Freedom Summer was almost two years away. As a 13-year-old seventh-grader, I was more concerned about the next round of junior high basketball or round of golf than my fellow citizens. We lived on different sides of town, went to different schools and worshipped at different churches, and seldom interacted with our friends. On Jan. 10, 1966, Ku Klux Klan thugs from nearby Jones County, under cover of darkness, bombed Vernon Dahmer Sr.’s home in Kelly Settlement, just outside of our town. Why was Dahmer targeted? Dahmer was actively involved in the registration of black voters, and knew the dangers inherent in his actions. William Sturkey, historian of “HATTIESBURG” describes the horrific scene. On January 10, 1966 at 2:30 AM Klansmen stormed the home Vernon Dahmer and his family. Under the cover of gunfire, two attackers ran towards the house and threw gasoline-filled containers through its windows. Then they used a flaming cloth to ignite the containers. The Klansmen continued firing bullets into the house as the flames grew. Vernon Dahmer stood against his front door and fired as many bullets as he could, while Ellie, Ellie’s ten-year old daughter, and their two twelve- and twenty-year-old sons tried to flee the house. The family fled to a barn behind the house after Ellie managed a way out of a back window. Vernon Dahmer saved his family but later died from severe burns to his head, arms and upper body. He was fifty-seven when he died. James Meredith, a federal trooper who had helped Ole Miss integrate during a riot four years prior, had also assisted. Three years earlier, Medgar Evers was killed in Jackson. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Selma-to-Montgomery March a year before. I was not as interested in the Dahmer Murders, but none of these events were before me. This was my hometown. My age was Dennis Dahmer (Vincent Dahmer’s youngest child). Dennis saved the life of his older brother that night. A youngster in my hometown lost his father and home due to no fault of his own. Dennis’s three older brothers were serving in the U.S. Military at that time, protecting us when no one had protected their families. That was something I could not get out of my head. It was both life-changing and horrifying. This is what I know for certain: It changed my perception of race relations. I no longer lived in a segregated bubble. This was true for many people who lived in my town. This Friday, 54 years ago, was the Dahmer murder. Let’s go back to Monday morning, when a large crowd of people, many of them in tears and black, gathered outside the Hattiesburg Forrest County Courthouse. Ellie Dahmer (94-year-old widow to Vernon Dahmer), stood tall and spoke quickly, but clearly. She said, “Mississippi is changing.” “This statue is evidence of it.” This is a short summary of the much longer story about this statue and how it came into being. David Hogan, 52, is president of Forrest County Board of Supervisors. He was born two years after Vernon Dahmer was murdered. Hogan, a white Republican who ran for office in 1996, attributes the inspiration to his father for leading the effort toward erecting a monument. Hogan, who was the son of an obstetrician and insisted that black mothers be treated the same as white patients at Hattiesburg hospitals where they delivered both race babies, said: “My father raised us to respect people from all races.” “Before my father moved here, minorities were sent to midwives to deliver their babies. “My dad changed that.” Hogan stated that he was looking for a project in honor of his father and the teachings of his father and approached the Dahmer family to discuss the idea. The Dahmer family was open to the idea. The project was unanimously approved by the Forrest County supervisors, three of them white and two black. Along with several local businesses, the City of Hattiesburg as well as Mayor Toby Barker were involved. It is a beautiful bronze sculpture, the work of Ben Watts & Vixon Sullivan. Monday’s morning sun shone on it. Hogan said, “It doesn’t erase all the horrible things that happened back then – including what happened the Dahmer family – but it is important for future generations of people to know what happened, what this man did and what his values were.” This is something I am proud. It was the right thing.” Sturkey stated in his book that Dahmer’s death caused a “sea change” in Hattiesburg’s civil rights movement, for both blacks and whites. It actually encouraged African Americans to continue Dahmer’s work. It opened many white people’s eyes to the horrendous nature of virulent racism. Reg Woullard is a former Ole Miss football star and now pastor at Shady Grove Baptist church where the Dahmers worship. He called Dahmer’s murder a “keystone moment” in Hattiesburg’s race relations. Woullard stated, “As a kid I was shocked at the idea that people would kill a man to help people register to vote.” In retrospect, it seems to have changed the perception of race in this region. It was terrible, but it brought out a lot of good.” Vernon Dahmer Sr. was a farmer and businessman. He also served as a community leader. He publicly offered to pay poll taxes to anyone who could afford them. Medgar Evers was a close friend of Dahmer Sr. They were close friends, and Medgar Evers’ daughter Reena Evers Evers-Everette was among the hundreds of people who attended Monday’s event. Evers-Everette stated that the statue and ceremony were well-deserved. She was not the only one who was thrilled to see Evers-Everette honor a man with such courage, integrity and intelligence in this manner. Many people watched the ceremony with wet, teary eyes. Percy Watson is a Mississippi representative who served as a legislator for over 40 years. He said Tuesday’s session will be the “most racially diverse assembly since Reconstruction.” Without the brave sacrifices made by people like Evers and Dahmer, such an assembly wouldn’t have been possible. Dahmer’s statue is atop a wall with his motto. “If you do not vote, you don’t count.” Vernon Dahmer was a tireless advocate for all people and made sure that everyone counted. People cared. Ironically, and tragically, Dahmer did not vote in the courthouse that now houses his statue. Just after his funeral, Dahmer received his voter registration card in the mail. Watson stated that Vernon Dahmer did not see Hattiesburg for what it was, but for what it could become. We’ve come a long distance. Although we still have some way to go, this statue shows that we are working together in Hattiesburg.”