simple fact is, Anderson, we got two cultures down here. White culture and the coloured culture.

-That's how it'll always be.

-The rest of America don't agree, Mr Mayor.

-The rest of America don't mean Jack shit! You're in Mississippi now.

-That's for sure(!)

Hmm.

-COMMENTARY ON RADIO

-What's the score?

-St Louis 5-0.

-What inning is it?

-Seventh.

-You like baseball?

-Yeah, I do.

It's the only time that a black man can wave a stick at a white man,

and not start a riot.

DOOR SLAMS

Sir.

Checked on the plates, sir. Clayton Townley.

-Townley. The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

-That's him.

-We may have a lead on the whereabouts of the car. We're awaiting a call.

-Good.

-<

-You've an appointment for Tuesday.

See you then. Bye-bye.

-You're going to go to that?

-DOOR OPENS

Afternoon, ladies!

Can I help?

Well, yes, you can. I tell you, I just HATE the way I look.

What do you think? A permanent wave?

-That looks pretty good. Did you have that done here?

-No. Jackson.

I think a wig's your only hope, hon! Can't do much with that cueball!

-Thank you.

-If you want to ask questions, you'll hear it all here.

As a matter of fact, I do. You know, er...

-I was wondering who that gentleman was over there.

-His name's Clayton Townley.

-Are you one of them FBI gentlemen?

-Yes, ma'am, I am.

< I think it's shame if those two kids are dead.

-I sure hope you find them.

-Thanks. There's a coloured kid missing also.

-Would you be here if it wasn't for those white boys?

-Maybe not, miss.

Mrs.

Pell. Her old man is the Deputy.

I'm single.

-TYRES SCREECH

->

Hollis. >

We'll take charge.

Local problem. We'll handle this. We don't NEED your damn help!

Ain't right having blood on Main Street. Looks bad on the news.

OK. Easy. I got you. I got you.

He was in the diner. Think before you talk to coloured kids in public.

-That was a message from the big boss and you know it!

-Yeah. Clayton Townley. Chief Pointy-Head!

-Yes.

-How did you know?

-Bureau procedure. Try it!

-We did.

We found the car the kids were driving.

DOG BARKS

Good morning.

Good morning.

Two beer cans, a Coca-Cola bottle, a green plastic bottle,

a wristwatch stopped at 12.45, and some keys.

No bodies.

-I want the entire area searched.

-Yes, sir. It's a big swamp.

-EVERY inch, Mr Bird.

I guess they never left Mississippi.

They're dead. They're dead.

Mr Bird!

Yes, sir.

There's a phone at the truck stop. Get on it. Get me a hundred more men by morning.

-A hundred?

-A hundred.

-Bureau people?

-I don't care! I want this entire swamp searched.

yes, sir.

Don't do it, Mr Ward. You'll start a war.

There was a war here already.

DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS

Your turn!

Get the fuck out of here!

MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

HUBBUB OF ACTIVITY

Sir? >

The Sheriff's alibi is solid. He was playing poker with his two cousins.

-For the whole time?

-No. For three hours. Lost 11 dollars and 38 cents!

-We're having trouble with the motel manager.

-What kind of trouble?

-He wants us out. He says we're bad for business.

-Buy it.

Sorry, sir?

BUY it!

-The motel.

-How high can I go?

Whatever it takes.

Today, in Jessup County, Mississippi, amidst the eruption of violence,

the nation watches the search for the three Civil Rights workers.

I think, if they're in that there swamp, then they asked for it.

Naval reserves have joined the FBI in their search for the men.

I think they planned the whole thing. They're laughing at us folks.

-You think it's a hoax?

-Yeah. They won't find nothing.

Civil rights leaders here are optimistic,

but privately there is mounting concern.

They came down looking for trouble!

This is Network News, Jessup County, Mississippi.

I'll tell you what, tell you what y'all should be doin'.

You ought to be looking up in Canada, instead of our swamps.

I think this is a publicity stunt dreamt up by these NAACP people.

-NAACP?

-Yeah, NAACP.

Know what it stands for? Niggers, Alligators, Apes, Coons and Possums.

Tell you what you got. You got your NAACP, your SNCC, your COFO. Know what all that mess is?

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. Got it?

