This is an opinion-based article with real historical facts.
It is essential not to dwell on the past too much and utilize it as an excuse for failure and not being an opportunist in today’s society. However, if we want to solve racism, discrimination, and equal justice, etc, then we need to go back into history and look at the root of the problem where everything all started.
Students from around the country, including a handful of Juniors and Seniors from Inspire High School and me, attended a historical trip known as Sojourn to the Past. In the duration of this trip, we covered 5 states, retracing the steps of the Civil Rights Movement and meeting significant speakers and icons from this era who aren’t really in our history books. These can include the Children’s March, the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, or individuals such as Reena Evers or Jerry Mitchell, all of whom played vital roles in our history.
Sojourn is an extremely eye-opening trip in terms of providing accurate and hidden information for all who could attend. It displays all of the facts and has primary sources from these times to tell us the stories of individuals who went through much racism and complexities during this era.
The Civil Rights Movement was not that long ago, and it shows because racism is still well alive.
Many courageous leaders aren’t in our history books, and there is a problem with this, that schools only want to teach us European history and not the history that we need to learn through shaping and developing ourselves and our country for the better.
The part of that hidden history I want to share with you all today in this article is about the Dahmer Family.
Storytime of Mississippi
It all started with John F. Kennedy when he proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This meant that segregation should not be allowed in the United States of America; but we all know that history says otherwise, which was also why the right to vote was not impacted.
The 15th Amendment also stated that all men have the right to vote. Blacks had to register to vote, and whites did not have to register; it was free for them. These registration tests would cost blacks $2, which was half their salary, considering that your average black family back then in Mississippi only made $5 per week.
The goal of the government was to keep the state of Mississippi segregated through something known as the Sovereignty Committee in 1956. Other states took note of this and added the committee’s ways to their laws and regulations, including Alabama and Louisiana. This committee targeted black voting and civil rights activists.
Lawyers, judges, white business owners, and police were all in on supporting the Sovereignty Committee. There were strategies utilized to keep the committee running smoothly, including spying on civil rights workers, infiltrating meetings, writing down license plate numbers, acquiring tapped phones, paying neighbors $100 to spy on each other since black families were in extreme poverty, and state lawyers kept files on 10,000 people by 1964. The police had given these files to the KKK to have people systematically murdered. The governor was responsible for 10 murders in Mississippi, all of which were fought for voting rights. This was the largest spying network in American history.
In 1998, a federal judge ordered the files to be released, this resulted in the KKK burned 38 churches and murder 10 individuals.
Key Players:
Vernon Dahmer Sr. Samuel Bowers Bobby Stringer Billie Roy Pitts
James Chaney Andrew Goodman Michael Schwerner Ellie Dahmer
Phillip Dahmer Harold Dahmer Dennis Dahmer Betty Dahmer
Samuel Bowers Bobby Stringer Billie Roy Pitts James Chaney
Andrew Goodman Michael Schwerner
Others include
Wharlest Jackson Benjamin Brown Reverend George Lee Lamar Smith
Mack Charles Parker Herbert Lee Louis Allen CPL Roman Ducksworth JR.
Paul Guihard Charles Eddie Moore Henry Hezekiah Dee Emmett Till
Medgar Evers Edgar Ray Killen
All of whom were innocent black individuals who were murdered by the KKK, all for fighting for voting rights with non-violence. They all have their own long stories worthy of telling in future articles and generations. One of the scariest parts of this is that we don’t even know about everyone who was murdered in Mississippi by the KKK, only a select few. Philadelphia, Mississippi, is also the most segregated city in American history, where Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney were all murdered.
Introduction of the Dahmer Family
The Dahmers were always a great family who were all African American farmers, which has remained strong for generations. Their father, Vernon Dahmer, was a courageous man who owned a store on his farm. It was there at his store where he would sell poll taxes to everyone, including both whites and blacks, who respected Vernon Dahmer.
The Dahmers were also farmers and the previous people who owned their farm were white and slave owners which means this farm is very ancient and historical. But eventually, Vernon Dahmer, the father of the family, and everyone else within the family would suffer bad consequences. Vernon Dahmer was also a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leader for voting rights, which further angered the Ku Klux Klan.
Because of how segregated and dangerous Mississippi was at the time, with the KKK practically ruling the state, Vernon Dahmer received a lot of threatening calls from the klansmen. But despite the terror, he chose not to go north and remained at their home and farm. The Klan didn’t like the idea of Vernon selling poll taxes at his store, and this is where I introduce the White Knights of Mississippi.
The White Knights were the most violent KKK group in American history. They practically ruled Mississippi, being able to murder whoever they wanted, and they were all behind the Sovereignty Committee and those 10 murders as well. The leader of the Klan was Sam Bowers, who is one of the most evil people in our country’s history.
A man named Bob Stringer, who wasn’t exactly a part of the White Knights but still worked for Bowers, stated about the White Knights that “They can make the mafia look like Sunday school teachers.” Bowers and the White Knights had something called Klan code language, and in this code language was something called projects.
