We Had Sneakers, They Had Guns: The Kids Who Fought for Civil Rights in Mississippi

Forty-four. Standing on Shoulders

269 f o r t y - f o u r Standing on Shoulders iwas eager to see Leslie McLemore again. Mississippi was never a simple historical, psychological, or political equation for me, and my old friend had helped for decades to reset my compass whenever I visited his chosen turf. Traveling now with Gloria, reexploring this memory-laden place, I felt the need of Dr. Leslie McLemore’s insightful perspective. Les had first come into my view when I was researching our film about Fannie Lou Hamer, more than a decade after that summer of ‘64. Now it would be a chance for my wife to perceive the civil rights struggle in Mississippi through the eyes of a wise and observant veteran of the movement. Although his wife, Betty, an accomplished Jackson lawyer, was out of town, he brought Leslie Jr., a bright and gangling adolescent, to join us for dinner. The three McLemores present a handsome family portrait to the Jackson public. I was not surprised to learn that Leslie, the head of the Political Science Department at Jackson State, had also become president of the Jackson City Council. “Is it satisfying, Les?” I asked. “City government can be a limited arena in which to operate.” He cocked an eyebrow, then smiled appreciatively. “On most days I’m not sorry I ran for the council,” he said diplomatically, then laughed. “But I do have my days when I say, ‘Why the hell did I do this?’ Sure, it can be limited and frustrating. But I have carved out certain special areas to tend to down there. And, at bottom, I do believe you need some people to help bring some sanity to the political process. But I’m very aware always that when I’m at the city council I’m standing on the shoulders of all those people who made it possible.” Leslie paused, looking appraisingly at his son. He seemed eager to have him feel included in our conversation. “In 270   |   Mississippi, October 2001 another era,” he continued, “my grandfather, Les Jr.’s great-grandfather, up in Walls, Mississippi, would have been a councilman or a mayor. He taught me so much. I take the wisdom of my grandfather and I take the friendships of the people I’ve known who believe in fairness and justice and equality, the folks who voted for me, and I bring that with me to the city council.” I glanced at Les Jr. “But I don’t know where today’s kids are. Speaking with L. C. Dorsey and June Johnson I got the feeling that those words seem very irrelevant, romantic, unreal to the kids they know. The words don’t seem to fit their world. Owen Brooks thinks that there is so much racial isolation, particularly in the inner cities, that the kids can’t even get to know each other.” Leslie put down his cup carefully before responding. “I don’t really disagree with Owen. He works closely with a lot of those kids. But I think many of the students I see here at Jackson State have two minds about race. In an all-black setting there is some resistance to an integrated approach to problems. A lot of them have not been in settings where they’ve had the opportunity to have a dialogue with white students, or with anybody in the white community. As we learned in the movement, once that dialogue takes place they are much more open to that kind of an integrated relationship . I think we have to use those lessons from the movement.” “Owen Brooks said that racial isolation feeds on itself, that the reality they see becomes the only reality they can believe in. It breeds mistrust of anything they don’t see. You’re both on the same page,” I said. He nodded agreement. “The reality that I try to teach in my classes,” said Leslie, “is that whether we’re talking about the civil rights movement or Black Power, we didn’t come this far by ourselves. We came with the help of others. When black students learn about a white southern kid like Bob Zellner, who was repeatedly beaten by whites more than his black fellow workers in SNCC ‘because he should’ve known better,’ when white students learn about the courage of a Fannie Lou Hamer, then the students have gained a new insight they didn’t have before. If they have a heart, they have...