REPORTERS CONTINUE QUESTIONS

YOUNG MAN: One day we won't have to say, "Good morning, sir, Mr Sheriff."

Maybe one day we won't have to say "Mr Stuckey" - we'll just say "Stuckey"

or "Sheriff", and one day the Sheriff won't even be a white man.

Hello.

Could I ask you a few questions?

Can you tell me what these flowers are?

I've been seeing them all over the place, and I never saw such a pretty plant.

Trumpet-pitchers.

Trumpet-pitchers.

They're beautiful. They really are.

They don't smell so good, but they're pretty!

It was nice talking to you. Sorry to interrupt your meeting here.

We just can't seen to get anybody to talk to us. They just ZIP up.

-People are afraid that it'll get back to the law.

-We ARE the law.

-Not around here you ain't.

-We were sent to find out about those boys.

-They came to help you.

-It ain't coloured folks you should talk to.

-Who SHOULD we be talking to?

-Come away.

Try the Sheriff's Office.

-Why aren't you afraid?

-How come YOU ain't?

Earl, come on, son.

TV COMMENTARY: 'Here's the pitch. Swing!

'Another runner's home.

'On to the next pitch.

'By the look of Bob Gibson he is upset. Arne Hunt's in the centre.

'Hickman scored the best second run of the game.

'Next one up is Joe Christopher.' DOORBELL RINGS

Good evening.

I'm Agent Ward. This is Agent Anderson. We're with the FBI. We'd like to talk to your husband.

-<

-Y'all come in now.

The FBI gentlemen want to ask you some questions.

-<

-You want me to put your dinner in the oven?

Leave us alone.

Mind if I take a seat?

Why are you bothering me at home?

Well, I just want to run through your movements on June 21st again.

-June which?

-June 21st. Deputy, we both know what day we're talking about.

Let's be civilised, then you can watch your ball game and we can go.

MUTED VOICES >

Oh.

Please. Don't let me interrupt you.

It's just, when you hear a question asked a dozen times, it gets boring.

I guess so.

-You don't eat together?

-He works funny hours.

-You think that's odd?

-No. No, I...work funny hours myself.

-I eat when I'm hungry. He eats when he can. Can I get you something?

-No. Thanks. This is a nice house.

-How long have you lived here?

-I was BORN here. But my father lost the house in a poker game one night.

We've been paying rent ever since!

Wicked game.

Poker.

Wicked.

-Mr Anderson.

->

It's nice talking to you. Guess I've got to go.

-Them pork chops still good? Bring me a beer.

-Good night.

Let you get back to the baseball. It's the only game where a black man can ...

I know. I already heard that one.

-Fifty minutes of his alibi hinges on his wife. What's she like?

-She's a nice lady.

-Tell me, how does a woman like that end up...?

-With Shithead in there? You know what small towns are like.

A girl spends her school years looking for a husband - and her life wondering why.

-He's too confident.

-Did you see the wedding photograph?

-No.

His three pals are ushers.

They hook their fingers over their belts like that.

-What is that? Some sort of masonic thing?

-No.

KKK.

I know you ain't drunk.

I'm just gonna take you where you can sleep it off.

Hold up.

TRAIN WHISTLE HOOTS

-Hi. I, er, need to check a couple of things with you.

-My husband's not here.

Actually, it was YOU I wanted to talk to.

Me?

-Yeah.

-OK. You'd better come in then.

It'll just take a minute. My boss is a kind of a pain. A college kid! He has to dot all the i's!

-What do you want to ask?

-It's a TIME thing - something we're not clear about.

-I'll put your flowers in water for you.

-Actually, they're for you.

They're beautiful.

They are pretty. They don't smell so nice, but they are pretty.

-Can I get you anything? Some tea?

-Yeah. Thanks.

-Oh, don't you look at that terrible photo.

-Oh, I don't know about that.

-Is this recent?

-No, I wish.

-This sure looks recent to me.

-We were married 14 years ago.

Are you kidding me? No!

Go on!

-You take sugar?

-Sure do.

I grew up in a town like this.

-You were smart enough to leave.

-Why didn't YOU?

"For better or for worse"!

-How about you? Are you married?

-Two, please.

Well, I WAS - as I remember. It didn't last very long. I was never home.

She got fed up with phone calls from Miami and postcards from Des Moines.

