Jan. 20, 2009
Evers' Widow: "You Did Not Die In Vain"
Family Of Slain Civil Rights Leader Relishes Historic Day
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Play CBS Video Video The Legacy Of Medgar Evers As Barack Obama becomes the first African American U.S. president, CBS News' Harold Dow highlights the life of Medgar Evers, a black civil rights activist who was assassinated in the 1960s.
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Video Recapping Civil Rights Battles Dan Rather looks back at one of the biggest stories of his career: the civil rights struggle. He talks with Medgar Evers' brother, Charles, about changes he's seen since his brother's murder.
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Myrlie Evers visits the grave of her husband, slain civil right leader Medgar Evers, at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 19, 2009. “We made it. Obama made it,” she tells him. (CBS)
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Long before Barack Obama rallied a nation for change, Medgar Evers, shown in 1963, was willing to risk his life for it. (AP)
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Evers' nieces, twins Corrie and Courtney Cockrell, know the historic vote that put the Obama family in the White House could never have happened without the help from their family. (CBS)
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Photo Essay Medgar Evers A look back at the life, death and legacy of a civil rights icon.
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Interactive Civil Rights In America A look back at the key people and events of the civil rights movement.
"It puts a face on everything you’ve been taught and everything you hear," says Courtney Cockrell. "There’s no better role model than the president of the United States."
Courtney and Corrie Cockrell, 27-year-old twins from Jackson, Miss., were inspired by what they saw on Nov. 4, 2008.
"It was just amazing, really, to just see the country come together and to see people put things that don’t matter aside, and look at him for the man that he is and the leader that he his," Courtney says.
Corrie and Courtney know the historic vote that put the Obama family in the White House could never have happened without the help from their family.
"Uncle Medgar -- I just can imagine him, you know, just being so proud of us to see the country come together," Courtney says. Adds Corrie Cockrell, "I think he would say, 'job well done.'"
More than 40 years ago, their great uncle, Medgar Evers, was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School -- the same school from which his twin nieces graduated -- simply because he was black.
"He knew that there were things that needed to be done and he was willing to do them no matter what," Corrie says.
Long before Barack Obama rallied a nation for change, Evers was willing to risk his life for it. In the segregated South during the 1950s and 60s, his wife Myrlie knew her husband’s dreams for equality were dangerous.
"Medgar was unusual in the sense that he was so committed to justice and equality and willing to pay the price -- knowing full well that at that particular time and in Mississippi, he was putting his life on the line," she says.
It was ugly chapter in our nation’s history, a time when African-Americans were lynched, beaten and killed because of the color of their skin.
Medgar Evers struggled to abolish laws that oppressed blacks. As a leader in the NAACP, he knew the real power was in the vote.
"We are not just interested in voting so that conditions can be improved for Negroes. We want conditions improved for everybody," Evers said on a 1962 broadcast of CBS Reports.
Myrlie Evers says getting people registered to vote was a big part of her husband's life.
"A major, major part of his effort, but the power was in the vote. The power was elusive," she says, "because of the fear people had."
In the 1962 interview Evers said, "I’ve had a number of threatening phone calls. People calling me saying they were going to kill me. Saying they were going to blow up my home up and saying that I only had a few hours to live."
"It almost sounded as if he knew," says CBS News correspondent Harold Dow. Myrlie says "he did."
On June 12, 1963, a young Myrlie Evers and her three children were inside the family home in Jackson, Miss.
The children knew the sound of Daddy’s car and she recalls the kids saying, "Here comes Daddy. Here comes Daddy."
"…and it pulled in the driveway behind my car and wham."
Medgar Evers was shot in cold blood by a white supremacist in the driveway of his home. He was just 37 years old. It would take another 30 years to bring his killer to justice.
Myrlie says she remembers "almost everything" about the day her husband was assassinated. "How he kissed the children and how he kissed me. How he walked out of the door, got in the car, came back in then embraced us all again."
At that moment, Myrlie went from wife to widow and her life changed forever. She took up her husband’s cause for change and became the first woman to lead the NAACP.
