The fight for civil rights is a long arduous battle that has never truly ended; even today, there is still a lot of progress to be made. There are always some people in power who will oppose the fight towards equality and will oppose it no matter what it takes, sometimes to extreme lengths. An unmistakable example is the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. The 12 member watchdog agency was a tax-supported part of the executive branch, and it fought against the civil rights movement with the most insidious methods. This is the unknown history of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.
On May 17, 1954, the US Supreme Court made the decision to end “separate but equal” racially segregated public schools in Brown v. Board of Education. In its attempt to fight back racial integration, on March 29, 1956 the Mississippi government in retaliation created the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission by an act of the Mississippi Legislature. The objective of the commission was to
"do and perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states'' from the "encroachment thereon by the Federal Government or any branch, department or agency thereof."
Though the words were not mentioned in the legislation, “encroachment” meant racial integration. So in layman’s terms, the commission's purpose was to stop racial integration, enforce segregation, and stomp out civil rights organizations in Mississippi. Basically, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission wanted to maintain its racist way of life by any means possible.
In order to fulfill its objective, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was given extensive investigative powers and funds by the state via tax. From 1956 to 1973, the commission was given a $250,000 per year budget which was used to perform various public relations, advisory, and investigative actions.
During Governor J.P. Coleman’s administration from 1956-1960, the sovereignty commission favored a quiet approach towards matters though public relations. In fact, around the fall of 1957, the commission had already sent 200,000 pamphlets and other forms of direct mail to newspaper editors, television stations, and state lawmakers in the north in an attempt to build an idealized image of Mississippi: an image of Mississippi with good race relations and law abiding citizens. Consequently, the commission fought back against anything that might tarnish its image.
They used informants, both paid and unpaid throughout the state to keep surveillance of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the Mississippi Progressive Voters’ League (an organization that worked to get as many black people qualified to vote as possible). By 1959, the Sovereignty Commission had, “accumulate[d] more than four thousand index cards and several hundred investigative files containing baseless rumors, random information, and bizarre details.” J.P. Coleman even compared the commission with the FBI and the armed services intelligence agencies, explaining the commission’s goal as
“during times of war seeking out intelligence information about the enemy and what the enemy proposes to do.”
From 1960-1964 the commission took a more confrontational approach as the governor, Ross R. Barnett, envisioned a more open and expanded agency. Thus, the commission became more aggressive in its pursuit towards their objective. During Barnett’s term, the commission organized a Speakers Bureau which sent more than 100:
Sovereignty Commission members
Legislators
Judges
Attorneys
Newspapers editors
State officials
Business people
These ambassadors delivered around 120 addresses in the north and argued that segregation was harmless, all in an attempt to boost Mississippi’s image around the U.S.
The agency sponsored a film,“Message from Mississippi,”, that glorified and painted a rosy picture of segregation. They also gave funding to the Citizens' Council, which consisted of white supremacists that fought integration throughout the South.
Under his administration, the investigation team was also expanded. Any individual or organization who dared to challenge the racial status quo was investigated, and commission investigators toured the state and wrote extensive reports on civil rights activities.
Then, from 1964-1968 under Paul B. Johnson, The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was involved in the tragic murders of:
For instance, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission backed the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, by throwing money behind the defense of Byron De La Beckwith, Medgar Ever’s murderer. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was also responsible for helping cause the murders of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights workers. The KKK (Klu Klux Klan) and two Mississippi police departments were involved in the murder, and it was revealed that the commission had passed their license plate information to the Meridian Police, enabling the three victims’ tragic deaths.
Following the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, in which the commission participated in the national campaign to stop the passage of, in 1965, the agency created and promoted the Mississippi Negro Citizenship Association. Its goal was to take away black people from the Council of Federated Organizations (a coalition of organizations involved in civil rights) and other groups in an attempt to slow them their progress.
Johnson also sought to improve Mississippi’s image as a law-abiding state and aided the agency in the removal of incriminating reports. In addition, investigators still tracked down individuals and groups who challenged racial segregation, the commission advised ways to evade the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and members approved defining Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission as a
“watch dog over subversive individuals and organizations that advocate civil disobedience; as a public relations agency for the state; and as an advisor for local communities on problems resulting from federal laws or court orders.”
From 1968-1972, unlike Paul B. Johnson, John Bell Williams paid more attention to the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and was more interested towards the investigative functions than the public relations functions.
However, under his administration, the agency still used informants and met with local government and law officials to keep track of their requests around the state. Along with civil rights activities, anti-Vietnam War demonstrators, black nationalists, campus radicals, the use of drugs and alcohol on state owned schools were also investigated.
William Waller (1972-1976) was the last Mississippi governor that was involved in the Sovereignty Commission. Unlike his predecessors, William Waller ran on a campaign that did not have segregationist rhetoric and the agency would stop its activities by the end of his term. Although William Waller appointed new members and authorized programs, he did not support the agency and was absent from the meetings. In April 1973, Waller vetoed the bill that set aside funds for the commission. This brought the agency’s activities to a close.
But the 1956 act that created the agency was still on the state’s law book so bills abolishing the commission were eventually passed in 1977. Thus, the agency was truly abolished; its records were meant to be kept at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) until 2027.
Not long after, in 1977, the American Civil Liberties Union started a legal effort to open the records up to the public. Eventually, after 21 years in 1998, its effort began to bear fruit. The first records were released in 1998; by 2002, all of the records were made accessible to the public. In total, 87,000 citizens had information collected by the agency. Today, you can access the records online and search them up here.
Author’s Note:
Some people might be curious on why I have written an article about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. You may even be wondering how I even encountered this obscure topic. To be frank, I learned about the commission by accident. Around the middle of October, 2020, I was scrolling through the youtube comment section under a Drunk History video where I had found a comment that was imploring them to make a video about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and the awful things they had done. I was very intrigued by the comment, since I never heard about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and I wanted to uncover and learn the full story. I made a note in my Notability app to research the topic and left it there, occasionally looking over it and trying to do some research. After joining FAR (The Fight Against Racism), I had the opportunity to uncover the full story, learn, write, and share the dark history of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. By writing this article, I get to share a story that otherwise would’ve stayed unknown to the majority of the general public.
All in all, there have always been people in positions of power who have tried to stomp out the fight for equality. There are also systemic and institutionalized barriers that serve the purpose of barring certain people from achieving their full potential, just because of that person’s differences. But that does not mean that it is hopeless, as history proves to us that it is possible. So let's continue to walk forward and fight against racism and fight for equality.
Sources