There was always a guy. Any guy who could spare the time for a movie,

or a beer, or a quarter for the jukebox.

She left!

How about YOU?

You know the South, Mr Anderson. You marry the first boy who makes you laugh.

Hey. Your husband's quite a guy!

You know, my boss has this THING about an hour. The 50 minutes that your husband says he was with you.

And I guess he WAS.

Guess he was.

Well, that's a pity.

I don't have an excuse to hang around now!

Well...

-Thank you for the iced tea.

-Thank you for the flowers.

Sure.

Do you know what kind they are?

A fella said they're trumpet-pitchers.

-That's right. My daddy used to call them Ladies From Hell cos they're car...

-Carnivorous!

-That's a word?

That colour's the bait. Insects just home on in there and they're dead

before they got their shoes off.

-Maybe I should have picked something more appropriate.

-Maybe.

# In His mercy and His grace

# In the mansions bright and blessed

# Keeping there for us a place...

CONGREGATION JOINS IN: # When we all get to Heaven

# What a day of rejoicing that will be

# When we all

# See Jesus

# We'll sing and shout for victory. #

'May the peace and joy of the Holy Ghost abide with you. Amen.'

CHATTERING

SCREAMING

# When we all get to heaven

# What a day of rejoicing that will be

# When we all see Jesus

# Jesus

# We'll sing and shout for victory. #

You've already been told once, nigger.

I don't want to tell you again!

You go flapping them boot-lips off to the Federal men -

we're going to have to put you in the ground. Without a pine box.

You understand me?

AARGH!

HE MOANS

-How do you think the negroes are treated?

->

They're treated as good as they oughta be.

The niggers here have been treated awful bad for a long time.

I think Martin Luther King is one of the leaders.

J Edgar Hoover said he was a communist and they had proof.

I haven't seen it myself, but it's what they say.

SQUEALING

THEY JEER

Hey, you really want to find that nigger?

They want us to eat with the niggers and use the same bathroom. That's hard for some Mississippi folk to do.

They're not like us. They don't take baths. They stink. They're nasty.

They're just not like white folks.

SHOUTING >

What do you think happened to the three boys?

Dead.

Just as dead as they can be.

Feels so good!

Is she asleep? Is she?

Oh!

-I'm sorry. I woke you up.

-Hello, darling.

Oh, yeah.

I'll be a couple of hours.

Mary, is that your Betsy's kid?

She's growing up real quick.

Tuesday is fine on those, Mary.

Funny.

Their kids are so cute.

Is that thing back on me again?

If the Secret Service couldn't protect the President, how are we supposed to protect a few niggers?

It's just a bunch of low-life white trash drinking cheap alcohol.

Or more like paint-thinner and snake juice, cos this state is as dry as a Martini.

Give me a little room here.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

Is this OK?

-Your name please?

-> Clayton Townley, local businessman.

-Are you a spokesman for the Ku Klux Klan?

->

I told you. I'm a businessman.

I am also a Mississippian and an American.

I am getting sick and tired of the way that we are having views distorted by you newspapers and TV.

Get this straight. We do not accept Jews because they reject Christ,

and their control of the banks are at the root of communism today.

We do not accept Papists and their Roman dictator.

We do not accept Turks, Mongols, Tartars, Orientals nor Negroes -

we're here to protect Anglo-Saxon democracy and the American Way.

TALKING AND LAUGHING

Lester, you are living proof that cousins shouldn't fuck! >

I was trying to say - there was this coloured boy trying to play football for Barry Brown in Alabama. >

Barry says, "I'm gonna give you a try."

Is he going to run with a watermelon?

He's going to keep running too!

He says, "You go on one goal-line."

He puts the WHOLE other team on the other goal-line and he says...

-Are you open?

-Only members can drink here.

Member?

A member of what?

-A member of the Social Club.

-Why don't you just buy me a beer?

Give him a beer, Frank.

Nice to be back in a dry county. When I was a sheriff, half my pay was from collecting taxes

on the illegal juice.

Is it the same here? You could make a tidy penny from the bootleggers.

-I wouldn't know nothing about that.

-Yeah. A tidy penny.

Got anything stronger than this, Deputy?

No, we ain't.

No? In Thornton, Mississippi, there's a still in every yard.

Well, all you need is some corn, sugar and a pot to boil it in.

