Mississippi, Again

While Byron de la Beckwith is still on trial in Jackson for the murder of Medgar Evers, Lewis Allen was shot-gunned to death last Friday night in a small Mississippi town--Liberty. Allen, 42-years-old and a father of four, was active in voter registration for the Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Commitee. As a SNCC worker, he must have known the dangers he was facing in Mississippi; Allen witnessed the killing of a fellow SNCC member, Herbert Lee, in 1961. Last March four other voter registration workers were wounded by gunfire.

People like Allen have been seeking to practice the rights guaranteed to them under law. The least the nation can do is protect their lives. Several partial solutions are open to the Johnson Administration. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has the power to look into many crimes committed in the cause of segregation, but this power is rarely used and is hampered by southern FBI agents who are often in sympathy with the segregationists. A judicious shift of personnel should be urged on the FBI, and its activities in the South should be increased. This would be one step towards apprehending those who can now commit their crimes without fear of punishment.

The Justice Department, which so clearly bared its legal muscles before Governor Wallace last year, can use its influence on local sheriffs and other officials. It has the power, under U.S. law, to prosecute law-enforcement officers who use their position to deprive citizens of their legal rights. If necessary, federal marshals can be used to protect those who are in immediate danger.

Ten people have been slain during the past year as a result of southern racism. And the racial conflicts of 1963 are only a prelude to the clashes that will probably occur in 1964. Federal authorities, by acting now and fully excercising their present legal weapons, may be able to curb, if not end, the present trend towards violence.