(Name-mce) ListServ Hundreds attend dedication of U.S. civil rights monument

[Howe, William]

Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006   

 

Hundreds attend dedication of U.S. civil rights monument

 

(AP) - OXFORD, Mississippi-The University of Mississippi marked the 44th
anniversary of its integration by dedicating a civil rights monument at
a ceremony attended by politicians, actor Morgan Freeman and the
student, now 73, who started it all.

 

The monument features a life-size bronze likeness of James Meredith, the
first black student admitted to the university. The statue is posed as
if it is striding toward a 17-foot (5-meter)-tall limestone portal
topped with the words "courage," "perseverance," "opportunity" and
"knowledge."

 

"This is a day to rejoice," said U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia
Democrat, who delivered the keynote address to about 1,500 people who
attended the dedication Sunday. "With the unveiling of this monument, we
free ourselves from the chains of a difficult past. Today we can
celebrate a new day, a new beginning, the birth of a new South and a new
America that is more free, more fair and more just than ever before."

 

Meredith, who lives in Jackson, attended the ceremony but was not a
speaker.

 

After the ceremony, he posed beside the statue for photos with former
Gov. William Winter and autographed printed programs. The monument was
built with $160,000 (euro126,382) in grants and private donations.

 

The ceremony included remarks by university Chancellor Robert Khayat;
Congressman Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Meredith's son, Joseph, who
earned a doctorate in finance from the university; and Freeman.

 

"Mississippi is a much better state today because of James Meredith, and
this is a much better university," said Freeman, a Mississippi resident.
"Thank you, Mr. Meredith."

 

Lewis brought the crowd to its feet by recounting his childhood and his
time as a national organizer of civil rights activities, including the
historic March on Washington in 1963.

 

Lewis, who was beaten by a mob in Alabama in 1961, praised Meredith and
university leaders for fostering acceptance and equal access.

 

"This is a monument to the power of peace to overcome violence," he
said. "And it is a monument to the power of love to overcome hate."

 

After Gov. Ross Barnett tried to block Meredith's admission in 1962,
President John F. Kennedy used National Guard troops to restore order.

 

The soldiers were bombarded with brickbats and Molotov cocktails by a
mob of hundreds of whites - students and others - who chanted, "Two,
four, six, eight, we will never integrate."

 

Two people were killed in the riots.

 

The leafy Oxford campus, in the hills of north Mississippi, also
contains a Confederate soldier statue as a tribute to students who
fought in the U.S. Civil War. The statue of Meredith is about 100 yards
(91 meters) away, separated from it by a building that still bears
bullet scars from the integration fight.

 

2006-10-02T00:34:26Z  

 

 

William A. Howe, Ed.D.
Education Consultant for Multicultural Education & Gender Equity
Connecticut State Department of Education - Bureau of Educational Equity
165 Capitol Ave. Rm 312, Hartford, CT 06106 
Telephone: 860-713-6542 * Fax: 860-713-7496
email: william.howe at ct.gov <BLOCKED::mailto:william.howe at ct.gov> 
website: http://www.state.ct.us/sde

11th Annual Connecticut Conference on Multicultural Education, Marriott
Hotel, Farmington, CT -Oct. 16, 2006,
<http://www.state.ct.us/sde/calendar/index.htm>  

 

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