I tried to take fingerprints off a guy who had his hands in a mash barrel, but there's no skin on them.

We're not interested in your stories. You ain't from here no more.

-Why did you leave anyway?

-Well, I just wanted a change of scenery.

The grits were leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

If that's how you feel, Mr FBI Man, why don't you drink that beer,

and go back to your commie nigger-loving bosses?

You can't know Mr Hoover. He don't like commies. He'd be on your side there.

I don't give two shits whose side he's on. We've got 5,000 niggers in this county

who ain't registered to vote yet.

As far as I'm concerned, they never WILL. You can tell your stiff suits that they ain't going to change us.

Unless it's over my dead body, or a lot of dead niggers.

Are you saying you'd kill, Frank?

I'd give it no more thought than wringing a cat's neck. No Mississippi court would convict me.

-How about you, Deputy? How are you with wringing necks?

-Just keep pushing me.

Listen, you old fucker,

you tell your queer-assed nigger bosses they're never gonna find them Civil Rights-ers. So, pack your bags.

AARGH!

-You shit-kicker. Don't go mistaking me for some whole other body.

-AARGH!

Your brains must be in your dick if you think we'll just fade away!

How about you, Deputy?

Is that gun just for show, or do you get to shoot people once in a while?

AIEE!

Thanks for the beer!

< Do they want to save this country from the onslaught of integration?

They want to put white children and coloured children into the melting pot,

from out of which will come a conglomerated mulatto, MONGREL class of people!

BOTH races will be destroyed in such a move!

I will die before I yield one inch to that kind of a movement in Alabama.

APPLAUSE

Do you know what you've done? Townley's been on the radio all day talking about FBI intimidation!

-We're going to do this MY way!

-"Bureau Procedure"?

Why were you at the beauty parlour? If it was business, I want to know.

-If it wasn't, I won't allow it. Do you understand me?

-Get in here!

You don't know when to speak and when to SHUT UP! That makes you a fool!

I'm not going to choke anything out of Mrs Pell.

This can of worms only opens from the inside.

I KNOW that.

(Shit.)

CHANTING: Freedom.

GOSPEL MUSIC PLAYS

JEERING >

Freedom!

Freedom!

-20 cents.

-20 cents?

# Free him

# Lord

# Bear him

# Seek not his favour

# Tell him you're strong. #

Hi!

Hey, now!

Just passing. Just saying hello.

-Not watching the parade?

-Your guys questioned everybody except me!

Send some FBI boys to see me!

Sorry about the intrusion.

-Pecan?

-I'm sick of pecans.

MARCHERS CHANT: Freedom! Freedom!

CHANTING DROWNS SPEECH

How did you find out about this?

Bureau procedure, Mr Ward.

Sheriff Stuckey.

He got HIS phone call.

I wonder who else was called.

Hold it, where you going, boy?

Go on, get out of here.

Here they come.

-Come on. Let's go.

-Wait until they go back inside.

Get him!

AAGH!

Get him inside that truck!

Get inside!

-Let's GO!

-WAIT!

-GO! GO! Come on!

Come on. Let's go. Come on.

GO!

RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS CLANG

TRAIN CLAXON BLARES

BRAKES SQUEAL

-Left!

-How do you know?

-I don't. Turn left!

-There's the truck.

-Yeah.

Go up that little road there.

Come on. Stop. Through here.

MOANS >

CAR ROARS OFF

GUNSHOTS

What's wrong with these people?

Mrs Walker, I know this is difficult for you, but I really need your help.

If you could just persuade your son to press charges, then we could pick up the Deputy at least.

-He won't talk to no-one. It won't do no good.

-I promise you, it will.

Leave him alone. Maybe then they'll let US alone.

If this is a pattern, I guess at least we know what happened on June 21st.

Pell stopped the three boys for speeding.

He held them until the Klan was ready. He released them at ten. By that time his buddies were waiting.

I'm sure Deputy Pell went with them.

-Will he crack?

-Down here they say rattlesnakes don't commit suicide.

-Deputy Pell, did you release the Civil Rights workers into the hands of the Klan on June 21st?

-No.

-Are you a member of the Klan?

-No.

-Have you ever been a member of the Klan?

-No.

-Do you know the term, "Grand Cyclops"?

-Yes.

