Three Years in Mississippi

James Meredith had two goals when he attempted to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962: to get an education and to break down the system of white supramacy in his home state and perhaps the nation. An education was secured, but the second goal remains elusive 60 years later. Meredith's memoir shows him to be iron-willed, brave and strategic. His relationship with the civil rights establishment, including the NAACP, was not particularly warm, although his admiration for Medgar Evers was immense. Constance Motley's work as Meredith's lawyer was tenacious. Above all, the feeling that lingers after finishing Three Years in Mississippi is hope – the civil rights bills that Meredith thought were essential in giving Blacks their due were passed a few years later – mixed with sadness that the poison of white supremacy that Meredith sought to purge from America is perhaps as strong as ever.