Editing Charles Evers

{{Short description|American civil rights activist (1922–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Charles Evers
| image               = Charles Evers.jpg
| caption             = Evers in 2009
| office1             = Mayor of [[Fayette, Mississippi|Fayette]]
| term_start1         = 1985
| term_end1           = 1989
| predecessor1        = Kennie Middleton
| successor1          = Kennie Middleton
| term_start2         = 1969
| term_end2           = 1981
| predecessor2        = R. J. Allen
| successor2          = Kennie Middleton
| birth_name          = James Charles Evers
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1922|9|11}}
| birth_place         = [[Decatur, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2020|7|22|1922|9|11}}
| death_place         = [[Brandon, Mississippi]], U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (before 1969)<br>[[Independent politician|Independent]] (1969–1978)<br>[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (1978–2020)
| relations           = [[Medgar Evers]] (brother)<br>[[Myrlie Evers-Williams]] (sister-in-law)
| spouse              = Christine Evers (annulled)<br>{{Marriage|Nannie Magee|1951|1974|end=div}}
| children            = 4
| education           = [[Alcorn State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| battles             = [[World War II]]
}}
'''James Charles Evers''' (September 11, 1922{{spnd}}July 22, 2020) was an American [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] activist, businessman, radio personality, and politician. Evers was known for his role in the civil rights movement along with his younger brother [[Medgar Evers]].<ref name="biography"/> After serving in World War II, Evers began his career as a disc jockey at [[WHOC]] in [[Philadelphia, Mississippi]]. In 1954, he was made the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) State Voter Registration chairman. After his brother's assassination in 1963, Evers took over his position as field director of the NAACP in Mississippi. In this role, he organized and led many demonstrations for the rights of African Americans.<ref name="biography"/>

In 1969, Evers was named "Man of the Year" by the NAACP.<ref name="PBS"/> On June 3, 1969, Evers was elected in [[Fayette, Mississippi]], as the first African-American mayor of a biracial town in Mississippi since the [[Reconstruction era (United States)|Reconstruction era]], following passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] which enforced constitutional rights for citizens.<ref name="PBS"/>

At the time of Evers's election as mayor, the town of Fayette had a population of 1,600 of which 75% was African-American and almost 25% white; the white officers on the Fayette city police "resigned rather than work under a black administration," according to the [[Associated Press]]. Evers told reporters "I guess we will just have to operate with an all-black police department for the present. But I am still looking for some whites to join us in helping Fayette grow." Evers then outlawed the carrying of firearms within city limits.<ref>"A new day dawns in the Old South", ''Miami News'', July 7, 1969, p1</ref>

He ran for [[Governor of Mississippi|governor]] in 1971 and the [[List of United States Senators from Mississippi|United States Senate]] in 1978, both times as an [[Independent politician|independent]] candidate. In 1989, Evers was defeated for re-election after serving sixteen years as mayor.<ref name=Lost/> In his later life, he became a Republican, endorsing [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980, and more recently [[Donald Trump]] in 2016. This diversity in party affiliations throughout his life was reflected in his fostering of friendships with people from a variety of backgrounds, as well as his advising of politicians from across the political spectrum. After his political career ended, he returned to radio and hosted his own show, ''Let's Talk''. In 2017, Evers was inducted into the [[National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame]] for his contributions to the music industry.

==Early life and education==
Charles Evers was born in [[Decatur, Mississippi]], on September 11, 1922, to James Evers, a laborer, and Jesse Wright Evers, a maid.<ref name="MCP">{{cite web |url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/evers-james-charles-1922 |title=Evers, James Charles (1922– ) &#124; The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed |publisher=Blackpast.org |date=September 11, 1922 |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916142414/http://www.blackpast.org/aah/evers-james-charles-1922 |archive-date=September 16, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=dies/> He was the eldest of four children;<ref name=dies/> [[Medgar Evers]] was his younger brother. He attended segregated public schools, which were typically underfunded in Mississippi following the exclusion of African Americans from the political system by [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement]] after 1890.<ref name="biography">{{cite web|url=http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-writers/charles-evers|title=Biography of Charles Evers|publisher=msWritersandMusicians.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911144434/http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-writers/charles-evers|archive-date=September 11, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Evers graduated from [[Alcorn State University]] in [[Lorman, Mississippi]].<ref name=dies/>