Were you the Grand Cyclops of the East Mississippi Clavern of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan?

-Objection. My client has told you he is not a Klan member.

-Objection?

This is an interview. Such formality is unnecessary.

I guess I don't have to stay here, do I? I've got work to do.

-Guess you do too!

-Yes, sir. And you can be sure we'll do it.

Good luck!

If you can indict me, come find me!

-How did it go?

-Just fine.

Don't worry about a thing!

REPORTERS FIRE QUESTIONS Does the FBI have evidence that the Sheriff's Office is involved?

They don't have one iota of evidence.

Do not do that, please. Sir! Do not do that, please!

FRANK: Get the fuck out of here!

SHOUTING AND SCREAMING

FRANK: Go back where you belong! Get out of my face!

FRANK: Get out and leave us alone!

Leave us alone! >

Go home, boy! You're going to get hurt now!

-Mr Ward! This is getting to be more than we can take.

-Not now, sir.

-Now, wait!

I resent your public pursuit of my Sheriff's department. You have made every effort to implicate them!

-Your innuendos are not evidence they were connected to any crime.

-WE'RE frustrated too!

Pointing the finger is NOT evidence! We cotton choppers are still stupid enough to be believe in democracy.

-We know our rights under the law!

-You know SOMETHING. I'll bet on that.

Anderson, you're so far up my nose, I can feel your boots on my chin!

I'm telling you again that a couple of crazies dressed in bed sheets going round scaring negroes

is not the entire state's fault!

There are three dead kids out there,

and a lot of scared people, so get used to seeing us.

-Get used to my boots on your chin, too!

-You people'd better back off!

Goddamn FBI! Coming down here and harassing...

-Do you have a statement?

-You're damn right...

For a moment there, Mr Anderson, it sounded like we were both on the same side!

-Are you all right, honey?

-I'm fine.

-Let me know if you need anything.

-Thanks!

A VEHICLE APPROACHES >

Daddy! Momma!

There's no sign of him, sir. He's long gone.

His mother won't talk to us. Won't even answer the door.

-Somebody saw something.

-They won't talk.

-Get going. Shake it out of them.

BIRD: All right. Let's go. Every house. Come on.

What?

Sending all these white guys around with notebooks will get you nowhere.

OK. What would YOU do?

It's OK to be afraid.

Go on, Willie. Tell them what you saw.

WHISTLING

'The defendants will rise.'

In this country, a man's home is his castle.

That is one of the principles by which this community survives. You have done violence to that principle.

But I want you to know that the court understands

that your crimes have been, to some extent,

brought about by OUTSIDE influences.

CROWD MURMURS

Outsiders have come into Jessup County.

They've been people of low morality,

and unhygienic. Their presence here has provoked a lot of people.

So, the court understands, without condoning them, mind you,

that the crimes to which you men pleaded guilty were, to some extent,

provoked by these outside influences. RAISED VOICES

With all this, I'm going to make your punishment light.

I sentence you each to five years' imprisonment...

..but I'm going to SUSPEND the sentences.

CHEERING

You can't go in there, sir.

-FBI. Let us through.

-Sorry, sir, you can't go in there.

Sheriff!

You've really started something.

-Move the cars. I want to go in.

-No. This is as far as you're going.

-We can handle it.

-Just a bunch of crazy coloureds.

Local problem.

Look at those flames. It's why they sent you down here, wasn't it?

-It would have happened, anyway.

-Yeah, sure.

If I was a negro, I'd probably think the way they do.

Nobody would give a damn WHAT you thought.

BARKING

HORSES WHINNY

CATTLE LOW

CATTLE BELLOW

Earl. Earl. Get your momma, your grandma and the children out.

When you hit the road, keep going. Keep going.

Nathan! Come on. Get up, Nathan!

-Come on. Get up, Nathan.

-What's happening?

->

Momma. Come on, Momma! Let's go!

-Come on, y'all!

-Get out, child.

Grandma! >

Go!

GOSPEL MUSIC PLAYS

-Come on, Momma. Move it, Grandmomma.

-Where we going?

Who's there?

If you're in there, come out.

I ain't taking this shit no more!

ANIMALS BELLOW

It's OK, Poppa.

Everything's going to be fine.

They just cracked your head. Keep breathing. Don't go dying on me now.

You hear me?