There were 4 projects, and they all meant something. Project #1 meant a warning, project #2 meant a beating, project #3 meant arson, such as homes or churches, and project #4 meant complete annihilation. Bowers called a project #4 on the entire Dahmer Family for their voting rights activism.
The Dahmers also were in the army for 78 years and slept in shifts together. A man named Billy Roy Pitts and 7 or 8 other klansmen of the White Knights set off to attack the Dahmer Family at night with no warning. This attack occurred on January 9, 1966, while the entire family was sleeping.
As the Dahmers were sleeping Billy Roy Pitts and the klan fired at their house constantly. Vernon Dahmer woke up and grabbed his high-powered rifle. He fired at the klansmen, and eventually Vernon Dahmer got badly burned, but he didn’t care. He was so determined to save his family that he ignored it and continued to fire his rifle.
Meanwhile, Ellie Dahmer, Vernon’s wife, and the kids escaped out a nearby window that was shot by the klansmen, and ran off into the nearby forest to their farm. Eventually Vernon Dahmer would die due to breathing in too much smoke and burning to death. But a reporter came into his room where Vernon Dahmer was, and this reporter caught his last words, which were “If you don’t vote, you don’t count,” then he passed away.
Their house was burned, their store was destroyed, their car was destroyed, the White Knights used Molotov cocktails to burn their house and store. They lost a true soldier who deeply cared for his family, fighting for voting rights and a farm in which he left behind a true legacy that many of us don’t know or take for granted.
After the Attack
The Dahmers had to bury their father, and they remained homeless for some time since their house was long gone. But after the attack, something else shocking would be seen. There was evidence as clear as day left behind of the attack on the Dahmers.
There was a revolver that belonged to Billy Roy Pitts, a shampoo bottle filled with gasoline, there were casings, shells, and an abandoned car. This evidence was left there on purpose as a way to let not just the Dahmer Family know but every African American in Mississippi know that if you’re black trying to fight for voting, we’re going to assassinate and annihilate you just like we did to the Dahmer Family.
This was used as a way for the White Knights to appear superior and make blacks fear and feel inferior. But Sam Bowers did another thing that made the White Knights seem superior and even innocent. He gave a speech from hyping him and the White Knights up.
In this speech, Bowers said cruel, pitiful things such as’ n-word revolution’, ‘look how patriotic we are’, ‘look how terrorizing we are’, and ‘how dare they take these 14 white Christians to us’, and a laughter rally. After this was the first time a white man was ever arrested in Missisippi, and they barely got arrested.
Sam Bowers was tried 4 times for murder, the jury must vote unanimously to convict someone of murder, in other words known as a hung jury. Ms Ellie Dahmer had to testify over 75 times about the night of the attack on her and her family. All the evidence remained pardoned by the attack.
The case was closed, but the murders were never off the books, So Ellie Dahmer and her family needed new evidence for another trial. Bob Stringer kept secrets for 3 entire decades of the case. Eventually, Ellie Dahmer went on TV to ask for help. And this is where a man named Jerry Mitchell comes in, who was essential in helping black families fight and investigate cases.
By 1998 thanks to Jerry Mitchell and Ellie Dahmer’s determination to get Bowers arrested, he ended up being sentenced to life in prison on Aug. 2, 1998. Sam Bowers had been arrested 5 times for murder, and before he was sentenced to life in prison, he was practically a free man and only recieved very lenient sentences in jail.
The Dahmers will never forget about their father more than anything. He was a courageous man who fought for what was right, no matter the consequences. He was determined to save his family and change the ways and laws of voting rights, not just in Mississippi but in all of America, and he accomplished that along with his family.
Vernon Dahmer was…
- Protective
- Lovely
- Fearless
- Loyal
- Selfless
- Kind
- Caring
- Respected
- Courageous
- Disciplined
This wasn’t only about learning what’s not in our history books, but also a chance for us to make a change within our communities. Because this is America, and our country has an evil past with racism and violence. Seeing this family was such a blessing and one of my life’s best moments.
My Statement and Thoughts
The Dahmer family, to me, had no shame in telling their story despite the struggles they’ve faced in the past with the KKK and so on. Their father had so much courage in protecting their family and fighting for voting rights, choosing to stay home despite the terror, and ignoring their injuries just to protect the family and legacy. The Dahmers today still have their farm and property and are proud of it. They even kept the destroyed car; they built their house in the same spot where it was burned and had glass bottles left from their long-lost store as a reminder of their legacy and what they fought for. I think that as a family or individually, when the odds are against you, especially based on race or ethnicity, it’s always important to fight for what’s right, and that’s exactly what the Dahmer family did along with telling your story and not being afraid to do so because your story may inspire others and the next generation, just as the Dahmer Family did to me, the goal of this article and future actions is to do the same for you.
“I truly felt like I was part of something meaningful. I also didn’t expect to meet so many people, but I built friendships, and it was hard and sad to leave and say goodbye.” – Jaden Markey (12)