==Career==
=== Business activities ===
During [[World War II]], Charles and Medgar Evers both served in the [[United States Army]].<ref name="biography"/> Charles fell in love with a [[Filipino people|Philippine]] woman while stationed overseas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2014/jun/11/charles-evers/|title=Charles Evers|publisher=Jacksonfreepress.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114501/http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2014/jun/11/charles-evers/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> He could not marry her and bring her home to Mississippi because the state's constitution prohibited interracial marriages.<ref name="PBS"/>

During the war he established a brothel in [[Quezon City]] which catered to American servicemen.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=177}} After serving a year of reserve duty following the [[Korean War]], he settled in [[Philadelphia, Mississippi]].<ref name=dies/> In 1949, he began working as a [[disc jockey]] at WHOC,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://blues.org/blues_kba_winner/charles-evers-wmpr-jackson-mississippi/|title=Charles Evers, WMPR, Jackson, Mississippi|website=Blues Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> making him the first black disc jockey in the state. By the early 1950s, he was managing a hotel, cab company, and burial insurance business in the town. He had a cafe in Philadelphia and influenced over two hundred black citizens to pay their poll tax.<ref>Medgar Wiley Evers, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Manning Marable. (2005). ''The autobiography of Medgar Evers : a hero's life and legacy revealed through his writings, letters, and speeches''. New York: Basic Civitas Books. p. 24. {{ISBN|0465021778}}.</ref> Forced to leave due to local white hostility in 1956, he moved to [[Chicago]]. Low on money, he began working as a meatpacker in stockyards during the day and as an attendant for the men's restroom at the Conrad Hilton Hotel at nights. He also began pimping and ran a [[numbers game]], taking $500 a week from the latter. He gained enough money to purchase several bars, bootlegged liquor, and sold jukeboxes.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=178}}

===Civil rights activism===
In Mississippi about 1951, brothers Charles and Medgar Evers grew interested in African freedom movements. They were interested in [[Jomo Kenyatta]] and the rise of the [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]] tribal resistance to colonialism in [[Kenya]], known as the [[Mau Mau uprising]] as it moved to open violence.<ref name="PBS"/> Along with his brother, Charles became active in the [[Regional Council of Negro Leadership]] (RCNL), a civil rights organization that promoted self-help and business ownership.<ref name="Medgar">{{cite web|url=http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-medgar-evers|title=NAACP History: Medgar Evers|publisher=NAACP.org|access-date=January 14, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234230/http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-medgar-evers|archive-date=October 4, 2013}}</ref> He also helped his brother with black voter registration drives.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=178}} Between 1952 and 1955, Evers often spoke at the RCNL's annual conferences in [[Mound Bayou, Mississippi|Mound Bayou]], a town founded by freedmen, on such issues as voting rights.<ref name=AP>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Evers Isn't Proud of Past History|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rpUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5995,5745001&dq=evers+prostitutes&hl=en|access-date=November 25, 2012|newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World|date=April 14, 1971|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513063409/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rpUyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HucFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5995,5745001&dq=evers+prostitutes&hl=en|archive-date=May 13, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> His brother Medgar continued to be involved in civil rights, becoming field secretary and head of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) in Mississippi.<ref name="Medgar"/> While working in Chicago he sent money to him, not specifying the source.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=178}}

[[File:JFK and Charles Evers.jpg|right|thumb|220px|Evers (far right) with President [[John F. Kennedy]], June 1963]]
On June 12, 1963, [[Byron De La Beckwith]], a member of a [[Ku Klux Klan]] chapter, fatally shot Evers's brother, Medgar, in Mississippi as he arrived home from work. Medgar died at the hospital in Jackson.<ref name="Assas">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated|title=Medgar Evers Assassinated – Jun 12, 1963|publisher=History.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015021053/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated|archive-date=October 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Charles learned of his brother's death several hours later and flew to Jackson the following morning. Deeply upset by the assassination, he heavily involved himself in the planning of his brother's funeral.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=178}} He decided to relocate to Mississippi to carry on his brother's work. Journalist [[Jason Berry]], who later worked for Charles, said, "I think he wanted to be a better person. I think Medgar's death was a cathartic experience."{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=178–179}} A decade after his death, Evers and blues musician [[B.B. King]] created the Medgar Evers Homecoming Festival, an annual three-day event held the first week of June in Mississippi.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/evers-medgar-homecoming-celebration/|title=Medgar Evers Homecoming Celebration|website=Mississippi Encyclopedia|language=en-US}}</ref>

