In the Heat of the Night

 

The film "In the Heat of the Night" took place in the 1967 and is about a mysterious murder that occurred in a small town in Mississippi. Unlike the past films that we have see in class, this was more of an investigative/mystery when the others were dramatic love stories. The film is about a wealthy man named Phillip Colbert who was murdered and the local sheriff named Bill Gillespie and a police man from the North named Virgil Tibbs try to discover what happened.

What stood out to me in this movie was that unlike the others one of the lead characters was a Black man. Eventhough this film and the last one we watched were produced 10 years apart you can see how times have changed in terms of segregation. The producers made a black man the lead role and is used to show the audience and society that they are just as intelligent as whites. Virgil Tibbs was who led the investigation and was able to use the evidence in order to figure out who convicted the murder.

Virgil Tibbs in the beginning of the film was falsely convicted of the murder due to him having a large amount of money in his wallet. A moment in the movie specifically that I remember was when the sheriff didn't believe that the money belonged to Tibbs. He then goes on to explain that he is also a police officer and that he makes the money himself. The sheriff didn't believe that he got payed as much as he did. This then goes to show him that Tibbs may be a more respected man than he originally thought. In this time period showing that a Black man may be more qualified than a white man was odd and unlikely.

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As we can see throughout the movie Bill Gillespie starts to treat Virgil Tibbs as more of an equal instead of a low class man. In the beginning he thinks that Tibbs is just a Black man that fits all the pasts years stereotypes. He didn't believe that he could be such a well respected officer. Virgil does not care that the sheriff sees him this way and he continues to try and figure out the investigation. We can see that as the movie proceeds the sheriff starts to respect and change his perception of Tibbs. Tibbs really wants to get to the bottom of this case and Gillepsie begins to realize how worthy his determination is. As the two start to work more as a team, this shows society that no matter the color of ones skin they can come together and work as one.

EOTO #3 Reaction

 

This EOTO presentation was about events that happened throughout the Civil Rights movement that focused on segregation. The country was divided on race and people were not afraid to voice their opinions.

One thing that was discussed was the sixteenth street bombing. This event was new to me and I had never know that it occurred so it was helpful to have heard information on it. This church was in Birmingham, Alabama and was one of the first Black Baptist churches. This city was known to be very violent and had many bombing events. The sixteenth street bombing ended up killing twenty-two black civilians including four young girls. This church served as a meeting point for meetings and rallies for the community.

Another event that was discussed was the Ku Klux Klan also known as the KKK. This was a white supremacist group that during this time era focused on attacking Civil Rights activists. They used murder and violence to try and scare the activists. Throughout time this group had different Klans, the one we discussed was more specifically the second clan which did its focus on preserving segregation.

This presentation was extremely informational for me because throughout my years of taking history classes I honestly don't remember ever touching on these subjects. These events are important for our country and understanding of the Civil Rights era. The events that I named are just a few of the many that took place in this time period. In schools today, students need to spend more time learning about the Civil Rights era and the tragic but monumental events that helped end segregation in America.

Justice Harlan Dissent

 Justice Harlan believed that all me are created equal. That everyone in this country was equal. He believed that the "separate but equal" doctrine was simply unconstitutional. He states this "Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." This shows how Justice  Harlan believed more in equality and fairness than the color of ones skin.

Justice Harlan knew the constitution and amendments extremely well and used his knowledge to make his decisions. He used his knowledge specifically in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Harlan really believed that everyone is equal. Ironically he was a slave owner which shocked me because of what he preaches. For being a white man who believed that all men are equal he received a lot of criticism. 

As to his knowledge of the 14th Amendment, Justice Harlan took it as it makes judging people by the color of their skin illegal. This then led Harlan to call out the state of Louisiana in the Plessy v Ferguson case. He called out the state by saying the having separate cars is illegal. Due to the state using the wording of the amendment to try and bypass what the law really means. By making the cars separate by color, Harlan knew that this was a violation of the amendment. 

By believing what he did, Harlan released some key points that not many other people thought of or believed. One of his famous points was  “in this country there is no superior, dominant ruling class of citizens,” and also stated how it is wrong to “regulate the enjoyment of citizens' civil rights solely on the basis of race.” These points that Harlan made were to express his point on how African Americans are not trying to win superiority, it is they just wanted to be treated as equal human beings.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1335/john-marshall-harlan-i

https://louisville.edu/law/library/special-collections/the-john-marshall-harlan-collection/harlans-great-dissent

Brown vs Board of Education

In my class, we had to do research and preform a speech as if we were in the case of Brown vs Board of education. I had to portray a member of the state that was fighting to keep segregated schools based on the religious point of view. This was informational to all because both teams made extremely valid points as to why schools should be segregated. Although we were playing the role of being "pro" segregation we all obviously agree how segregation was unfair.

 

Let me begin by asking you all a question. Would you like it if you sent your child to school to learn and they came home telling you stories about how someone was discussing different points of views on God? What would you do? Whites and Blacks believe different things. I personally would be incredibly angry if my child came home one day and said that a black child was discussing their religion with my child. Our children are sent to school to receive an education with children who are like them. In the state of Kansas, blacks and whites have separate schools for a reason to make sure everyone is with who they are supposed to be. The "separate but equal” doctrine was created for a reason. To make sure that treatment between races is fair. You don't see whites sending their children to black schools. God would not want us to. He gave us the opportunity to be separate for a reason and we should be following his wishes. God created us differently for a reason. Why are we trying to mix together when we were born to be separate. Those who are in favor of changing it will be punished. God sees everything. All is fair. There is a school for everyone. We go to separate churches and are taught and preach different ideas. Our children should be attending school with children they go to church with. The importance of associating our children with people of the same beliefs is one of the most important things. It is one of the only ways we will keep our religion strong. Overall, as a state we should not be allowing our schools to be mixed.The "separate but equal” doctrine is completely fair and was created for moments like these. Why should our state go against the laws and start mixing all together. Our children need us to stand up for them and for the better of them things should remain separated.

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka

https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/history-brown-v-board-education-re-enactment