Andrew Goodman

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Andrew Goodman

Andrew Goodman (born November 23, 1943 in New York City , † June 21, 1964 ) was an American civil rights activist of Jewish descent who was murdered in 1964.

He was raised in New York City as one of three sons of Robert and Carolyn Goodman. He was interested in political activism at a young age. He studied anthropology and attended the University of Wisconsin and Queens College in New York City (the musician Paul Simon was one of his fellow students there).

In 2014 he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom .

Early years

Andrew Goodman was born and raised in the Upper West Side of New York City . He was the middle of three sons of Robert and Carolyn Goodman . His parents were Jews and he grew up believing this. He was sensitized to the topic of social justice through his parents' house. He went to the Walden School and then to the University of Wisconsin-Madison .

Goodman then went to Queens College, New York City , where he befriended singer Paul Simon . He switched to anthropology and became increasingly interested in political issues.

activism

In 1964 he decided to work with his fellow activist Michael Schwerner in the south for the education of blacks, which was massively hindered by racist local authorities in the southern states .

assassination

On June 21, 1964, Goodman left with activists James Earl Chaney and Michael Schwerner to drive to a church that had been burned down for racist reasons. They were arrested and detained by the local police. The sheriff and deputy were supporters of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and were preparing a murder plot. They organized an ambush and released the activists. They drove into the prepared trap: They were stopped on a remote road and captured by KKK men. Schwerner and Goodman were shot immediately, and most recently Chaney after he was tortured. Their bodies were buried in an earth wall.

FBI agents managed to solve the case, but the perpetrators were not charged with murder as the Mississippi state refused to bring charges. They were charged in a federal court and therefore received only mild prison sentences. One of the perpetrators, Edgar Ray Killen , was initially acquitted in 1967, but tried again on June 21, 2005 and convicted. After a temporary release, the sentence was upheld in 2007 by the Mississippi State Supreme Court. Killen died in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in 2018 .

Paul Simon changed his song He Was My Brother after the news of the death of his former classmate Andrew to give Goodman an eternal memory. The murder of the three activists and the subsequent FBI investigation served as a template for the US film Mississippi Burning - The Root of Hate .

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personal data
SURNAME Goodman, Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist of Jewish descent who was murdered in 1964
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1964