Last year, Myrlie joined another cause -- Barack Obama’s run for the White House. She was a powerful reminder to the candidate that he is standing on the shoulders of all those who fought and died for civil rights.
"I said to him, 'I want you know that I keep you and your family in my prayers on a daily basis, as I do with my own children.' He looked me in the eye, without a smile, dead serious and he said, 'please keep me in your prayers.'"
Medgar Evers' daughter, Reena, son, Van, and three grandchildren feel a connection to the new First Family.
"They do look very similar as to how they carry themselves, even to the point of how they sit and cross their legs," Reena says.
Adds Myrlie, "I saw a photograph of Obama playing basketball. This man’s feet were off of the floor, he was reaching for that ball, had it in the grasp of his hands and I said, 'You know what? I see him as a leader, and that’s the world that’s in his hands ... When the news commentators came on and said it’s over, he’s won this race, I buried my head in my hands and tears began to fall. I couldn’t stop them and I said, 'Medgar do you see? Do you see what has happened?'"
On the day before the inauguration, Myrlie Evers went to Arlington National Cemetery to give her husband the news. “We made it. Obama made it,” she tells him.
And in the nation’s capitol on the historic day, the Evers family is witness to history.
"All persons should have an opportunity to register and vote and to do the things that the Constitution guarantees them," Evers said in 1962.
"I understand now," she tells her husband, "that you did not die in vain."
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More From Inauguration 2009
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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See all 40 CommentsBeing from Hawaii, there is only one true race.
THE HUMAN RACE!!!! Blacks, Whites, and all other''s we are just people, better to learn to live together.
I grew up in the civil rights era and there was Blacks and whites and otherrs that have died for what we have send in this election. Thank God for Barack fo what he stands for, equality for all. And by the way, I am White, and I didn''t vote for Obama, but after seeing his acceptance speech and what he has accomplished I believe he is Martin, Megar, John and Bobby all rolled into one. These men all preached tolerance, acceptance regardless of race. But we are all in the Human race, so it''s about time we give up color, but if he wants to say he is black, well it''s good enough for me, he looks black. but than I really don''t care, he has brought hope for milions and for that I am grateful, now as Americans maybe we can go forward with the problems facing us all and quit the worry about color.
Obama is not black enough, or they don''t think he has
too much white him. It looks to me like nobody here
is worried about the "Content of his Character" I
guess there is still people are worried about the
color of his skin. I look to President Obama as a ray
of hope this nation needs at this low point in this
country.
are basically uninformed about civil rights. I didn''t
realize there are still deciples of Jim Crow out
there. I guess there are still racists out there. I
guess there is still people who related to the KKK.
Excuse me for being naive about this terrible legacy
on our nations history.
o try to minimize their blackness--you may as well claim Powell, Rice, Oprah and even OJ are not black--because it is evident that all 4 have some European genetics--you don''''t go from coal black skin to those lighter browns, caramels and yellows without a serious injection of something lighter. LOL
Posted by harbinger09 at 01:36 PM : Jan 21, 2009
And the chosen partner of Obama, the first black President.
to try to minimize their blackness--you may as well claim Powell, Rice, Oprah and even OJ are not black--because it is evident that all 3 have some European genetics--you don''t go from coal black skin to those lighter browns, caramels and yellows without a serious injection of something lighter. LOL
Posted by johnnymac114 at 10:14 AM : Jan 21, 2009
You show your ignorance. Biracial implies the mixture of 2 races--50% from each. But that is not the only mixture by US law considered black. Octoroons and Quadroons (those that are 25% or even 12% black are also considered black by law.
As for Biracial--I beg to differ. Several of my relatives are multiracial. Their mom is Polynesian, black, native American, Scottish, Irish, English and French and Madagascan. Their dad was from Pakistan.
By virtue of this mix--they are not considered biracial but black. Why? Because the mom looks black other than having almond shaped eyes and very long hair--and the father was dark brown. The law describes them as black. But even if not, they could not claim "biracial" status, having touched almost every race we claim there is with their genetic mix.
But I do wish that during this whole untrue historic event that the media would have talked about the Presidents White background. Like is his other half German and French, or perhaps Irish and Russian, etc.
