Which one of you guys have been playing with the spray paint?

Vandals deface civil rights marker

Neshoba County sign that honors three martyrs of movement painted over.

Vandals have painted over a Neshoba County highway sign that honored three martyrs of the civil rights movement.

The Mississippi 19 sign memorialized the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, whose deaths helped fuel the civil rights movement in Mississippi and across the nation. The sign was painted entirely black over the weekend and was taken down Monday for repair.

"You can't help but be extremely disappointed that some hateful coward would perform such a juvenile and despicable act," said Fent DeWeese, a member of the Philadelphia Coalition. "It is disrespectful not only to the memories of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner, but to all of us who believe in equality and justice. This act does nothing to inhibit the progress we have made. In fact, it does the opposite by reminding us that there is still much to do."

The Philadelphia Coalition pushed for state prosecution of the killings and also recommended the sign.

In 2005, a Neshoba County jury convicted Edgar Ray Killen for orchestrating the trio's slayings. Five suspects are still alive in the case.

That same year, state lawmakers named a 23-mile portion of Mississippi 19 the "Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Memorial Highway" after the three young men killed by the Klan in Neshoba County in 1964. They also named a 32-mile stretch of U.S. 49 East in memory of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American from Chicago who beaten and shot to death in 1955 after he allegedly whistled at a white woman in Money in Tallahatachie County.

Signs for the Emmett Till highway have also been vandalized.

Susan Glisson, director of the William Winter Institute of Racial Reconciliation, called such vandalism "a sad reminder that much work remains in addressing racial prejudice. And yet, the sign's existence is a testament to the strong community leadership in Neshoba County, committed to improving race relations through equity and education."

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903270340