Mississippi Burning quotes 1988

Mississippi Burning” quotes (1988)
Movie Mississippi Burning
Title Mississippi Burning
Year 1988
Director Alan Parker
Genre Drama, History, Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Plot – June, 1964. In a small village in Nashuba County in Mississippi, three young activists disappear mysteriously. The FBI sends two officers over there: Anderson, who has been a sheriff and knows perfectly the village, and Alan Ward, who respects the law but he's unaware of the serious problems of the southern US countries.
All actors – Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gailard Sartain, Stephen Tobolowsky, Michael Rooker, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Badja Djola, Kevin Dunn, Frankie Faison
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“Mississippi Burning” Quotes 19 quotes

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“- Anderson: You know, if I were a Negro, I'd probably think the same way they do.
- Ward: If you were a Negro, nobody would give a damn what you thought.”
Gene Hackman - Anderson
Willem Dafoe - Ward
[Tag:ethnicity, indifference, racism]

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What is an unalienable right if you are a negro? What does it mean, "equal treatment" under the law? What-what does it mean, liberty and justice for all? Now I say to these people, "Look at the face of this young man, and you will see the face of a black man. But if you look at the blood shed, it is red! It is like yours! It is just... like... (continue reading)
Frankie Faison - Eulogist
[Tag:equality, ethnicity, justice]

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“Down here they say rattlesnakes don't commit suicide.”
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:badness, conscience, suicide]

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“- Mayor Tilman: Do you like baseball, do you, Anderson?
- Anderson: Yeah, I do. You know, it's the only time when a black man can wave a stick at a white man and not start a riot.”
R. Lee Ermey - Mayor Tilman
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:baseball, ethnicity]

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“- Ward: Some things are worth dying for.
- Anderson: Down here, things are different; here, they believe that some things are worth killing for.”
Willem Dafoe - Ward
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:killing, worth]

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“Anyone's guilty who lets these things happens and pretends like it isn't. No, he was guilty all right. Just as guilty as the fanatics who pulled the trigger. Maybe we all are.”
talking about living in a racist society

Willem Dafoe - Ward
[Tag:fanaticism, guilt, racism]

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“Have you any idea what it's like to live with all this? People look at us and only see bigots and racists. Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught. At school, they said segregation what's said in the Bible... Genesis 9, Verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live...” (continue reading)
Frances McDormand - Mrs. Pell
[Tag:hatred, racism]

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“- Deputy Pell: You got no right to be here. This is a political meeting.
- Ward: Doesn't smell that way to me, Deputy.
- Deputy Pell: It's a damn political meeting, Hoover Boy.
- Ward: Oh, it looks like a political meeting, but smells more like Klan to me... with or without the Halloween costumes.”
Brad Dourif - Deputy Pell
Willem Dafoe - Ward
[Tag:politics, racism]

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“I wouldn't give it no more thought than wringing a cat's neck! And there ain't a court in Mississippi that'd convict me for it.”
talking about killing African-Americans

Michael Rooker - Frank Bailey
[Tag:killing, racism]

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“We do not accept Jews, because they rejecy Christ! And their control over the International Banking Cartels are at the root of what we call Communism today. We do not accept Papists, because they bow to a Roman dictator! We do not accept Turks, Mongrels, Tartars, Orientals nor Negroes because we are here to protect Anglo-Saxon Democracy, and the...” (continue reading)
Stephen Tobolowsky - Townley
[Tag:idealism, racism]

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“If you're ever in Des Moines, don't send me a postcard.”
Frances McDormand - Mrs. Pell
[Tag:traveling]

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“If the entire Secret Service couldn't protect the President of the United States, how the hell are we supposed to protect a few negroes! It is nothing more than some poor white trash drinking too much cheap alcohol. More likely paint thinner and snake juice because this state's as dry as a martini, and we've got the alcoholics to prove it.”
R. Lee Ermey - Mayor Tilman
[Tag:ethnicity, racism, safety]

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- Anderson: Did you see the wedding photograph? His three pals, the ushers, had their thumbs hooked in their belts, with their three fingers pointing down.
- Ward: So what is that? Some sort of Masonic thing?
- Anderson: No! "K-K-K".
Gene Hackman - Anderson
Willem Dafoe - Ward
[Tag:racism, symbols]

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“- Mayor Tilman: Fact is, we got two cultures down here: a white culture, and a colored culture. Now, that's the way it always has been, and that's the way it always will be.
- Anderson: Rest of America don't see it that way, Mr. Mayor.
- Sheriff Ray Stuckey: Rest of America don't mean jack shit. You are in Mississippi now.”
R. Lee Ermey - Mayor Tilman
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:america, ethnicity]

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“Where does it come from? All this hatred?”
talking about racism

Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:hatred, racism]

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“You know what these small towns are like. A girl spends all her time in high school lookin' for the guy she's gonna marry, and spends the rest of her life wonderin' why.”
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:girl, marriage, school]
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“You marry the first guy that makes you laugh.”
Frances McDormand - Mrs. Pell
[Tag:laughing, marriage, women]
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“- Ward: Good morning. My name is Allen Ward. I'm with the FBI.
- Deputy Pell: Oooh. The Federal Bureau of Integration? In that getup, you ain't exactly undercover, are ya?”
Willem Dafoe - Ward
Brad Dourif - Deputy Pell
[Tag:law enforcement]
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“- Ward: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!
- Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.
- Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!
- Anderson: These people are crawling out of the sewer, Mr. Ward! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be!”
Willem Dafoe - Ward
Gene Hackman - Anderson
[Tag:human rights]


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Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning quotes
13 total quotes

Agent Rupert Anderson
Eulogist




View QuoteAnderson: You know, if I were a Negro, I'd probably think the same way they do.
Ward: If you were a Negro, nobody would give a damn what you thought.