Over the opposition of more establishment figures in the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) such as [[Roy Wilkins]], Evers took over his brother's post as head of the NAACP in Mississippi.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_evers.html|title=Charles Evers|publisher=[[PBS]]|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020045858/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_evers.html|archive-date=October 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilkins never managed a friendly relationship with Evers, and Medgar's widow, [[Myrlie Evers-Williams|Myrlie]], also disapproved of Charles' replacing him.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=177}} A staunch believer in racial integration, he distrusted what he viewed as the militancy and [[Black separatism|separatism]] of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] and the [[Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party]], a black-dominated breakaway of the segregationist [[Mississippi Democratic Party]]. In 1965 he launched a series of successful black boycotts in southwestern Mississippi which partnered with the Natchez [[Deacons for Defense and Justice]], which won concessions from the Natchez authorities and ratified his unconventional boycott methods.<ref>Dirks, Annelieke. “Between Threat and Reality: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Emergence of Armed Self-Defense in Clarksdale and Natchez, Mississippi, 1960-1965.” ''Journal for the Study of Radicalism'', vol. 1, no. 1, 2007, pp. 71–98. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/41887564 JSTOR website] Retrieved 15 July 2023.</ref> Often accompanied by a group of 65 male followers, he would pressure local blacks in small towns to avoid stores under boycott and directly challenge white business leaders.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=179}} He also led a voter registration campaign.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=181}} He coordinated his efforts from the small town of [[Fayette, Mississippi|Fayette]] in [[Jefferson County, Mississippi|Jefferson County]]. Fayette was a small, economically depressed town of about 2,500 people. About three-fourths of the population was black, and they had long been socially and economically subordinate to the white minority.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=179–180}} Evers moved the NAACP's Mississippi field office from Jackson to Fayette to take advantage of the potential of the black majority and achieve political influence in Jefferson and two adjacent counties. He explained, "My feeling is that Negroes gotta control somewhere in America, and we've dropped anchor in these counties. We are going to control these three counties in the next ten years. There is no question about it."{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=180}}

With his voter registration drives having made Fayette's number of black registered voters double the size of the white electorate, Evers helped elect a black man to the local school board in 1966. He also established the Medgar Evers Community Center at the outskirts of town, which served as a center for registration efforts, grocery store, restaurant, and dance hall. By early 1968 he had established a network of local NAACP branches in the region. The president of each branch served as Evers' deputies, and he attended all of their meetings.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=181}} That year he made a bid for the open seat of the [[Mississippi's 3rd congressional district|3rd congressional district]] in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], facing six white opponents in the Democratic primary.<ref>{{cite news| last = Watts| first = James| title = 16-year-old questioned in gun incident| newspaper = Jackson Daily News| date = March 4, 1968}}</ref> Though low on funds, he led in the primary with a plurality of the votes. The Mississippi Legislature responded by passing a law mandating a runoff primary in the event of no absolute majority in the initial contest, which Evers lost.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=181}} He also supported [[Robert F. Kennedy]]'s [[Robert F. Kennedy 1968 presidential campaign|1968 presidential campaign]], serving as co-director of his Mississippi campaign organization,<ref name= newsservice>{{Citation| date = November 9, 1977| title = Church, Rights Leader Oscar Carr Dies| publisher = Episcopal News Service| url = http://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/ENS/ENSpress_release.pl?pr_number=77364|website= The Archives of the Episcopal Church|access-date=October 7, 2022}}</ref> and was with Kennedy in Los Angeles when he was [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|assassinated]].{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=184}}

