An award-winning investigative reporter shares the real-life detective story of how Klansmen came to justice in notorious unsolved civil rights cold cases–decades after they had gotten away with murder. On June 21, 1964, more than twenty Klansmen murdered three civil rights workers. The killings, in what would become known as the “Mississippi Burning” case, were among the most brazen acts of … most brazen acts of violence during the Civil Rights Movement. And even though the killers’ identities, including the sheriff’s deputy, were an open secret, no one was charged with murder in the months and years that followed.
It took forty-one years before the mastermind was brought to trial and finally convicted for the three innocent lives he took. If there is one man who helped pave the way for justice, it is investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell.
In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes readers on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the Civil Rights Movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents, found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan. He takes us into every harrowing scene along the way, as when Mitchell goes into the lion’s den, meeting one-on-one with the very murderers he is seeking to catch. His efforts have put four leading Klansmen behind bars, years after they thought they had gotten away with murder.
Race Against Time is an astonishing, courageous story capturing a historic race for justice, as the past is uncovered, clue by clue, and long-ignored evils are brought into the light. This is a landmark book and essential reading for all Americans.more
For almost two decades, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell doggedly pursued the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement. This book is his amazing story. Thanks to him, and to courageous prosecutors, witnesses, and FBI agents, justice finally prevailed.
Chilling and gripping. And rest assured, Jerry Mitchell is the real deal — a dogged, fearless crusader for truth, and one hell of a story teller.
Jerry Mitchell’s memoir revives promise for journalism. In this stirring, insider’s account of four notorious crimes from the 1960s, his tenacious allies defy race and resignation to win historic miracles for justice.
Jerry Mitchell is an instrument of redemption for Mississippi, and boy do we need him now. Read his story and be inspired by it.
It’s one thing to have a great story to tell. But it’s another thing to have it told by a great storyteller. Jerry Mitchell has written this book with power, talent, and conscience.
Many of us BabyBoomers achieved our majority during these crucial years – 1964-1976. It was a time of turmoil and change in the U.S. and the beginning of what is now a deeply held distrust of Washington DC officeholders. Jerry Mitchell is an excellent newspaper journalist – one who has always had the pulse of the U.S. citizens and has always told it like it is, regardless of whom it exposes or offends. This memoir too is cutting edge, an authentic look into racial divides in especially the south in this timeframe, and the lengths some prejudiced southerners were able to go to to keep the status quo. Generations of southern citizens willing to perpetuate Jim Crow ideology into each new generation of potential voters – white voters – borne to southern women, women almost as deeply sinned against at that time as were the Blacks and First Nation Citizens. A voiceless injustice that still prevails today in isolated places.
Race Against Time is an excellent reckoning of those crimes, those tumultuous times in the deep south. Mitchell follows the trials of the Klan members and even the odd policeman who was responsible for some of these atrocities – trials trailing 40 years after these hate crimes were committed. Many of the perpetrators had already died of old age before this light of enlightenment was shed on these crimes. We need to ensure that this sort of prejudice cannot happen in our children’s time and their kid’s generation as well. Please, get out there, and VOTE!
I received a free electronic copy of this memoir from Netgalley, Jerry Mitchell, and Simon&Schuster. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this work of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.