It'll be just fine.

BUZZING FLIES

Cows won't run away.

No-one knows why. They just stand there until their bellies go pop.

They have relatives in Detroit.

Are they gonna go?

I didn't give them any choice.

-At least we know who did this.

-WE did.

It's progress. 20 years ago they'd have lynched them for stealing food.

I don't understand you, Mr Anderson. Not at all.

Let's get something straight. This was fucked up the moment we turned this into a show for the newsmen!

-The moment those kids vanished, it WAS news.

-The CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS were news. To me, they're just kids.

-They're STILL missing.

-What's missing is the time Pell spent with his wife.

OK.

OK.

I LOVE Mississippi.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They...

They HATE Mississippi.

They hate us because we present a shining example of successful segregation.

These northern students, with their atheist communist bosses

came to our community to destroy it,

and have taken a terrible blow this week.

This week, their cause has been crippled.

This week, these Federal policemen that you see prying into our lives, violating our civil liberties,

have learned that they are powerless if EVERY SINGLE Anglo-Saxon Christian one of us STANDS TOGETHER!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We've got company, sir.

-This is a political meeting.

-Doesn't smell that way.

-It's a goddamn political meeting.

-It LOOKS like one, but SMELLS more like Klan.

Without the Hallowe'en costumes.

Gentlemen.

In the courts of Mississippi, >

they have been reminded that they cannot force us to have replicas

of their communities - communities where negroes run riot,

unrestrained and unpunished,

as they do on the streets of Haarlem, of Oakland and of Chicago!

HE TAPS ON THE DOOR

Can I come in?

It's not good for you to be here.

Why?

It's ugly.

The whole thing is ugly. Do you know what it's like to live with this?

People look at us and only see bigots

and racists.

Hatred isn't something you're born with - it gets taught.

At school they said segregation was what was said in the Bible.

Genesis 9,

verse 27.

At seven years age, you get told it enough times, you believe it.

You believe their hatred.

You live it. You breathe it.

You MARRY it.

-My husband drove one of the cars that night.

-Ssh.

That's what you want to hear, isn't it?

The bodies are buried on the Roberts' farm.

In an earthen dam.

SHE SOBS

Sir!

Take a break, Mr Bird.

Put some handkerchiefs around your faces.

RETCHING

HUBBUB OF ACTIVITY

Here.

Lift it together. Get in there.

The bodies of the three missing men

were discovered at an undisclosed grave.

Neither the FBI nor the Sheriff's Office will comment.

The bodies have been brought to the county hospital.

It is expected that an autopsy will be performed later tonight.

Keep it open. Coming through.

Open it up.

Hold back.

Clinton, you got some problems at home.

What?

Pull your head out of your ass and get home!

TV: I, Vincent Thompson, am the cheese champion of the world.

'In an international competition, my cheese won first prize based on flavour, texture...'

DOOR OPENS

Hi, Clinton. I didn't expect you home so early.

Hi, Frank.

Agh!

Oh!

I'm sorry. I'm SORRY! Aargh!

POUNDING BLOWS

Sir.

Say again.

I'll be right there.

-Mr Bird?

-Yes, sir.

-Get five men and meet me outside.

-Where's Anderson?

-He's at the motel.

-You two take the front door. Stop anyone getting past. You take the corridor. Mr Bird.

-Sir.

OK. Bring Anderson here. Don't tell him why. Don't tell him anything. Just get him here.

Mr Anderson. Stop!

-Mr Anderson!

-Go to hell.

-I'm telling you to stop! We're not killers.

-That's why we are different to them.

-YOU'RE different!

-YOU'RE not like them.

-Wrong! Why do you care what I do to that son of a bitch? You've got a WORLD to change!

-Right!

-You're arrogant and stupid!

-YOU'RE making changes too.

-I will now!

Don't mess this up because you like fooling around with witnesses.

-It don't mean shit to have a gun unless you use it!

-I'll kill you, if you won't listen.

-Fuck you!

Let me go.

-We'll go after all of them - TOGETHER.

-You wouldn't know how!

-Then teach me!

-You don't have the guts.

-I have the guts AND the authority.

-What does that mean?

-No rules. We nail him any way we can - even your way.

-Is this you talking? Or some guy pulling your strings?

-Both.

-We do it MY way.

