How have I not known about Jerry Mitchell's work before this book? Mitchell's done some great work in Mississippi keeping alive cases from the Civil Rights era, and this walks through five of the cases he helped shepherd to justice.

The book is super page-turning, and well paced to keep you wanting to read just one more chapter, and I think it'd be super tempting to open a review of this with the same "arc of the universe bends towards justice" line that tends to get trotted out for stuff like this, but there are a few points that Mitchell glides over that keep me from giving this a full five stars - he seems very happy to take the FBI at their word for why they're involved in the cases he covers, and while he experiences setbacks in his work, there's never a sense that the cases covered are going to hit a wall they never recover from and be left in an unresolved state. This is begging to be adapted into one of those Oscar-season biopics that sands its rough edges down a little too smoothly.

An excellent, gripping and well researched story that made me discover part of history I never knew before.
It's a great read and it must be read by a lot of persons to remember what it has been.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Martin Luther King Jr famously spoke of the arc of the moral universe being long but bending towards justice. Unfortunately, it needs a little nudge in the right direction sometime and Jerry Mitchell has been one of the people delivering those little nudges at key points. In his role as an investigative journalist, Mr. Mitchell has refused to let fade the memories of some of the worst acts of white supremacist terrorism from the Civil Rights era and has helped bring the perpetrators of the acts to justice. I cannot say enough good things about this book. One of the best books I've read in a long time and one of the most important. I recommend it to every, not just as a great, well-written book but important documentation of evils of white supremacy that unfortunately still darken our country and how strong people still do there part to drag us to a better place.

In Race Against Time, Jerry Mitchell takes the reader through the reopening of four of the most infamous civil-rights cases of the South. In his work at the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Mississippi, Mitchell had the means and the voice to investigate and create a call to action for the prosecution of the offenders that had escaped being brought to account for so many years. Mitchell's retelling of interviews with infamous members of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as moving details of interviews with the family members of the victims create a compelling, well-written account. An incredible work.

Jerry Mitchell, a reporter at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., has been instrumental in investigating "cold cases" related to slayings and other acts of violence that happened during the Civil Rights movement in the South. His reporting led to successful prosecutions of several Ku Klux Klan members in the 1990s and early 2000s, notably including the man who assassinated Medgar Evers. "Race Against Time" recounts Mitchell's work on these stories. The book provides insights into how Mitchell approached bereaved family members and wary Klansmen alike, even as he worked to gain the trust of local, state and federal law-enforcement officials. The history is so fascinating and terrible that it carries the reader along, even through the final (overly detailed) chapters on the "Mississippi Burning" murders and the efforts to bring the man who orchestrated them to justice. Though there are flashes of hope in the book, Mitchell acknowledges that the country continues to struggle with racism and hatred. I would've liked to hear about his present-day work in the epilogue.

This is one of those painful, necessary reads. Mitchell isn't just telling an important story about murder, or about Mississippi, or about racial injustice. He's telling a story about all of those things, much of which he experienced. The research and work (and danger) that went into this is done beautiful service by the endlessly conversational and readable prose, which only makes it harder, which only makes you stop longer, when you come across the disgustingly hateful, bigoted, racist quotes from people who influenced so much in communities and politics. This is a story that everyone should know. These are names that everyone should recognize. Race Against Time, told personally and personably by Mitchell, is an excellent way to do that. But that won't make it any easier.

Race Against Time is a historical novel covering 4 notorious crimes commited by Klansmen involving 4 murders. Over 40 years later the killers were brought to justice mostly in part to Jerry Mitchell's investigative reporting. This is a must read for the generations now and beyond. Very well written, extremely captivating.

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era is a must read for all to read. I hadn't heard of these cases. It is very important to remind ourselves of what happened, and to hopefully learn and not allow them to happen again

This book is an excellent reference for the present generation to experience the author's journey to expose killers of 3 young civil rights workers who were murdered by members of the KKK and local police department. It is surprising that the author lived to write this book.

“Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era” by Jerry Mitchell was a startling look back in history. Because of the terroristic threats imposed by the Ku Klux Klan, backed up with a willingness for violence and even murder, in the 60’s justice wasn’t blind. Some of the most notorious racially motivated murders in the south went unpunished until 2-4 decades later. Jerry Mitchell, a journalist for The Clarion-Ledger, played a huge role in getting these cases reopened and finding holes in the lies told by the suspected killers.

Cases that Mitchell covered in his paper and then included in “Race Against Time” include:

The Mississippi Burning case:
In 1964, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were working on the Freedom Summer Campaign, in an effort to help register African-Americans to vote. They visited a congregation of a church that had recently been burned in Neshoba County, Mississippi. They were then arrested after a traffic stop. When their family and friends didn’t hear from them after that, the FBI was sent in to search for them.

The murder of Medgar Evers:
When Evers took over the NAACP in Mississippi; his name began appearing on KKK “death lists.” On June 12th, 1963, he was shot and killed in front of his wife and children as he got out of his car after arriving home. It is in this case that we see just how deep the tentacles of racism reached in Mississippi.

The murder of Vernon Dahmer Sr.:
His murder and the firebombing of his home and business was another series of crimes for which justice was delayed. Dahmer was friends with Evers and joined the NAACP.

The bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama:
Birmingham was nicknamed “Bombingham” because the KKK had blown up more than 50 African-American Churches, homes, and businesses. Perhaps the most famous church bombing in the history of our nation caused the deaths of 4 young girls.