===Mayor of Fayette===
In May 1969, Evers ran for the office of Mayor of Fayette and defeated white incumbent R. J. Allen, 386 votes to 255.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=181}} This made him the first black mayor of a biracial Mississippi town (unlike the all-black Mound Bayou{{efn|The town of [[Mound Bayou, Mississippi|Mound Bayou]] had been incorporated in 1898 as a Negro-only municipality and had had black mayors and council members throughout the 20th century.<ref>"Republicans gain in statewide municipal elections", ''Delta Democrat-Times'' (Greenville MS), June 4, 1969, p. 1</ref>}}) since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]].{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=175}} Evers' election as mayor had great symbolic significance statewide and attracted national attention. The NAACP named Evers their 1969 Man of the Year.<ref name="CRP">{{cite web|url=http://mscivilrightsproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=360:charles-evers&Itemid=59|title=Charles Evers|publisher=CivilRightsProject.com|access-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref> Evers popularized the slogan, "Hands that picked cotton can now pick the mayor."<ref name="CRP"/> The local white community was bitter about his victory, but he became intensively popular among Mississippi's blacks.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=182}} To celebrate his victory, he hosted an inaugural ball in [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], which was widely attended by black Mississippians, reporters from around the country, and prominent national liberals including [[Ramsey Clark]], [[Ted Sorensen]], [[Whitney Young]], [[Julian Bond]], [[Shirley MacLaine]], and [[Paul O'Dwyer]].{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=175, 182}} The white-dominated school board refused to let Evers swear-in on property under their jurisdiction, so he took his oath of office in a parking lot.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=185}}

Evers appointed a black police force and several black staff members.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=183, 185}} He also benefitted from an influx of young, white liberal volunteers who wanted to assist a civil rights leader. Many ended up leaving after growing disillusioned with Evers' pursuit of personal financial success and domineering leadership style.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=183}} Evers sought to make Fayette an upstanding community and a symbolic refuge for black people. Repulsed by the behavior of poor blacks in the town, he ordered the police force to enforce a 25-mile per hour speed limit on local roads, banned cursing in public, and cracked down on [[truancy]]. He also prohibited the carrying of firearms in town but kept a gun on himself. He quickly responded to concerns from poor blacks while making white businessmen wait outside of his office.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=183, 185}} Rhetorically, he would vacillate between messages of racial conciliation and statements of hostility.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=186}}

Fayette's white population remained bitter about Evers' victory. Many avoided the city hall where they used to socialize and ''The Fayette Chronicle'' regularly criticized him.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=185}} He argued with the county board of supervisors over his plan to erect busts of his brother, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedys on the courthouse square.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=186}} He told the press, "They're cooperating because they haven't blown my head off. This is Mississippi."{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=185}} In September 1969, a Klansman drove into Fayette with a collection of weapons, intending to assassinate Evers. A white resident tipped off the mayor and the Klansman was arrested. The Klansman defended his motives by saying, "I am a Mississippi white man".{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=184}}

Evers' moralistic style began to create discontent; in early 1970, most of Fayette's police department resigned, saying the mayor had treated them "like dogs".{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=190}} Evers complained that local blacks were "jealous" of him.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=190}} As the judge in the municipal court, he personally issued fines for infractions such as cursing in public. He regularly ignored the input of the town board of aldermen, and town employee Charles Ramberg reported that he said he would fire municipal workers who would not vote for him.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=190–191}} During Evers' tenure, Fayette benefitted from several federal grants, and [[ITT Inc.]] built an assembly plant in the town, but the region's economy largely remained depressed. By 1981, Jefferson County had the highest unemployment rate in the state.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=191}}

Whites' perception that Evers was venal and self-interested persisted and began to spread among the black community. This problem ballooned when in 1974 the [[Internal Revenue Service]] arranged for him to be indicted for tax evasion by failing to report $156,000 in income he garnered in the late 1960s. Prosecutors further accused him of depositing town funds in a personal bank account.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=191–192}} His attorney told the court that Evers had indeed concealed the income, but argued that the charge was invalid since this had been done before the late 1960s, as the indictment specified. The case resulted in a [[mistrial]], but Evers' reputation permanently suffered.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=192}} In the late 1970s he used a $5,300 federal grant to renovate a building he owned which he leased to a federal day care program, and used some of the employees for personal business.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=191–192}}

