Steeped in the Blood of Racism : Black Power, Law and Order, and the 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College

Minutes after midnight on May 15, 1970, white members of the Jackson city police and the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened fire on young people in front of a women's dormitory at Jackson State College, a historically black college in Jackson, Mississippi, discharging "buckshot, rifle slugs, a submachine gun, carbines with military ammunition, and two 30.06 rifles loaded with armor-piercing bullets." Twenty-eight seconds later two young people lay dead, another 12 injured. Taking place just ten days after the killings at Kent State, the attack at Jackson State never garnered the same level of national attention and was chronically misunderstood as similar in cause. This book reclaims this story and situates it in the broader history of the struggle for African American freedom in the civil rights and black power eras. The book explores the essential role of white supremacy in causing the shootings and shaping the aftermath. By 1970, even historically conservative campuses such as Jackson State, where an all-white Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning had long exercised its power to control student behavior, were beginning to feel the impact of the movements for African American freedom. Though most of the students at Jackson State remained focused not on activism but their educations, racial consciousness was taking hold. It was this campus police attacked. Acting on racial animus and with impunity, the shootings reflected both traditional patterns of repression and the new logic and rhetoric of "law and order," with its thinly veiled racial coding. In the aftermath, the victims and their survivors struggled unsuccessfully to find justice. Despite multiple investigative commissions, two grand juries and a civil suit brought by students and the families of the dead, the law and order narrative proved too powerful. No officers were charged, no restitution was paid, and no apologies were offered. The shootings were soon largely forgotten except among the local African American community, the injured victimized once more by historical amnesia born of the unwillingness to acknowledge the essential role of race in causing the violence. Minutes after midnight on May 15, 1970, white members of the Jackson city police and the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened fire on young people in front of a women's dormitory at Jackson State College, a historically black college in Jackson, Mississippi, discharging "buckshot, rifle slugs, a submachine gun, carbines with military ammunition, and two 30.06 rifles loaded with armor-piercing bullets." Twenty-eight seconds later two young people lay dead, another 12 injured. Taking place just ten days after the killings at Kent State, the attack at Jackson State never garnered the same level of national attention and was chronically misunderstood as similar in cause. This book reclaims this story and situates it in the broader history of the struggle for African American freedom in the civil rights and black power eras.0The book explores the essential role of white supremacy in causing the shootings and shaping the aftermath. Acting on racial animus and with impunity, the shootings reflected both traditional patterns of repression and the new logic and rhetoric of "law and order," with its thinly veiled racial coding.0In the aftermath, the victims and their survivors struggled unsuccessfully to find justice. Despite multiple investigative commissions, two grand juries and a civil suit brought by students and the families of the dead, the law and order narrative proved too powerful. No officers were charged, no restitution was paid, and no apologies were offered. The shootings were soon largely forgotten except among the local African American community, the injured victimized once more by historical amnesia born of the unwillingness to acknowledge the essential role of race in causing the violence "This book recounts the death of two young African Americans, Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green and the wounding of twelve others caused when white police and highway patrolmen opened fire on students in front of a women's dormitory at Jackson State College, a historically black college (HBCU) in May, 1970. It situates this story in the broader events of the civil rights and black power eras, emphasizing the role white supremacy played in causing the police violence and shaping their aftermath. A state school controlled by an all-white Board of Trustees, Jackson State had a reputation as a conservative campus where students faced expulsion for activism. By 1970, students were pushing back, responding to the evolving movement for African American freedom. It was this changing campus that law enforcement attacked, reflecting both traditional patterns of repression and the new logic and racially coded rhetoric of "law and order." In the aftermath, the victims and their survivors struggled unsuccessfully to find justice or a place in the nation's public memory. Despite multiple investigative commissions, two grand juries, and a civil suit, no officers were charged, no restitution was paid, and no apologies were offered. Overshadowed by the shooting of white students at Kent State University ten days earlier, the violence was routinely misunderstood as similar in cause, a story that evaded the essential role of race in causing it. Few besides the local African American community proved willing to remember. This book provides crucial history for understanding the ongoing crisis of state violence against people of color"-- Provided by publisher Two young African Americans, Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green, were killed and twelve others wounded when white police opened fire on students in front of a dormitory at Jackson State College in May 1970. The victims and survivors struggled unsuccessfully to find justice, or a place in the nation's public memory. Despite multiple investigations, two grand juries, and a civil suit, no officers were charged, no restitution was paid, and no apologies were offered. Overshadowed by the shooting of white students at Kent State University ten days earlier, the violence was routinely misunderstood as similar in cause, a story that evaded the essential role of race in causing it. This book provides crucial context for situating the ongoing crisis of state violence against people of color in its long history Introduction. "Everybody knows about Mississippi goddam" : the shootings of May 15, 1970 -- "A well conceived scheme to maintain racial segregation" : Jackson State College and the struggle for freedom -- "Wake up brothers and sisters" : civil rights, black power, and a changing campus -- "Buckshot, rifle slugs, a submachine gun" : the shootings at Jackson State College -- "They killed a bunch of black kids" : the struggles over the aftermath -- "The law says they can do it, and they did it" : the civil suit and the power of the law and order perspective -- "Largely unknown to the public" : race, law and order, and the struggle over memory -- Conclusion. "It was not a story to pass on" : the ongoing trauma of state violence