View QuoteClayton Townley: [Addressing a large crowd of White people] I love Mississippi.
[The audience cheers]
Clayton Townley: THEY! They hate Mississippi! They hate us because we represent a shining example of successful segregation. These Northern students, with their Communist, atheist bosses, and their wish to destroy us this week, has taken a terrible blow. This week, their cause has been crippled. This week, these federal policeman you see around here prying into our lives, violating out civil liberties have learned that they are powerless against us if every single Anglo-Saxon Christian one of us stands together!
View QuoteDeputy Pell: You got no right to be here. This is a political meeting.
Ward: Doesn't smell that way to me, Deputy.
Deputy Pell: It's a damn political meeting, Hoover Boy.
Ward: Oh, it looks like a political meeting, but smells more like Klan to me... with or without the Halloween costumes.
View QuoteFrank Bailey: Now you listen here, you cornholin' ****er. You tell your ****-loving **** bosses that they ain't never gonna find those civil rightsers! So you might as well pack up and go back where you came from and...
[Anderson grabs his crotch hard, Bailey screams in pain]
Anderson: [while grabbing Bailey by the crotch] Now you listen here, Shitkicker! Don't you go confusin' me with some whole other body. You must be thinkin' with your dick if you think we're gonna just walk away from this. We're gonna stay 'till this gets done. [after opening his coat and exposing his gun he turns to Deputy Pell] How 'bout you, Deputy. That gun of yours just for show or do you get to shoot people once in a while? [Releases his grip on Bailey, then takes a swig of beer] Thanks for the beer.
View QuoteMayor Tilman: Fact is, we got two cultures down here: a white culture, and a colored culture. Now, that's the way it always has been, and that's the way it always will be.
Anderson: Rest of America don't see it that way, Mr. Mayor.
Sheriff Ray Stuckey: Rest of America don't mean jack shit. You in Mississippi now.
View QuoteMrs. Pell: It's not good for you to be here.
Anderson: Why?
Mrs. Pell: It's ugly. This whole thing is so ugly. Have you any idea what it's like to live with all this? People look at us and only see bigots and racists. Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught. At school, they said segregation what's said in the Bible... Genesis 9, Verse 27. At 7 years of age, you get told it enough times, you believe it. You believe the hatred. You live it... you breathe it. You marry it.
View QuoteSheriff Ray Stuckey: Do you like baseball, do you, Anderson?
Anderson: Yeah, I do. You know, it's the only time when a black man can wave a stick at a white man and not start a riot.
View QuoteWard: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!
Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.
Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!
Anderson: These people are crawling out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be!
View QuoteWard: Some things are worth dying for.
Anderson: Down here, things are different; here, they believe that some things are worth killing for.
View QuoteWard: Where does it come from, all this hatred?
Anderson: You know, when I was a little boy, there was an old Negro farmer lived down the road from us, name of Monroe. And he was, uh, - well, I guess he was just a little luckier than my Daddy was. He bought himself a mule. That was a big deal around that town. Now, my Daddy hated that mule, 'cause his friends were always kiddin' him about oh, they saw Monroe out plowin' with his new mule, and Monroe was gonna rent another field now they had a mule. And one morning that mule just showed up dead. They poisoned the water. And after that there was never any mention about that mule around my Daddy. It just never came up. So one time, we were drivin' down the road and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He'd just packed up and left, I guess. Gone up North, or somethin'. I looked over at my Daddy's face - and I knew he'd done it. And he saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and he said: 'If you ain't better than a ****, son, who are you better than?'
Ward: And you think that's an excuse?
Anderson: No, it's not an excuse, it's just a story about my daddy.
Ward: Where's that leave you?
Anderson: With an old man who was just so full of hate that he didn't know that bein' poor was what was killin' him.
View Quote[A disguised Agent Monk has kidnapped the mayor, Tillman, and taken him to a shack]
Agent Monk: You. I'm gonna tell you a story. A kid named Homer Wilkes lives 30 miles north of here. He'd just taken his girlfriend home and was walking along the road. A truck pulls up beside him. Four white boys took him for a ride. Now Homer, he headn't done anything, except be a Negro. They took him to a shack, a regular old shack like this one. Then they took out a razor blade.
[Monk shows him a razor blade]
Agent Monk: Ragged old razor blade, like this one. They pulled down his pants, they spread his legs, and they sliced off his scrotum.
[He then shows Tillman a coffee cup]
Agent Monk: Then they put it in a coffee cup, like this one. Mayor, do you know how much you bleed when someone cuts off your balls? HUH?!
[He throws the cup at Tillman]
Agent Monk: When they found Homer, he looked like he head been dipped in blood up to his waist. He was barely alive when they got him to the hospital, and he can barely walk now.
View Quote[to Deputy Pell] Make no mistake about it, Deputy. I'll cut your ****ing head clean off and not give a shit how it reads in the report sheet!
View QuoteThey want me to say, "Let us not forget that two white boys also died helping negros help themselves." They want me to say, "We mourn with the mothers of these two white boys." But the state of Mississippi won't even allow these white boys to be buried in the same cemetary as this [points to coffin] negro boy. I say, "I have no more love to give! I have only anger in my heart today, and I want you to be angry with me! That I am sick and I am tired, and I want you to be sick and tired with me! I-I-I am sick and tired of going to the funerals of black men who have been murdered by white men! And I-I am sick and tired of the people of this country who continue to allow these things to happen!" What is an unalienable right if you are a negro? What does it mean, Equal Treatment under the law? What-what does it mean, Liberty and justice for all? Now I say to these people, "Look at the face of this young man, and you will see the face of a black man. But if you look at the blood shed, it is red! It is like yours! It is JUST... LIKE... YOURS!"