Remembering the Tragic Shooting at Jackson State

On May 4, 1970, National Guard troops killed four students and wounded nine others on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. This tragedy was burned into the collective memory of most Americans who lived through those turbulent times.

Eleven days after the Kent State shooting, another shooting incident occurred on a college campus. But unlike Kent State, the shooting at historically Black Jackson State University in Mississippi,  has not received the same attention from historians. After a night of racial unrest in the city, dozens of city and state police officers unloaded more than 460 rounds of gunfire into Alexander Hall on the campus of Jackson State University. Police claimed to have seen a sniper in a window on the building’s top floor. But every window on one side of the building was hit by police gunfire. Two students were killed and 12 were injured. Despite an investigation by the FBI that turned up no evidence of sniper fire, no charges were ever filed in the case.

Here is a short documentary film about the incident.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. What occurred at Jackson State College on May 14 and 15, 1970 was a racially motivated massacre by the Jackson City Police and the Mississippi State Police who brutally murdered two innocent young Black men.
    There can be no racial peace without racial justice in the instant case and justice delayed is justice denied.

    Many times has the NAACP and other civil rights organizations spoken out against police brutalities, and equal number of times has the matter been dropped. For a dog to be effective he must not only have a bark but also a bite.
    It is my hope that the descendants, relatives, former students, fellow students, former faculty members and administrators, present Black students, mount a legal offensive to finally address these cowardly murderers.
    We have an obligation and duty to our ancestors to leave no stone unturned in seeking justice for Mr. Green and Mr. Gibbs.
    I don’t care if it takes another 30 years, we must press forward with a comprehensive game plan of action in order to bring about some semblance of accountability for these heinous crimes.
    I am not looking for lip service and good deeds but an action plan that will bring about results and ultimatley justice.

  2. i feel bad for the people who lost there loved ones in this time one of my ansestered was onjured but im glad that they wernt one of the ones who lost there lives im sorry

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