1970 – Jackson State Killings: Two Students Killed

On May 16, 1970, two students—Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green—were killed by police at Jackson State College in Mississippi during a campus protest against racism and the Vietnam War. Just ten days after the Kent State massacre, the tragedy at Jackson State received far less national attention. Students had gathered to protest racial tensions and the killing of civil rights figures. Mississippi police fired over 150 rounds into a women’s dormitory, killing the two young men and injuring 12 others. The incident reflected the broader state violence faced by Black students during the turbulent civil rights era. Despite the scale of the shooting, no officers were prosecuted. The Jackson State killings remain a haunting example of racialized state repression and highlight the unequal responses to protest movements based on race in America.