“Fear” is a word that is pervasive in our nation today. From immigrants and refugees (documented and undocumented), to public educators, to foreign aid organizations, to government agencies, to people of nearly every minority group; actions by the Trump administration have caused a level of widespread fear that goes beyond anything we have experienced in recent memory. Yet there have been times in our nation’s history when government actions created a daily atmosphere of fear for people targeted by the policies of those in power. During the decades of American apartheid known as legal racial segregation, people of color faced constant legal, verbal, and physical threats that dehumanized them and instilled fear as an instrument of control. In the face of this trauma, there were always examples of some who faced this fear and challenged the systems of racial injustice. One such person is James Meredith. In the fall of 1962, he was the first Black person to enroll at the University of Mississippi. At the time, he was a 27 year old Air Force veteran. It took him four attempts to register at the University, because both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor literally stood in the way to prevent him from registering. His presence on the all white campus caused riots in which two people were killed. Federal marshals accompanied him to class as he continued to experience isolation and harassment by white students. He persevered and became the first Black person to graduate from that university in 1963. The first video posted below focuses on that time in his life.
Throughout the years of legal racial segregation and the modern Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi had the reputation of being the most resistant state to change and among the most violent in trying to preserve segregation. On this week in 1966, James Meredith embarked on what he called the “March Against Fear.” He intended it to be a solo march from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS to protest ongoing racism and to encourage Black voter registration following the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On just the second day of the march, he was ambushed and shot by a white supremacist. Although police were present and the shooter called out Meredith’s name twice before shooting, no one intervened to prevent the shooting. Fortunately James Meredith survived but could not continue the march. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders quickly organized to carry on the march in the face of ongoing racial threats and hostilities. By the time the march reached Jackson, MS on June 26, James Meredith was present along with an estimated 15,000 marchers. It became the largest civil rights march in Mississippi history, and more than 4,000 Black people were registered to vote. By their willingness to face fear, James Meredith and the other marchers played a significant part in the struggle for racial justice. The second video posted below tells the story of the “March Against Fear.”
The “March Against Fear” is a phrase that still resonates today. For example, on June 14 tens of thousands of people around the country will engage in marches to protest the conditions that have caused our current climate of fear. In addition to actual marches, we need ongoing organizing and advocacy to stand up to these fears. A consistent message in numerous Biblical stories is “Do not be afraid.” This message is not a denial of the reality of fearful conditions but a call to trust in God’s presence in the face of fear. The power of God’s loving presence experienced in solidarity with others who are willing to stand up for justice is the antidote to the fears that surround us.