Ben Chester White facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ben Chester White
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | January 5, 1899 Natchez, Mississippi
|
| Died | June 10, 1966 (aged 67) Natchez, Mississippi
|
| Occupation | Caretaker, Deacon |
| Children | Jesse White and Louis White |
Ben Chester White (January 5, 1899 – June 10, 1966) was an African-American caretaker, uninvolved in the civil rights movement, shot down by the KKK. This was likely in an attempt to move focus away from James Meredith’s March Against Fear or to lure Martin Luther King, Jr. in an assassination attempt. This murder went unnoticed by King.
Contents
Biography
Early life
For his whole life, Ben Chester White was a caretaker to the Carter family farm on Liberty Road in Natchez, Mississippi, as well as a deacon in the local Baptist church. He would perform tasks around the farm and with a limited ability to read would still quote vast passages from the bible.
Children
- Jesse White - left to Baton Rouge
- Louis White - left to Vietnam
Death and afterward
Ben Chester White was murdered by James L. Jones, Claude Fuller, and Ernest Avants of the KKK on June 10, 1966; he is buried in Southwood Lodge Church Cemetery, Natchez, Mississippi.
Jones would be the one to soon after confess to the crime. Fuller and Jones were indicted but never tried, and Avants was acquitted (White's family later won a financial judgment that was never paid). Avants was retried and imprisoned later.
1968 - Jesse White sued the KKK for his father's death and was awarded $1 million from the court. This was the first time in history the organization was legally held responsible for one of its members. The $1 million was never received.
1989 - He is featured in the Civil Rights Memorial
2013 - Footage about White was shown in an episode of the documentary Civil Rights Movement Road Trip.
