Missing activists in Mississippi!

Allen Dulles

Allen Dulles retorna de Mississippi después de haberse reunido con el gobernador y varias autoridades allí. Los periodistas cuestionaban sobre los 3 trabajadores de los derechos civiles desaparecidos en Mississippi y Dulles, después de dar varias vueltas al asunto, informa que no estaba investigando el caso pues “estaba en buenas manos”. “Me reuní con líderes religiosos negros y hombres de negocios”, poniendo a ambas categorías en la misma posición y restándole importancia a las desapariciones.  Esta entrevista es de 1964. En vocabulario: tip off, breakthrough y hoax

Los 3 activistas fueron secuestrados luego de haber sido encarcelados por multas de tránsito…

El FBI ofreció $25.000 por información respecto de los desaparecidos…

El gobernador de Mississippi, Paul B. Johnson Jr., le restó importancia señalando que los 3 “podrían estar en Cuba”…

The murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, involved three activists who were abducted and murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi in June 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement.

The disappearance of the three men was initially investigated as a missing person’s case. The civil rights workers' burnt-out car was found near a swamp three days after their disappearance. An extensive search of the area was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), local and state authorities, and four hundred United States Navy sailors. The three men's bodies were only discovered two months later thanks to a tip-off.

The FBI eventually offered a $25,000 reward (equivalent to $206,000 in 2019), which led to the breakthrough in the case. Meanwhile, Mississippi officials resented the outside attention. Mississippi Governor Paul B. Johnson Jr. dismissed concerns, saying the young men "could be in Cuba".

Ku Klux Klan members burning a cross, Denver

June 26, 1964 - Former CIA Director Allen Dulles returning from Mississippi

The reporters wanted to know what Allen Dulles knew about the disappearance of the Civil Workers… He didn´t know… as usual…

We started a talk with the church leaders and had a luncheon with some of the business leaders… (About progress in the coordination and the investigation)

That´s in very competent hands and I have no comments… (About the disappearance being a hoax)

… That´s going very well… (The collaboration between the state and federal authorities in Mississippi)

I really don´t know… (About the search being in other areas around Philadelphia)

I honestly did not go into this question… (What will the next step be in the search?)

 I don´t know if it´s contemplated… (About these young workers wanting some federal protective force)

I´d better not talk about it now… (Do you have any recommendations?)

—Is there any progress in the coordination and the investigation down there?

—We had a very good two days of meetings in Jackson. Yesterday we talked at length with the governor, had dinner with him and other members of the governor of Mississippi and with other members of his administration, and with some business men and other leaders. Then today, we had quite a long day. We started a talk with the church leaders and then after that we had a luncheon with some of the business leaders. And then we met with quite a large group including all of the important local leaders of the Negro groups. And then after that, and just before leaving, we met again with the governor. Had a good talk with him and then with some business and local leaders from various parts of the state who came in to talk with us, from various outlined areas.

—There have been various reports that this possibly may be a hoax. Do you have any comment on that?

—No, I did not. As I told you when I left, I was not going to get into this investigation question. That´s in very competent hands and I have no comments. In fact I probably don´t know nearly as much as you do.

—Could you tell us anything about the collaboration between the state and federal authorities down there? How does that seem to be going?

—I think that´s going very well and I hope that our trip down there will make it go even better.

—Do you know if the search is underway anyway beside the area around Philadelphia, Mississippi?

—No. I really don´t know except what I´ve been told. I gather that it´s going on a broader basis but that´s only what I´ve been told. I didn´t look into the matter.

—Do you have any idea what the next step in the search will be, sir? Is it going to be a broadening on the adding of the number of people on the job?

—I don´t know. I honestly did not go into this question. I felt from the beginning that this was in good and competent hands and that it was not part of my mission to go on that investigation.

—Apparently these young workers said they wanted some federal marshals or some federal protective force down there. Do you think they should be called for?

—That´s a high political decision and I don´t know if it´s contemplated. Didn´t come up in our discussion.

—Do you think there´s going to be any difficulties in Mississippi after your meetings with these civil right leaders?

—There´s a very difficult problem. I don´t see any likely exposure but you have a situation that requires careful handling and I think that is realized by the governor and by the authorities there and the police under the governor and I´m sure it´s realized by the federal government.

—Based on what you saw down there. Do you have any recommendations that might help?

—I´ll presumably be meeting with the president at his convenience and I will speak to him about that and I think I´d better not talk about it now… (4, 41)

Vocabulario

tip-off: a piece of information given in a discreet or confidential way.

"arrests came after a tip-off from a member of the public"

breakthrough: a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development.

"a major breakthrough in DNA research"

hoax: a humorous or malicious deception.

"the evidence had been planted as part of an elaborate hoax"

Artículos relacionados

Edgar Ray Killen fue acusado por Mississippi por su participación en los crímenes… Mississippi Burning

El objetivo de la marcha era defender los derechos civiles y económicos de los afroamericanos… La marcha de Washington

… con la canción Mississippi Goddam da una respuesta categórica al asesinato de Medgar Evers… Nina Simone

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