The town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, known for the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964, has caught the public’s attention yet again – this time for electing the town’s first black mayor. James Young, a 53-year-old minister, edged out a win over incumbent Mayor Rayburn Waddell by a 64 vote margin.
Young’s victory sends out a message that Philadelphia is turning a new leaf. He told reporters it shows a change of attitude and a desire to move forward. A Philadelphia native, Young integrated the local elementary school in the 1960s. He was the only black student in his sixth-grade class.
A predominantly white town of 7,300 people, Philadelphia, Mississippi, was once known for the Ku Klux Klan killings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in August 1964. The three young men were murdered as they attempted to organize voters during the “Freedom Summer.”
Chaney, who was black, was accompanied by two white co-workers, Goodman and Schwerner, during a “Freedom Summer” voter registration campaign through the south.
The murders were featured in the 1988 movie “Mississippi Burning.”
This is a story of change and hope. It is also about overcoming the burdens of the past. History can be rewritten – the election of James Young is proof of that.
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