Sons of Mississippi: A Story of Race and Its Legacy
by Paul Hendrickson
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Sons of Mississippi recounts the story of seven white Mississippi lawmen depicted in a horrifically telling 1962 Life magazine photograph-and of the racial intolerance that is their legacy.In that photograph, which appears on the front of this jacket, the lawmen (six sheriffs and a deputy sheriff) admire a billy club with obvious pleasure, preparing for the unrest they anticipate-and to which they clearly intend to contribute-in the wake of James Meredith's planned attempt to integrate the show more University of Mississippi. In finding the stories of these men, Paul Hendrickson gives us an extraordinarily revealing picture of racism in America at that moment. But his ultimate focus is on the part this legacy has played in the lives of their children and grandchildren.One of them is a grandson-a high school dropout and many times married-who achieves an elegant poignancy in his struggle against the racism to which he sometimes succumbs. One son is a sheriff, as his father was-and in the same town. Another grandson patrols the U.S. border with Mexico-a law enforcement officer like the two generations before him-driven by the beliefs and deeds of his forebears. In all the portraits, we see how the prejudice bequeathed by the fathers has been transformed, or remained untouched, in the sons.For its sense of fragile hope, Sons of Mississippi is a profoundly important, revelatory work of still-evolving history. A stunning book by a masterful writer. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
3551. Sons of Mississippi A Story of Race and Its Legacy, by Paul Hendrickson (read 26 Jan 2004) I was greatly taken up by Hendrickson's The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War when I read it on 26 July 1997, so I wanted to read this account of the aftermath to critical events in the civil rights struggle in Mississippi, the Emmet Till murder in 1955 and the riot occasioned by James Meredith's entry into the University of Mississippi in late Sept 1962. The book is themed by a picture of seven sheriffs (actually six sheriffs and one deputy sheriff) taken just before the riot, which appeared in Life, and the author has interviewed and tells much of the lives of those sheriffs, and of James Meredith and his show more son. Though Mississippi has erected a monument on Ole Miss' grounds commemorating the civil rights struggle, its voters overwhelmingly voted to keep the Confederate flag on its state flag, and there appears to be much nonacceptance of the today's climate among at least older Mississippians. This is a good book, but might have been more effective if it were more objective, albeit the author is on the side of the good guys. show less
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Author Information
12+ Works 1,152 Members
Paul Hendrickson, a prizewinning feature writer for the Washington Post, is on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. He has degrees in American literature from St. Louis University and Penn State. Hendrickson's books are Looking for the Light: The Hidden Life and Art of Marion Post Wolcott (a finalist for the 1992 National Book Critics show more Circle Award); The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War (finalist for the National Book Award in 1996); and Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2003-03-18
- People/Characters
- William T. "Billy" Ferrell; Tommy Ferrell; John Ed Cothram; James Meredith
- Important places
- University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, USA
- Important events
- James Meredith Attempts to Enroll at the University of Mississippi (1962-09)
- Dedication
- For Wil Haygood, who has shown me with his life
- Blurbers
- Greene, Melissa Fay; Talese, Gay; Miles, Jack; Bragg, Rick; Berry, Mary Frances; Halberstam, David (show all 7); Brinkley, Douglas
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Anthropology, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 305.8 — Social sciences Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Groups of people Ethnic and national groups
- LCC
- F350 .A1 .H46 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history Mississippi
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 184
- Popularity
- 177,005
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.47)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
