Talk:Byron De La Beckwith

message: We should perhaps have more on this guy. I think I remember seeing him interviewed on TV — wasn't he in the oil industry? David.Monniaux 06:35, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: He was never in the oil industry.  He never approached being affluent.TL36 (talk) 12:28, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: More info needed

message: The article states that Beckwith was convicted of the "assassination" of Medgar Evers.  The only problem with this is that "assassination" is not a crime, per se.  Beckwith was convicted of murder.  So I'm going to make that slight change.  If someone can demonstrate that assassination is a crime in Mississippi, pls provide the citation.  While in some languages, notably Spanish, use "assesino" as a synonym for murder, the word is not used thusly in English.  Assassination is reserved for murders committed for political or religious reasons, etc.  If one shoots one's neighbor dead over a neighborly dispute, that's not assassination.
I just think it's important that articles state the exact facts.  Some might find this nit-picking but Britannica would not make such an error and I should hope that wikipedia strives to at least equal Britannica in exactitude.
I have no quarrel with describing Evers' murder as an assassination; it most certainly was.
But Beckwith was convicted of murder and died in prison after thirty years of undeserved freedom due to racist all-white, all-male juries.  It's just too bad he didn't see the inside of the death chamber.  The needle would have been a far more humane death than the one he dealt to Medgar Evers.
PainMan 00:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Assassination" is not a crime 

message: I removed the following sentence from the aritcle because it's clearly and indisputably POV and thus violates wikipedia policy (NPOV).
I can't imagine anyone seriously arguing that this sentence should not be removed.  I don't think I need to wait for "consensus."  Not on this one.
The sentence in question written, I believe, by Kingbotk* :
He fully deserved more time in prison but due to racist America a Ku Klux Klan member was free for an extra 32 years of his life. 
Not only is the grammar bad, but this editorializing is not suitable in an encyclopedia article.  Beckwith was scum but the purpose of the article isn't to heap abuse on the man.  
Nor is it to smear and entire nation by labelling it racist.  "America" didn't sit on the juries that ended in mistrials in '64.  "America" didn't wait till 1994 to rety--and convict him of murder.  36 jurors and the DA's office in Mississippi did that.
There's a place for this kind of polemic, it's a called a blog.
Certainly, Beckwith should have either been executed for First Degree Murder or sentenced to life in prison in 1964.  But the juries hung.  If they had all been the horrible racists, as Kingbotk asserts, wouldn't they have acquitted him?  Clearly some--if not just two, one on each jury-- wanted to convict him of the crime.  Are those jurors racists simply because the other jurors refused to convict?  Simply because they happened to be European-Americans as well?
This is simply anti-European-American racism, in my opinion, by Kingbotk.  And our supposedly "racist" society did put Beckwith in prison--where he spent the rest of his life, short as that unfortunately was.
A truly racist society would never have allowed African-Americans on the jury, let alone sent the old assassin to prison.  This crime is just one of the excellent reasons there's no statute of limitations on murder.  It may have taken more than 30 years to bring Beckwith to justice but it did happen.  Justice delayed can indeed be justice denied, but I doubt that Myrlie Evers and her children would agree with that axiom in this case.
*If I'm wrong about who wrote this, pls feel free to correct my misapprehension, I'm merely going by the History page for this article.
PainMan 09:41, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Removed Blatant POV--and racist--statement

message: I rewrote the article in more encyclopedic form and, I believe, it is now suitable to stand on its own without the stub designation.
The larger part played by the Edgars murder in the Civil Rights movement is beyond the scope of an article on the late Byron De La Beckwith; obviously it belongs in an "omnibus" history of the African-American struggle for civil rights as well as the modern Civil Rights Movement.
A larger discussion about the biased, racist justice system in the South and in MS in general is also beyond the scope of an article about this man.
Thus a short article is entirely appropriate for Beckwith.  
Therefore I removed the stub designations.
I look forward to discussing the matter with anyone who disagrees with me.
PainMan 09:41, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: No longer stub article

message: The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. --KenWalker | Talk 02:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Biography/Assessment#Class_parameter|Biography assessment rating]] comment 

message: Is there a citation for this?
:I updated his military info based on public USMC records.  Beckwith's file is now public at NPRC per the new archival record rule.  He was never awarded the Silver Star.  His unit was twice cited at the Presidential level, which is the unit equivalent of the Silver Star, but Beckwith is definitely not a Silver Star recipient. -OberRanks (talk) 22:11, 24 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Silver Star

message: The article says De La Beckwith enlisted in 1943 and fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal.  That battle ended the first week of February, 1943.  Is it really possible that he enlisted in the USMC in January 1943, completed all of his initial training, was shipped out, and managed to get to Guadalcanal to fight in that battle, all before the battle ended on February 9, 1943?  Something is wrong there. Cla68 (talk) 05:39, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Battle of Guadalcanal?

message: I removed this statement cited to a book written before Beckwith died.  His conviction was upheld on 12/23/1997, not vacated on that date. Don't take my word for it, read it here.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.173.224.32 (talk) 17:26, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incorrect "Conviction overturned" citation 

message: There was something mentioning the imprisonment of DeLaughter in the "Imprisonment for Evers murder" section. While that is true, its not relevant to the article on de la Beckwith. Or to his trial. Mention of it should be made in DeLaughter's article. Scryer_360 (talk) 17:35, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I will be honest I know this man very well and now that the real person whom killed evers is dead I will say that I know that beckwith was not the one whom done it.  he covered up for someone else bc he was with the chief of police when it actually happened.  if someone wants to know if that is true look at court transcripts from the trials.216.79.146.128 (talk) 14:02, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed quote about prosecutor being imprisoned 

message: really, we don't use one wikipedia article as a source for another one.  if that one has a reference for this fact, then take it and put it in here or something, but please don't keep silently slipping it in.  read WP:WINARS.  i am not making this up, ok? — alf.laylah.wa.laylah (talk) 23:17, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  sweet sweet blues award reference 

message: Why does the "career" section list that he attended such and such a Church? It is also not clear why the "career" section says he joined the White Citizens Council. I am not sure if the the author is trying to suggest a certain inference be made. In any event, the entire section is about a sentence once one removes the stuff irrelevant to his career, and should probably be merged with another section.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.65.169.68 (talk) 18:27, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  organization 

message: Totally out of place in a page regarding this subject.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:585:8102:2D90:0:0:0:15A3 (talk) 17:49, 5 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reference to Ukraine 2022 

message: It’s listed as 1 daughter but his son is Delay de la Beckwith 2604:2D80:9C82:7600:0:0:0:EF9 (talk) 20:31, 15 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Children 

message: This reads very much like an unsupported opinion (although one I sadly don’t have trouble believing). I’d personally like a link to an article dealing with this or at least a link to a source giving some background to this claim, or the paragraph added to to give some clarification to this statement. 2A02:C7C:6E39:3D00:6DAF:852C:17C9:2AF7 (talk) 21:05, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  “Mississippi had effectively disenfranchised black voters since 1890” 

message: He's in the category "American politicians convicted of murder" I see no mention of him being a politician ever. Just because he sought to become a politician, doesn't mean he was one, he never held any office. Is there something I'm missing? I've removed him from the category. Qwexcxewq (talk) 23:40, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  How is he a politician?