Lies and distortion have a terrible effect on society. My brother's story illustrates that
On June 21, 1964, 60 years ago this week, my older brother Andrew Goodman was kidnapped and then murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi along with his co-civil rights workers James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.
Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner believed in our core democratic concept that “all people are created equal” and other ideals of equality which, stated together is the “Collateral Beauty of America.”
However, we also know that these ideals are not always experienced by everyone, everywhere in our everyday lives.
When Andrew, James and Michael were murdered, the Collateral Beauty of America was lynched by a group of extremists. They knew about these ideals but they, their supporters, and enablers believed it was applicable only to people who looked like them. This assassination of our American ideals constitutes the Collateral Horror of America.
The nation did not know for certain that Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were murdered until 44 days later, when the FBI found their bodies buried in an earthen dam that had been under construction. Their disappearance galvanized America – unfortunately, on both sides of the conflict.
In the Deep South and other areas of the country in the 1960s, numerous elected officials and candidates continued to reflect the racial animus that has been curated for centuries in America.
Their narratives were big lies repeated over and over again to mislead voters and maintain their power base. A couple of days after Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner disappeared, U.S. Sen. James Eastland of Mississippi told President Lyndon Johnson, “I don’t believe there’s three missing… I believe it’s a publicity stunt.”
Eastland must have known they were probably killed. The Governor of Mississippi at the time, Paul Johnson, once said that NAACP stands for “N-s, Alligators, Apes, Coons, and Possums.” And Alabama’s Governor, George Wallace’s battle cry was “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
We can generously assume the followers of these influencers were otherwise good people, but they believed their lies and consistently voted for them anyway.
America’s great author William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” He should know as a native son of Mississippi.
In the six decades since, we have seen a continuation of distorting the truth of our American ideals, starting with Richard Nixon who said “I am not a crook.”
He then resigned his presidency in disgrace for his lies and lawbreaking. More recently, Donald Trump lied convincingly to enough voters to ascend to the presidency, saying his opponent should be “locked up,” now he has been convicted as a felon for high crimes and other misdemeanors and may be locked up himself.
We are also confronted today with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of elected officials who are lying to the American people that the 2020 election was stolen. It appears millions of voters believe it, and many of them rioted at the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transition of power on Jan. 6, 2021.
Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner were murdered 60 years ago on June 21 because of the social and political environment of lies distorting the Collateral Beauty of America. Today, the spiritual descendants of the KKK include some elected officials who continue to cater to the very worst elements and inclinations of society in order to maintain their power base and undermine our democratic ideals.
The only way to restore and sure up the Collateral Beauty of America is for good people to vote out the extremists and create a more perfect union.
This is easier said than done since many who are eligible don’t even participate in the ballot. This was the primary goal of those ill-fated civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964: register disenfranchised voters. Give them a voice. Foster change through the ballot box.
For all you good people who don’t vote, get out and do so. Make your voice heard. If you don’t, more lies will continue to damage our American democracy, and violence will continue, like the murders of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner.
— David Goodman is the brother of Andrew Goodman and an engineer, Antioch College, MBA, Stanford University.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lies and distortion have a terrible effect on society
