Curious Reads: The White victims of ICE aren't the only victims.

What the story of three Mississippi Civil Rights workers taught me about media, advocacy, and standing up for ALL of ICE's victims - not just the White ones.

Feb 18, 2026

Hello friend, Liz here.

#1 This week’s Top of the Fold is about the victims— that is, the victims of ICE. (Womp, womp.)

I’m asking myself, why do I only know the names of the White American victims of ICE? Why don’t the names of the others hurt or killed in ICE custody spring to mind with the same clarity as Renee Good and Alex Pretti?

As we move deeper into advocacy for the poor and marginalized in our communities, friends, I believe this self-examination is ESSENTIAL so that we (I) don’t fall into the same paternalistic trap of our (my) ancestors.

So let me tell you a story of three Civil Rights workers killed in Mississippi during Freedom Summer in 1964, right in the center of the movement’s push to pass the Civil Rights Act into law.

Read “The Racial Dynamics of ICE Violence” in the Christian Century, by yours truly, and an excerpt below.

Read the essay in The Century

When I heard of Alex Pretti’s death, I was reminded of another highly publicized execution in our nation’s history. In 1964, civil rights leaders initiated “Freedom Summer,” mobilizing over 1,000 White and Black college students to aid Black Mississippians in registering to vote. Though this demographic made up one-third of the state’s total population, only 6.7 percent were registered to vote due to intentional disenfranchisement and intimidation by White-run local governments and citizens. So, civil rights groups like the Council of Federated Organizations had organized to increase the Black share of the vote in the state, utilizing mostly White, upper-class, northern students as its volunteer canvassers. White America believed that their White children would be safe from race violence, even if they aided the cause of African American freedom.

But one week after the first group had arrived in Mississippi, three young men went missing: James (J.E.) Chaney, a Black Mississippian, and two White northerners, Michael (Mickey) Schwerner and Andrew (Andy) Goodman. The three men had driven to Philadelphia to investigate the arson of Mount Zion Methodist Church, where a few days earlier, Schwerner and Chaney had spoken, encouraging members to register as voters. The three young men never returned from their trip to examine the church remains.

Read the Whole Essay

Thanks for your support, friends.