Bradley Backing for ‘Mississippi Burning’

I applaud the motion picture “Mississippi Burning,” a gripping reminder of life in rural Mississippi 24 years ago.

Millions of Americans have little idea about the oppression of black people in parts of the South then. I have been startled in my conversations with some young people to find that the opening scene of the film, in which a black youth reaches up to drink from a water fountain marked “Colored,” came as a revelation to them.

How clear it is that young men and women today know little of the segregation and social isolation to which blacks were subjected at that time; how little they know of the brutalities of the Ku Klux Klan--the lynchings, the beatings, the burnings and the castrations.

The true value of “Mississippi Burning” is its ability to focus attention on one of the continuing central issues of our time--that racism and injustice corrupt and must ultimately destroy every community in which they are practiced.

The movie does not purport to tell the story of the countless people, both black and white, who fought for civil rights. But with this film, millions will hear of the heroism of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner and be made aware of the many dedicated heroes and heroines who helped bring about the massive changes of the past 24 years.

TOM BRADLEY

Mayor

Los Angeles