-Your way.

-With MY people.

-Whatever it takes.

OK.

Give me a minute.

-You think he would have shot me?

-Oh, yes, sir.

-Ballsy little bastard, isn't he?

They want me to say, let us not forget the two white boys who died

helping negroes help themselves. ALL: Amen!

They want me to say that we mourn with the mothers of these white boys. ALL: Amen!

But the state of Mississippi won't allow those boys to be buried in the same cemetery as this negro boy.

'I say, "I have no more love to give!"

'I have only ANGER in my heart today!

'And I want you to be angry WITH me.

'I am sick and I am tired and I want you to be sick and tired with me.

'I...I...I am sick and tired of going to the funerals of black men

'who have been MURDERED by white men.

'I am sick and tired of the people who ALLOW these things to happen.

'What is an "inalienable right" if you are a negro?

'What is equal treatment under the law?

'What does it mean "Liberty and Justice for all"?

'Now, I say to these people,

'"Look at the face of this young man. You will see the face of a black man,

'"but his blood is red like yours.

'"It is JUST LIKE YOURS!"'

CRICKETS CHIRP

You...

I'm gonna tell you a story.

A young kid, name of Homer Wilkes, lives about 30 miles north of here.

He was just walking home along the road.

A car pulled up.

Three white boys took him for a ride.

Now...

he hadn't done anything.

Except...

..be a negro.

And they took him to a shack,

a shack like...like this one,

and they took out a razor blade.

A regular old razor blade - like this one.

And they pulled down his pants...

..they spread his legs...

..and sliced off his scrotum.

They put it in a coffee cup.

Do you know how much you bleed when somebody cuts off your BALLS?

HUH?

When they found Homer, he looked like he'd been dipped in blood.

He was barely alive when they got him to the hospital. He can hardly walk now.

Mayor, we know you know who was there when those three boys were murdered.

We know you know who pulled the trigger.

HE STRUGGLES TO SPEAK

Is there something you want to say?

OK.

-Is he with the Bureau?

-Yeah. He's a kind of specialist.

-Are you sure Tilman won't talk?

-Not a chance!

-What do you have?

There were three cars. Seven men. Pell and Bailey did the killing.

-Stuckey?

-He knew about it, but he's smart. Pell pulled the trigger for him.

-And Townley?

-It was his idea.

-Grand dragons don't get their hands dirty.

-The whole thing - bullet by bullet.

I don't suppose you're interested in the words "coercion" or "duress"? This is no good in court!

We're not IN court. We'd never get them on murder, anyway - that's a State charge.

-They'll never prosecute.

-I know.

-We have to get them on violation of civil rights.

-Remember whose rights YOU'VE violated!

-Get off your perch!

-Don't drag me into your gutter!

-These people crawled out of a sewer. Maybe we SHOULD be in the gutter.

Thank you.

This had better be important.

Who the hell called this meeting?

-We thought YOU did.

-Of this group? Are you stupid?

-You didn't call this? Shit! Well, who the fuck did?

-Shut up!

-Is this some set-up?

-Lester.

Ray, I got a note from my wife,

from you and Clinton.

Lester, shut up!

Now...we're all going to walk straight out of here and say nothing.

That means nothing, Lester, or you're dead.

Shut up!

Clinton...

Clinton.

The rattlesnakes are starting to commit suicide!

Hi, Lester.

We'll give you that ride home.

What?

-You said 4.30, but we're running late, so I'll meet you at the car.

-You're cracked.

-Do you have change of 20?

-Sure.

-Agh!

-Get in the car, or you'll have nothing left after this drawer shuts.

-Lester, you can make it a lot easier on yourself by going on the record.

-I got nothing to say.

You're barking up the wrong tree.

Let me tell you, we've got you cold. Your buddies have already talked.

Liar.

You're in trouble.

-We know you drove the green truck. And your buddy says - refresh my memory, Mr Bird.

-Yes, sir.

"Cowens kicked the negro, then shot him."

-That's a lie.

-No, it's true. What else?

"Cowens said, 'They only left me a nigger, but at least I shot me a nigger.'"

-I didn't kill him. I only shot him in the ass.

-We know that.

He's already dead by the time you put a slug in him.

But your buddy says that YOU killed the kid. Go on the record right now,

or it'll be YOUR ass we're talking about - not just a black kid's.

