Patriotism Personified: Medgar & Myrlie Evers

The period between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July is a time when many reflect on events that shaped, and continue to mold this country’s long, meandering path toward the Constitution’s stated goal of forming a more perfect union.?Just as many seminal events have taken us to this point in the journey, a very diverse group of special people played pivotal roles in leading the way.

Last week I had the privilege of participating in events commemorating two of such history makers, Medgar and Myrlie Evers, as I was honored to join freedom warriors Gloria Steinem, James Meredith, Marion Wright Edelman and Congressman Bennie Thompson as an inaugural recipient of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Voices of Courage & Justice Award.?

During the 1960’s, Medgar led efforts in Mississippi to win Black people the freedom to exercise their right to vote; to earn a living wage; and be free from otherwise subjected them to constant repression and brutality.?Today, 60 years after Medgar’s life was tragically cut short in June, 1963, this fight continues, especially for economic equity.

The life of Myrlie Evers offers a prime example of how we can wage it. ??

Despite experiencing the unimaginable trauma of seeing her husband gunned down in their driveway as he came home to join her and their children,, Myrlie Evers somehow summoned the fortitude to not only carry on, but to become a stalwart civil rights leader in her own right.?Over the years, in addition to her unrelenting 30-year effort to ensure that Medgar’s murderer was brought to justice, Mrs. Evers' impact extended to prominent positions in the corporate and public sectors and in her service as national chairperson of the NAACP, the organization where Medgar headed the Mississippi office when he died.?Now 90 years young, her strength, courage, clarity, humility and grace continue to serve as a source of inspiration for me and countless others.

In past conversations with Myrlie, she once shared that if Medgar were alive today, he would be fighting for equal economic opportunity for Black people. Indeed, after college and prior to becoming NAACP field secretary, he worked in the Mississippi Delta with Black-owned Magnolia Mutual Insurance, helping sharecroppers, deep in debt to land owners, support their families. The work we do at HOPE is a continuation of Medgar’s efforts to advance economic opportunity.

Medgar understood the nexus between voting rights and economic justice and he knew achieving both was the path to Black liberation.?He knew that when people own assets, not only are they better positioned to support their families, they contribute to the local economy, and are more engaged in civic matters.?For example, people who own homes and businesses are more likely to be invested in the community and participate in activities such as PTA meetings and town halls than non-owners.?Our surveys indicate that more than 90% of Hope Credit Union member-owners voted in recent presidential elections.

Medgar also realized that many white people mistakenly viewed the economic empowerment of Black people as a threat to their power and position, rather than an opportunity to advance the nation’s collective prosperity.?Unfortunately six decades later, this remains true, buttressed by several other lingering challenges that the Evers family has fought to overcome.?

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Structural barriers anchored in discriminatory policies and practices that limited the economic advancement of Black Americans in the 1960s persist today, creating wide disparities in education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, and other areas that are required for people and communities to prosper.?

These realities are not only found in the Mississippi Delta and Alabama Black Belt, but in Black neighborhoods in Birmingham, Montgomery, Little Rock, Memphis and Jackson – places where Fannie Lou Hamer, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, the Evers family and countless others fought history’s most consequential civil rights battles, with many making the ultimate sacrifice.?

At HOPE, we see the implications of this on lives and communities every day. Those in society with the least pay the most for basic banking, mortgage and business services, too often getting caught in debt traps, and being robbed of the chance to build wealth.

Blacks in the Deep South are three times more likely to be unbanked and rely on payday lenders, check cashers, rent-to-own outlets, and other high-cost financing alternatives. The average white household in the U.S. possesses roughly 12 times more wealth than a Black household.?For most families, their home is their primary asset.?However, the homeownership gap today hovers at or above where it stood in 1960.?Despite passage of several laws intended to advance fair housing practices and prohibit lending discrimination, an analysis of data collected by the state’s housing agency reveals that a Black family in Mississippi that earns $150,000 is more likely to be denied a mortgage than a white family earning less than $50,000.?

As with homeowners, similar barriers hinder Black entrepreneurs.?Like Magnolia Mutual Insurance, which helped launch Medgar Evers career, Black-owned businesses play a pivotal role by providing jobs that support Black families.?They are also central to creating wealth.?The wealth gap for Black business owners closes to 3:1 relative to white owners, and the net worth of a Black business owner is 12 times that of a Black non-business owner. A Black entrepreneur seeking a business loan is 17% more likely to be denied than a white applicant. And if the loan is approved, only 27% of Black borrowers receive the full amount of their request, compared to 52% of white borrowers. These sobering stats show just how much more we need to do to honor Medgar’s legacy and build on it.

What Medgar was able to accomplish in his too short life and what his wife, family and other civil rights warriors have been able to since show we can make significant progress towards racial equity and equality. As a matter of fact, the Evers legacy offers the entire nation a master class in leadership in this fight.

During the evening gala, we sat in awe of Myrlie’s steady countenance as she transformed the story of her pain and anger into an incredible message of optimism, and belief in the potential of America and its people. The entire room was inspired by the example of Myrlie and Medgar, ultimate patriots, who notwithstanding the insurmountable barriers and extraordinary costs, pressed forward to help America, our imperfect union, become more true to its promise.??The baton is in our hands.

Bill Bynum is the CEO of HOPE (Hope Credit Union, Hope Enterprise Corp. & Hope Policy Institute) headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. You can follow him on Twitter @HOPECUBill