15 February, 2026 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories
Directed by Rob Reiner, Written by Lewis Colick, Produced by Nicholas Paleologos, Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Frederick M. Zollo, Charles Newirth, and Jeff Stott, Starring: Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, James Woods, Craig T. Nelson, with Cinematography by John Seale, and Edited by Robert Leighton, with Music by Marc Shaiman, Production companies: Columbia Pictures, and Castle Rock Entertainment, and Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing (1996)

Is It Ever to Late to Do the Right Thing…?

In honor of Black History Month, this month’s featured film turns its attention to one of the most painful — and most instructive — chapters of the American civil rights movement. Ghosts of Mississippi revisits the long-delayed pursuit of justice for Medgar Evers, the NAACP field secretary assassinated in 1963 for his unwavering challenge to white supremacy in the Deep South. For decades, Evers’ killer, Byron De La Beckwith, walked free after two trials ended in hung juries — both decided by all-white panels in a segregated Mississippi courtroom.

Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month.[6][7] It began as a way of remembering important people and events in African-American history, before it spread to other countries where it could celebrate black people worldwide. It initially lasted a week before becoming a month-long observation since 1970.[8] It is celebrated in February in the United States[9] and Canada,[10] where it has received official recognition from governments, and more recently has also been celebrated in Ireland and the United Kingdom where it is observed in October.
Civil Rights March, Washington DC USA, Warren K Leffler, August 28, 1963. (Photo by: GHI Vintage/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Directed by Rob Reiner, Written by Lewis Colick, Produced by Nicholas Paleologos, Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Frederick M. Zollo, Charles Newirth, and Jeff Stott, Starring: Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, James Woods, Craig T. Nelson, with Cinematography by John Seale, and Edited by Robert Leighton, with Music by Marc Shaiman, Production companies: Columbia Pictures, and Castle Rock Entertainment, and Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing (1996)
Portrait of Medgar Wiley Evers, Served as NAACP Field Secretary, State of Mississippi. (Photo by Jackson State University via Getty Images)
With her children Rena & Darryl, Myrlie Evers views the body of her husband, assassinated Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, at a funeral home in Jackson, Mississippi. Murder charges against suspect Byron de la Beckwith for the assassination of Medgar Evers were dropped after two trials ended in mistrial (Beckwith was eventually convicted of the crime in 1994). (Photo by © Flip Schulke/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
(Original Caption) Jackson, Mississippi: Byron De La Beckwith, flanked by FBI agents, enters Jackson City Hall, following his arrest, June 22, in connection with the murder of NAACP leader Medgar Evers. De La Beckwith, 42, was charged under a federal warrant with violating the 1957 Civil Rights Act and under a charge for murder. Evers was slain by a sniper June 12.

Directed by Rob Reiner, Ghosts of Mississippi frames its narrative around the 1989 reopening of the case by Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter (played by Alec Baldwin), prompted by the quiet persistence and moral clarity of Myrlie Evers (played byWhoopi Goldberg), Medgar Evers’ widow. The film is not simply a courtroom drama — it is a meditation on institutional failure, racial injustice, and the staggering emotional cost of delayed accountability. As Mississippi is forced to confront its past, the film asks a larger, unsettling question: what does justice mean when it arrives decades too late?

Rob Reiner directing Whoopi Goldberg on the set of "Ghosts of Mississippi" (1996)
Oct. 26, 1989 About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. More than a quarter-century after the black civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered here, the City Council has asked the state and the county to reopen the case. The Council's request came on a 4-to-2 vote Tuesday, a day after The Clarion-Ledger, a Jackson newspaper, reported that in 1964 a state agency that had been created to promote segregation helped the defense screen prospective jurors for the first of two trials of Byron de la Beckwith, who was charged with Mr. Evers's death. Both of Mr. de la Beckwith's trials ended in deadlocks by all-white juries, and he went free. The state agency that helped his defense team was the Sovereignty Commission, said The Clarion-Ledger, which has published a number of disclosures recently about the commission, now defunct. The resolution passed Tuesday by the City Council, a majority of whose members are white, asked State Attorney General Mike Moore and the Hinds County District Attorney, Ed Peters, to reopen the case. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 26, 1989, Section B, Page 9 of the National edition with the headline: Mississippi Is Urged to Reopen Evers Case. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
James Woods as Byron De La Beckwith in a scene from the film 'Ghosts Of Mississippi', 1996. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)
Alec Baldwin as Bobby DeLaughter in a scene from the film 'Ghosts Of Mississippi', 1996. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)
Whoopi Goldberg as Myrlie Evers in a scene from the film 'Ghosts Of Mississippi', 1996. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)

This Featured Film Blog of the month will explore Ghosts of Mississippi not just as a film, but as a historical intervention — examining where it succeeds in honoring the civil rights struggle, where it simplifies complex truths, and why its story remains urgently relevant during Black History Month and beyond. You can find a critique, recommendation, and review that try to answer all of these questions about the Featured Film Blog on our blog site. There is also an interview from 1996 with Rob Reiner and Charlie Rose discussing Ghosts of Mississippi. There is also a Top Ten List to commemorate the film being the monthly Featured Film Blog, with My Top Ten Black History Movies. And finally, you can watch the Official Trailer for Ghosts of Mississippi, and then plan on watching it on Netflix!

SCROLL DOWN AND WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER!

Directed by Rob Reiner, Written by Lewis Colick, Produced by Nicholas Paleologos, Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Frederick M. Zollo, Charles Newirth, and Jeff Stott, Starring: Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, James Woods, Craig T. Nelson, with Cinematography by John Seale, and Edited by Robert Leighton, with Music by Marc Shaiman, Production companies: Columbia Pictures, and Castle Rock Entertainment, and Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing (1996)

Ghosts of Mississippi is available now on Netflix…

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