Ward quotes from Mississippi Burning (1988)

Ward

Some things are worth dying for.

Anderson

Down here, things are different; here, they believe that some things are worth killing for.

Ward

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.

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.

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!

You got no right to be here. This is a political meeting.

Ward

Doesn't smell that way to me, Deputy.

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.

Ward

The whole thing, huh? Bullet by bullet. I don't suppose you're interested in words like coercion, or hearsay, or duress. This is no good in court.

Anderson

We're not in court, Mr. Ward. That's a state charge. These hayseeds will never prosecute.

Ward

I know that!

Anderson

Well, we gotta get 'em in federal court! Violation of civil rights.

Ward

Just don't lose sight of whose rights you're violating!

Anderson

Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.

Ward

Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!

Anderson

These people crawled out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we should be!

I don't understand why he did it. He wasn't in on it. He wasn't even Klan.

Ward

Mr. Bird, he was guilty. 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.