A journalist's faith: New memoir tells how justice prevailed in civil rights era murders
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Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-In” features analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith. Got feedback or ideas for this column? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.
(ANALYSIS) “To the One who loves justice.”
That’s the simple dedication at the start of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell’s long-awaited memoir, “Race Against Time,” which hits bookstores Tuesday.
It reflects the deep Christian faith of the veteran Mississippi journalist, whose stories helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars.
“God loves justice,” Mitchell, 60, told me in a telephone interview.
Mitchell, a 1982 journalism graduate of Harding University in Searcy, Ark., worked for The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., for 33 years. He left in 2018 to found the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit watchdog news organization.
Jerry Mitchell. Photo via Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
Although Mitchell’s book is written in first person, he stressed that it’s not about him. (Nonetheless, at least one reviewer suggests that readers might conclude, rightly, that he is a “hero.”)
“It’s really about these families, about the journey to justice and what all took place,” Mitchell said. “To me, the larger story is what’s important.”
What is that larger story?
Bestselling author John Grisham put it this way in endorsing the book, published by Simon & Schuster: “For almost two decades, (Mitchell) doggedly pursued the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement. This book is his amazing story. Thanks to him, and to courageous prosecutors, witnesses, and FBI agents, justice finally prevailed.”
That justice included the June 21, 2005, conviction of reputed Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen in the “Mississippi Burning” killings of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman.
The Killen verdict was returned on the 41st anniversary of the June 21, 1964, slayings.
Only a God who loves justice could have arranged that timing, Mitchell told me in a 2005 interview in Jackson.
“God’s timing is not man’s timing; it never is,” said the journalist, a longtime member of the Skyway Hills Church of Christ in Pearl, Miss.
Back then, he had taped Jeremiah 32:27 to his Clarion-Ledger computer: “I am the Lord the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”
In our more recent discussion, Mitchell emphasized that justice is about more than what happens in a courtroom.
“It’s about how we treat one another, how we treat the least of these,” he said, a reference to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25. “So, I think my faith and what I do as a profession go hand in hand.”
I’ve read the first few chapters of “Race Against Time.” So far, it’s every bit as compelling as a fictional Grisham novel. Except that it’s the truth.
I can’t wait to finish the rest.
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Ignoring Kobe Bryant's Catholic faith results in incomplete look at his life: Religion Unplugged’s own Clemente Lisi explores the religion angle in this week’s biggest news story: the California helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others. The retired Los Angeles Lakers star attended Catholic Mass regularly, including two hours before his death. After facing a 2003 rape charge, Lisi notes, Bryant drew closer to his faith and became a better husband, man and father. (Related: Religion News Service’s Alejandra Molina wrote a nice feature, tied to Bryant’s death, on the Lakers’ chaplain.)
2. Can a bestselling Christian marriage book about love and respect lead to abuse?: Religion News Service had a strong, strong daily report Wednesday. To wit, check out the stories here, here, here and here. However, I found editor-in-chief Bob Smietana’s piece on the feud between Christian marriage and sex blogger Sheila Wray Gregoire and pastor turned marriage expert Emerson Eggerichs particularly compelling. And I’m not saying that just because Smietana has my phone number.
3. ‘It’s like I got kicked out of my family’: I missed this in-depth piece by Wall Street Journal religion writer Ian Lovett when it was published last week. But I was pleased to come across it this week. Lovett highlights the struggle by churches to deal with mental health issues of their pastors. His powerful lede boils down the key issue: “In most industries, federal laws protect workers with disabilities, including mental illness. Church is an exception. Employees including pastors are still regularly fired after disclosing mental-health problems.”
Etc.: People stepping up to support Amish child sexual abuse victims, Peter Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette … 75 years after being freed from Auschwitz, he can’t stop going back, Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times … Raphael Warnock, pastor of famed church, enters Georgia Senate race, Greg Bluestein, Atlanta Journal-Constitution … Catholic leaders promised transparency about child abuse. They haven’t delivered, Lexi Churchill, Ellis Simani and Topher Sanders, ProPublica … Andrew Yang sang with a black church choir. Not everyone said 'Amen,’ Daniel Burke, CNN … Dorothy Day was a radical. Now many want the Vatican to make her a saint, Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post.
Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines
GetReligion offered this recent update on Associated Press national religion writer Rachel Zoll.
Here’s the latest news, via Zoll’s former AP colleague Richard Ostling:
Along the beat: Our highly respected colleague, former AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, is still being treated for brain cancer.
People who follow the religion beat closely will remember that she was suddenly stricken on Martin Luther King Day two years ago. However, this encouraging New Year's update was posted by her sister Cheryl:
"In general things have been status quo with Rachel. She's been having MRI scans about every 3 months, and, since her second surgery in late 2018, I am happy to report that there has been no new tumor growth. Her doctor (and we) are of course very pleased! The tumor could return at any time, or it could lay low for quite a while, as it has been. If you've spoken to Rachel, you'll know she continues to struggle with language, but she is otherwise as active as possible. She's enjoyed talking to people on the phone and some limited visits, and we get out every day. Your notes and calls mean a lot to her! We look forward to continuing to connect through the winter."
Notes to Rachel can be mailed to her at her sister Cheryl's home: 38 Cosby Avenue, Amherst MA 01002.
Charging Station: In Case You Missed It
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from Religion Unplugged.
• The Bronx high school students marching for 'the born and the unborn' (by Micah Danney)
• Pilgrims visit site of Jesus’s Baptism, now cleared of landmines (by Gil Zohar)
• The Catholic-Jewish tensions Of Auschwitz (by Liza Vandenboom)
• Frank Schaeffer is angry about abortion and evangelicals, and he's getting louder (Micah Danney)
• Trump becomes first U.S. president to attend March for Life (by Micah Danney)
• Secular-only school choice Is no real choice for parents (by Emilie Kao)
• 'Holy Silence' tries to get into the mind of Pope Pius XII during World War II (by Clemente Lisi)
• Collective action against anti-Semitism still needed 75 Years after Auschwitz (by Ewelina U. Ochab)
• Two Cheers for Trumpism: R.R. Reno's 'Return of the Strong Gods' (by Dr. Robert Carle)
The Final Plug
Are you listening to Religion Unplugged’s podcasts?
They are worth your time.
The last two episodes feature executive editor Paul Glader’s interviews with Vice News correspondent Chris Moody (about the journey he and his wife took around America in a tiny house on wheels) and German author and magazine editor Tabitha Buhne (about how fitness and beauty fits with the Christian life).
Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.