Mississippi Burning

Ward: Some things are worth dying for. Anderson: Down here, things are different; here, they believe that some things are worth killing for.

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ward: Where does it come from, all this hatred? Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, - well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always kiddin' him about oh, they saw Monroe out plowin' with his new mule, and Monroe was gonna rent another field now they had a mule. And one morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. And after that there was never any mention about that mule around my Daddy. It just never came up. So one time, we were drivin' down the road and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He'd just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North, or somethin'. I looked over at my Daddy's face - and I knew he'd done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said: 'If you

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mayor Tilman: Fact is, we got two cultures down here: a white culture, and a colored culture. Now, that's the way it always has been, and that's the way it always will be. Anderson: Rest of America don't see it that way, Mr. Mayor. Sheriff Ray Stuckey: Rest of America don't mean jack shit. You in Mississippi now.

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0

Anderson: You know, if I were a Negro, I'd probably think the same way they do. Ward: If you were a Negro, nobody would give a damn what you thought.

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheriff Ray Stuckey: Do you like baseball, do you, Anderson? Anderson: Yeah, I do. You know, it's the only time when a black man can wave a stick at a white man and not start a riot.

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0

Anderson: Nice to be back in a dry county. When I was Sheriff, about half my take-home pay was from collectin' taxes on illegal juice like this, probably works the same here. I think you'd haul in a tidy penny here, winkin' at the bootleggers. Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell: I don't know nothin' 'bout that. Anderson: Yeah. Tidy penny. [takes a drink; holds up the beer] You got anything stronger than this, Deputy? Deputy Sheriff Pell: No. No, we ain't. Anderson: No? You know in Thornton, Mississippi there's a joint-juice still in every yard. Well, all you need is some corn and sugar, and a pot to boil it in. I tried takin' the prints on this old boy one time, and he'd had his hand in the mash barrel, all his life. Well, there's no skin at all on there, there's no prints. Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell: We ain't too interested in your good ol' Mississippi boy stories, Anderson; you ain't from here no more. Why'd you leave, anyway? Anderson: Just wanted a change of scenery. The grits started le

Mississippi Burning, CC BY-SA 4.0