So the truth of the matter is we have had a historic non-historic event! A bunch of bullhockey. The media is full of controlled materialists: zombies who report whatever their told to report (although there are still a few people in the media that haven''''t sold their souls so to speak for fame and fortune).
Refuse to be programmed people, think for yourselves. We are all in this together and I hope that our new President will be able to turn things around and we should all do whatever we can to help that process.
And if you don''''t like a particular race(s), think about this: whether you like it or not we are all part of each other. And we should stop alowing society through the powers that be to keep us divided. Because through division and strife, is one of the ways they maintain control over us.
WAKE UP!!!
Posted by johnnymac114 at 10:14 AM : Jan 21, 2009
Due to the interbreeding of slaves and rapes, there are very few genetically "100%" blacks in this country. Short of having just come from Africa, most slave descended blacks have a combination of European and Native American blood.
If he wants to be true and honest, he is of mixed race, NOT black.
Posted by VcofReason at 06:49 AM : Jan 21, 2009
by law, he is not white or mixed race but must describe himself as black. Whites deliberately worded the laws so that blacks could not claim any part of their European heritage--because how could enslaving part Europeans be accepted? How could not allowing part Europeans own land or have rights be accepted? It was an all or nothing gambit--but those laws are still on the books in almost every single state. Svck it up--if you don''t want Obama to claim a race--don''t mandate such a claim --because whites also cannot arbitrarily dictate which biracial people they will think of as their own, either.
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Posted by VcofReason at 10:23 PM : Jan 20, 2009
+ report abuse
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Black enough. Had he been alive, in the Jim Crow south, he would not have been allowed to drink from a "white water fountain", he would have been forced to sit on the back of the bus, he wouldn''''t have been allowed in a "white" school, and had he been alive in 1850, he most probably would have been a slave. How black to you want him to be?
Posted by kansas1946 at 11:52 PM : Jan 20, 2009
Kansas1946--very well said. According to US laws, a black person must have less than 16% black genetics or blood to be considered white. there are no allowances for those with white parents. By law, only the great, great grandchild with a black ancestor can be considered white--and only if, in each suceeding generation, they only bred with other 100% whites. That is the law. So by law Obama is black. If people want to parse the meaning now--first the laws must be changed--even then, it applies only going forward--not for all that has gone before.
will last forever.
a very important part of our nations history. I was
too young to protest back in the 60s, but it was
ingrained in me though. I have brought my own children
up in these believes. I just don''t want this legacy
to go away. They have to know what grandpa did,
what I''ve done to help get Barack Obama to get him in
the White House. It was a great effort to see everyone
pull together to get President Obama in the White
House.
gave their lives so there would be a President Obama
one day! I am just greatful I have lived to see this.
These people who paved the way were both black and
white. Most of these people were for the most part
not well known. They were called Freedom Riders, they
rode on Greyhound Buses in the South to protest the
way people were treated and not being allowed to vote.
They risked their lives. Some of these civil rights
activists were murdered, those that murdered them
tried to cover up these horrible acts of aggression.
know about bigotry. My father saw the segregated
restrooms and restaurants of the south. So really I
do think it is time to put all these bigoted
rightgeous ideas and get rid of them for once and
for all.
needs to open declare what race he is. As far as I''m
concerned he is a man for the ages. I hope and pray
he can geniunely put this country back together. I
hope we as a multi racial country can really put the
differences aside and be one!
If he wants to be true and honest, he is of mixed race, NOT black."
Posted by VcofReason at 06:49 AM : Jan 21, 2009
+ report abuse
So VcofReason, what *exactly* are you implying? That the enslavement, torture, and discrimination against blacks kept the murder/crime rate in check? So, too, for Native Americans? Irish immigrants? Are you implying that the gains made by blacks and other minorities over the years are the cause of higher murder rates?
Give me a break.
Besides the fact that it doesn''t matter...
When it''s round-up time, do you think they will give him a pass, and say "oh well you''re mixed, you get a pass"
We come in all flavors and shades.
Your pain isn''t any deeper than mine, so you need to get over yourself, and pick up the occasional history book.
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