The Mississippi Burning case revisited:
Jerry Mitchell is not in a real race against time as he seeks to bring yet another former KKK member to justice after he had slipped through the law’s grasp not once but twice before. Meanwhile, witnesses are dying of old age and suspicious circumstances. The prosecution must try the case while there are still some witnesses alive!

“Race Against Time” was a reminder of a time most people would like to forget but which is also essential to remember. The stories of life under the segregationist south are far more real than a dry history book. It is living history. We see this as we read about the process of working with the justice system in the last 2-3 decades. Time is ever-changing the political landscape, yet there are always people who refuse to change.

“Race Against Time” is the story of a journalist. Jerry Mitchell is a journalist who became very involved with his stories. I was amazed at the way people would open up to him—not just the families of the victims and the lawyers, but the members/former members of the KKK. And they knew that he was writing these stories and uncovering the truth. Because Mitchell is a journalist, his writing is moving and economical. He doesn’t drone on about things that aren’t necessary. Instead, “Race Against Time” is like a fast-moving train. Hop on and hang on!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes reading. It is a crime procedural, a biography, history, and mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of “Race Against Time” in exchange for an honest review.

This was a hard book to read, and it has nothing to do with the author or how the book was written.
The book gives us a plethora of information on the justice that was finally brought to Mississippi, for three "cold cases," and the time and investigation that was done to make it happen. The book starts out talking about the "Mississippi Burning" case which involves 3 civil rights workers that were murdered when they were out working to help African Americans obtain the right to vote. The book then moves on to talk about a church bombing which killed some young ladies; the killing of civil rights leader Medgar Evers; and the killing of another gentleman whose home was burned to the ground. All of these people were targets of the KKK, and their reign of terror which took place in Mississippi as well as multiple other areas in our country and across the world.
The reason this book was hard to swallow was because it hurts my heart to believe that someone could be so cruel to another person just because the color of their skin. It was also hard to swallow that law enforcement in the area cooperated with the KKK by arresting their "targets" just to release them into the arms of the KKK to be beaten and sometimes killed. This included civil rights workers of all ethnicities, who were targeted just because they were trying to help fellow human beings obtain rights that should have justifiably been theirs in the first place.
It's inconceivable to me thats some of the people will never be brought to trial for the crimes they committed, because either they have died or the witnesses have died. The author did a fantastic job pulling all the information and facts together on these cases, and I commend him for all his work.

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era is a must read for all to read. I have not heard of these cases. It is very important to remind ourselves of what happened over the years.
Five stars.

This was a fantastic, yet difficult book to read given the subject matter. Journalist, Jerry Mitchell, seeks to bring four murder cases involving the KKK to trial. Previous attempts at prosecuting the suspects had failed during the sixties when juries and the judicial system itself refused to convict and sometimes refused to even put the suspects on trial, even though there was enough evidence to convict. Race Against Time is a book that we can all learn from to understand the atmosphere and mentality of race relations in the south during this time period.

"…the right of all citizens to vote, here and throughout the South, is commonplace and universally accepted, a far cry from the old days. But once upon a time, three young men died because they believed in this right for all citizens."

The Race Against Time begins with Jerry Mitchell, a court reporter for the Mississippi newspaper The Clarion Ledger, walking out of a showing of the movie Mississippi Burning with one question in his mind: why was no one prosecuted for the brutal murder 1964 killings of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi. This one question becomes the catalyst for a professional lifetime of work investigating and reporting on a myriad of unsolved murder cases from the civil rights era. In this book, Mitchell recounts four of the case that he helped to investigate and cover for the Clarion Ledger during his tenure, detailing the ways in which the system and society at large worked to ensure impunity for the perpetrators of horrendous crimes for decades, until finally justice was served.

The cases: The murder of Medgar Evers, the Murder of Vernon Dahmer, the Birmingham church bombing that killed four young girls- Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair – and, finally, the Mississippi Burning case involving the killing of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Mitchell’s first hand accounting of how each case eventually made it to court after decades of cover-up is insightful and part of an important record of history. This record includes evidence of infiltration of the judicial system by members of the KKK, massive jury and witness tampering, and overall racism that undermined political will to bring perpetrators to justice.

The most poignant aspects of the book are contained in the court records and testimony in the cases that are eventually brought to trial. It is heartbreaking to hear the words of Myrlie Evers-William, the children of Vernon Dahmer, the parents of the young girls in Alabama, the loved ones of the young men killed in Mississippi. It is heartbreaking to hear the way they were treated in the aftermath of the murders, and the fact that justice is achieved over 30 years after the crimes is bittersweet. Equally, it is stunning to see the unabashed vitriol of the perpetrators and that prosecutors and Mitchell himself were subjected to numerous death threats in pursuing justice after all of this time.

It is difficult to not see how important this book can be in this time right now. While the book makes clear that in many corners of the society that surrounded the crimes, the tides had turned away from protection and cover-up to prosecution for murder and racial injustice, it also lays bear how much has not changed and how much damage has been created by allowing impunity for racialized crimes. Looking at ourselves today and the rise of obvious nationalism/racism and the powerful who protect those who espouse these criminal ideas, it feels as if he are caught in the endless cycle of forgetting and repeating. That is why it is essential to continue to write down the record in truth and honesty, no matter how ugly that honesty may be.

This book is definitely recommended.

Thank you to netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Jerry Mitchell for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Race Against Time reads like a crime novel but the terrible thing is... it’s true. I grew up in Alabama and of course I heard tales of segregation but that was before I was born. Sadly, some people continued the terrible treatment of others long after segregation was made illegal. This book is an important one for all of us.