Think about it, Lester. Come on out of there.

Come out.

This is tricky!

They make it look so easy, don't they?

I got a question for you.

Do you mind if I call you Clinton?

I feel like I know you so well.

We have it that, on the night of the murders,

you made a speech as they buried the kids.

How does Lester tell it? "You've struck a blow for the white man."

-Is that what you said, Clinton?

-Hm?

Is that what you said?

It had to be you because Townley and Stuckey were too smart to be there.

You were too stupid to think anyone would remember what you had to say.

But old Lester's got a good memory.

I'm sorry. I haven't done this for a long time.

Did you make a speech the night you beat up your wife, Clinton?

Hmm? Did you?

Did you strike a blow for the white man that night? Eh?

You've got a stupid smile, do you know that, Pell? Can you see it?

Did you smile when the bulldozer ran over the black kid's body? EH?!

Did you smile when the bodies were covered?

Get up. Come on. Get up.

Did you smile that same stupid smile? DID YOU?!

< CRASHING

-<

-Did you smile, Pell? DID YOU?!

-CLATTERING

-<

-Did you?

Make no mistake, Deputy. I'll cut your fucking head off and not give a shit what the report sheet says.

BABY CRIES

One more bite. Come on, babe.

One more bite, darlin'.

What the fuck is going on?!

Shut up! Get in the bedroom and lock the door! Stay away from the windows!

Shit!

Bring him over here.

I didn't say a thing. I swear. It's a set-up!

It's a set-up. I didn't do nothing!

NOTHING! I didn't say nothing! I didn't say nothing!

I didn't say nothing!

< GUNSHOTS

You're lucky we've been watching your ass.

If you go on the record, we'll give you protection.

If not...

If not, they're going to kill you, anyway.

Phew!

You need a toilet, Lester.

-That really had him going!

-Sure did!

CLAMOUR OF VOICES

We'll get the cheque, Mr Swilley.

Come this way, sir.

DRAMATIC MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

Button up, Wesley.

Why did he do it? He wasn't even in on it.

Wasn't even Klan.

He was guilty. Anyone's guilty who watches this happen and pretends it isn't.

No.

He was guilty, all right.

Just as guilty as the fanatics who pulled the trigger.

Maybe we ALL are.

Hello!

Yeah.

I just missed you at the hospital. They said you'd gone home.

What's left of it.

I'm sorry.

Mmm, so am I.

-What are you going to do?

-I don't know.

-Where will you go?

-I'm not going. I'm staying. This is my home.

I was born here. I'll probably die here!

If I'd wanted to leave, I'd have done it a long time ago.

Enough good people here know what I did was right.

Enough ladies like the way I fix their hair.

Hey.

If you're ever in Des Moines, don't send me a postcard.

# We cannot see in the future

# No. No. No. No. No.

# And it's hard to smile through trials

# No, we cannot see

# Every pitfall

# But we must walk on by faith

# Each day

# Oh, Lord

# Oh, on Monday...

ALL: # Walk on

# And on Tuesday...

ALL: # Walk on

# Let Jesus be your guide Let Jesus, let Him be your guide

# Whoooh He's able

# To carry your load And He can see

# And see way down the road

# Ooooh Walk on

# By faith... #

Want to drive, Rupert?

Yeah.

# On Monday...

ALL: # Walk on

# And on Tuesday Walk on

# Let Jesus be your guide Let Jesus, let Him be your guide

# He's able to carry your load To carry your load

# And He can see way And see way down the road

# Walk on

# By faith

# Each day... #

# Don't worry and don't you fret

# There's hope for today and tomorrow

# God's got a way, yeah out of every single problem

# Walk on, each day

# Take a rest it's gonna be all right

# We can change things keep facing other times

# Mountains we can move with the faith in God

# Walk on, each day

# On Monday, and on Tuesday # Walk on, walk on

# Let Jesus be your guide

# He is able to carry your load Walk on! Walk on by faith

# Every day, He's there

# Hold your head up you got a way out in Jesus

# You got Jesus He'll be your guide

# He's able He can carry your load

# Walk on, walk on hold your head up and walk on

# In the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus

# He's everything everything you need is in Jesus

# Hold on to the name of Jesus

# Hold on to the power that's in His name... #