Only a Pawn in Their Game

Those who know me and the unschooled in rock and folk protest classics may think this post is about chess, Robert "Bobby" Fischer, or my former job title, "Chessmaster Tyler." However, while chess can be an interesting parlor game of strategy, Bobby Fischer was an important part of the U.S. victory in the cold war, (think Rocky IV when Rocky KO'd Drago and captured the hearts of the USSR, but insert Bobby and the evil steroid-induced mastermind Boris Spasky for Rocky and Drago) and those days as a "chessmaster" were formative for me, there is a much more important meaning in the title. Weirdly enough today is the 2nd anniversary of Bobby Fischer's death, but as Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) fans know we are here to talk about Medgar Evers' assassination on June 12, 1963.

Mr. Evers was a civil rights activist and the first Mississippi Field Secretary for the NAACP. I'll let you read about his life and legacy at the link I provided. I think of him this time of year because of Nobel Laurette Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his work in the civil rights arena and subsequent assassination, (which you can read about at the link above). It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day tomorrow for those of you you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Zimmerman was outraged at Mr. Evers' death and wrote a protest song blaming his death on southern politicians. Arguing that the poor, uneducated, white southern man was a pawn in the hands of the southern politicians who wanted Mr. Evers dead, Zimmerman claimed that these grifty politicians avoided spending money on needed social programs and soothed white discontent by assuring them that "you got more than blacks don't complain. You're better than them, you been born with white skin..." This way they ease white unrest and gain a compatriot in the fight against desegregation and equality. Zimmerman claims politicians tacitly egged on the lynchers and then turned a blind eye to the murderous results. Here of course he shifts responsibility for the murder and the general racial injustice from the murderer and individuals to the government (a favorite ploy of protesters to absolve themselves of any guilt) . Whatever the case, Mr. Evers and Dr. King worked tirelessly until their untimely demise to erase or at least ease the racism and injustice ingrained upon their world. They tried to change the social order of things, and were killed for their efforts. May we never be guilty of such a crime.