Race Against Time, Jerry Mitchell
Race Against Time, Jerry Mitchell
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Race Against Time

Author: Jerry Mitchell

Narrator: Jerry Mitchell

Unabridged: 13 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/04/2020


Synopsis

“For almost two decades, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell doggedly pursued the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement. This book is his amazing story. Thanks to him, and to courageous prosecutors, witnesses, and FBI agents, justice finally prevailed.” —John Grisham, author of The Guardians

On June 21, 1964, more than twenty Klansmen murdered three civil rights workers. The killings, in what would become known as the “Mississippi Burning” case, were among the most brazen acts of violence during the Civil Rights Movement. And even though the killers’ identities, including the sheriff’s deputy, were an open secret, no one was charged with murder in the months and years that followed.

It took forty-one years before the mastermind was brought to trial and finally convicted for the three innocent lives he took. If there is one man who helped pave the way for justice, it is investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell.

In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes readers on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the Civil Rights Movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents, found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan. He takes us into every harrowing scene along the way, as when Mitchell goes into the lion’s den, meeting one-on-one with the very murderers he is seeking to catch. His efforts have put four leading Klansmen behind bars, years after they thought they had gotten away with murder.

Race Against Time is an astonishing, courageous story capturing a historic race for justice, as the past is uncovered, clue by clue, and long-ignored evils are brought into the light. This is a landmark book and essential reading for all Americans.

About Jerry Mitchell

Jerry Mitchell has been a reporter in Mississippi since 1986. A winner of more than 30 national awards, Mitchell is the founder of the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. The nonprofit is continuing his work of exposing injustices and raising up a new generation of investigative reporters.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Martin on March 04, 2020

This is a remarkable book, nonfiction that reads like the very best fiction. The payoffs are real and satisfying, the stories are powerful, the lessons are important, and Jerry Mitchell is not only a hero but also one heck of a writer. This is a special book.......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on May 18, 2020

between 4.5 and 5, rounded up full post here: [URL not allowed] up It's January, 1989 in Jackson Mississippi, and reporter Jerry Mitchell was on assignment for his newspaper The Clarion-Ledger to cover the state premier of the film Mississippi Burning. He normally had the "court......more

Goodreads review by Carolyn on May 21, 2021

I don’t have a lot of reading time, but I am reading Jerry Mitchell’s book RACE AGAINST TIME about the murder of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, MS. I remember when this happened. I was a child, then. Now, looking back on it I am slapped upside the head with the horror of those times and......more

Goodreads review by Paperclippe on January 07, 2020

This is one of those painful, necessary reads. Mitchell isn't just telling an important story about murder, or about Mississippi, or about racial injustice. He's telling a story about all of those things, much of which he experienced. The research and work (and danger) that went into this is done be......more