|
Ghosts Over Mississippi
Dr. W. M. Caskey was a historian and noted Bible professor at the school. He provided the theological preamble for the justification of segregation. His exegesis of Scripture and historical understanding of the nature of the races led him to justify segregation as a Biblical mandate. Bob Jones University heads did the same in South Carolina. Bob Jones was noted as a conservative Christian University with the highest of academic standards. When word came that Martin Luther King was slain, Bob Jones students cheered at the news of the assassination.1 Caskey was a director of the Sons of the Confederacy. He was active in spreading his gospel of segregation throughout the state. He worked with students in the Clinton school to instruct them in his historical truths. One key connection Caskey had was the influence on the American terrorist, Kathy Ainsworth. He was so persuasive about Jewish influences on the evil Communist led Civil Rights movement, Kathy worked on planting bombs at prominent Jewish homes in the state. She was slain by the FBI in her last attempt in Meridian. Caskey had another important connection with Ross Barnett. Barnett was governor of the State of Mississippi during crucial civil rights movements. Barnett was on the phone with Bobby Kennedy trying to stop James Meredith from being the first Black to enter Ole Miss. Ross was an active member of the White Citizen's Council. The organization that provided the inspiration for Dylann Roof to slay the nine church members in Charleston. Barnett's refusal to allow Meredith into Mississippi University brought with it a fine and jail sentence. Barnett never spent a moment in jail nor did he ever pay the fine. Ross was governor when freedom riders from Civil Rights buses were stopped and searched. Freedom Bus passengers were arrested and jailed during Barnett's reign as head of the state. This incarceration was especial brutal and happened in 1961.2 The governor taught a Sunday School class and was active in his Southern Baptist church. He felt as if what he was doing was Biblically justified. Caskey often visited the statesman and schooled him on the concept of segregation. Barnett sensed he did nothing wrong in fighting Northern invaders who sought to disrupt the gentle Southern culture. His appearance at the famous first trial for Bryon Beckworth is noted in the movie, Ghosts Over Mississippi. Beckworth was the famous Klansman who shot and killed Medgar Evers. Evers was the Black Civil Rights leader from Jackson who was gunned down in front of his young family. Barnett's noted hand shake and blessing of Beckworth went a long way towards influencing the first acquittal of Beckworth who was found guilty after the third trial. Barnett would prove to be a symbol for Southern justice during this period. Much like the Arkansas governor who refused Eisenhower's order to integrate Little Rock Central High School, Barnett would gain great political clout from his stands. The story is similar to the lynching of Leo Frank. Frank was the Jew who was kidnapped from a Georgia prison and hung from a tree overlooking the home of the young girl he allegedly murdered. He was later pardoned almost sixty years after the crime. Though there were pictures of prominent citizens at the lynching that would become Georgia government officials, no one was ever prosecuted for the violent act. Pieces of the rope used to hang Frank were sold as souvenirs to Georgia collectors. Frank's lynching is supposed to be the event that spawned the modern Anti -Defamation League. Racist publications often spend as much time in the South attacking Jews as they did Blacks. In David Duke's book, My Awakening, there is more print devoted to attacking Jews than to bashing Blacks. Caskey was head of the political science department at Mississippi College. He got his PHD from Vanderbilt University. His dissertation for his PHD was titled, "Carpet Bag-Scallywag-Negro-Decade in the South." He wrote a paper that is on file at MC that is named, "The South's Just Cause." From the titles you can guess the slant the professor had on Southern history. Caskey substituted for Ross Barnett as a quest speaker at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The occasion was Mississippi Day at the national park. Caskey noted that "hostile historians" had given the South a bad name. The Northern rebellion against the Constitution was the real cause of the war. He stated the Civil War was a just war from the Southern point of view. They were fighting for the Declaration of Independence. He promised Southern slave holders were just about to free slaves and the war was not necessary. He backed the Klan in his paper and stated the South was fighting the war for the "survival of Anglo-Saxon rights." Integration is unconstitutional because of White supremacy according to the teacher. The South was fighting a Holy cause. The professor stated, "White racial supremacy and racial integrity was in their minds a real cause."3 Interesting that the current debate about history books in Texas depicting the Civil War as not about slavery is a current controversy. Old legends never die it appears. GOP political advisor Lee Atwater used to tell his politicians that they cannot say "niggar" anymore. Instead they were supposed to use the terms "state's rights." Southern justice is called to question regarding the three civil rights workers found buried in a dam. Sentences resulted in little more than a slap on the wrist. Leo Frank's lynching leaders never were even reprimanded. Barnett never spend a day in court over his refusals to follow federal law. It is noteworthy that much of the dogma for this sort of bigotry was supplied by the likes of Dr. W. M Caskey. It is an old ghost that many would like to allow to rest in peace. Caskey provides a link to hard right politics justified by his strange interpretation of the Bible.
Endnotes:
Ghosts Over Mississippi | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
Ghosts Over Mississippi | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
|
||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
print page