Evers served many terms as mayor of Fayette.<ref name=biography/> Admired by some, he alienated others with his inflexible stands on various issues. Evers did not like to share or delegate power. Evers lost the Democratic primary for mayor in 1981 to [[Kennie Middleton]]. Four years later, Evers defeated Middleton in the primaries and won back the office of mayor. In 1989, Evers lost the nomination once again to political rival Kennie Middleton.<ref name=Lost>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/05/us/evers-is-defeated-in-fifth-term-bid.html|title=Evers Is Defeated In Fifth-Term Bid|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 5, 1989|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307085956/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/05/us/evers-is-defeated-in-fifth-term-bid.html|archive-date=March 7, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In his response to the defeat, Evers accepted, said he was tired, and that: "Twenty years is enough. I'm tired of being out front. Let someone else be out front."<ref name=Lost/>

=== 1971 gubernatorial campaign ===
Evers began mulling the possibility of a campaign for the office of governor in 1969.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=186}} He decided to enter the [[1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election|1971 gubernatorial election]] as an independent,{{sfn|Busbee|2014|p=343}} kicking off his campaign with a rally in Decatur.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=187}} He later explained his reason for launching the bid, saying, "I ran for governor because if someone doesn't start running, there will never be a black man or a black woman governor of the state of Mississippi."{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=186}} He endorsed white segregationist [[Jimmy Swan]] in the Democratic primary, reasoning that if Swan won the nomination, moderate whites would be more inclined to vote for himself in the general election. He campaigned on a platform of reduced taxes—particularly for lower property taxes on the elderly, improved healthcare, and legalizing gambling along the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]].{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=188}} Low on money, his candidacy was largely funded by the sale of [[campaign button]]s and copies of his recently published autobiography. His campaign staff was largely young and inexperienced and lacked organization.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=186}}<ref name="crimson"/>

Evers' rallies drew large crowds of blacks.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=186–187}} ''[[The Clarion-Ledger]]'', a leading Mississippian conservative newspaper, largely ignored his campaign. To gain attention, he unexpectedly gatecrashed the annual Fisherman's Rodeo in Pascagoula and stopped and spoke to people on the streets of Jackson during their morning commute.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=187}} Police departments in rural towns were often horrified by the arrival of his campaign caravan.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=188}} A total of 269 other black candidates were running for office in Mississippi that year, and many of them complained that Evers was self-absorbed and hoarding resources, despite his slim chances of winning. Evers did little to support them.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=188–189}}

In the general election, Evers faced Democratic nominee [[Bill Waller]] and independent segregationist [[Thomas Pickens Brady]].{{sfn|Busbee|2014|p=343}} Waller and Evers were personally acquainted with one another, as Waller had prosecuted Beckwith for the murder of Medgar.<ref name="crimson">{{cite web|last = Schoen|first= Douglas E.|date=December 14, 1971|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/12/14/evers-for-everybody-plast-month-charles/|title=Evers For Everybody|website=The Crimson|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042917/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/12/14/evers-for-everybody-plast-month-charles/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=174}} Despite the fears of public observers, the campaign was largely devoid of overt racist appeals and Evers and Waller avoided negative tactics.{{sfn|Sansing|2016|p=211}} Though about 40 percent of the Mississippi electorate in 1971 was black, Evers only secured about 22 percent of the total vote;{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=187}} Waller won with 601,222 votes to Evers' 172,762 and Brady's 6,653.{{sfn|Sumners|1998|p=140}} The night of the election, Evers shook the hands of Waller supporters in Jackson and then went to a local television station where his opponent was delivering a victory speech.{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|p=173}} Learning that Evers had arrived, Waller's nervous aides hurried the governor-elect to his car. Evers approached the car shortly before its departure and told Waller, "I just wanted to congratulate you."<ref name = powers>{{cite magazine |first=Thomas |last=Powers |title=Letter from a Lost Campaign |magazine=Harper's Magazine |issue=March 1972}}</ref> Waller replied, "Whaddya say, Charlie?"{{sfn|Nossiter|1994|pp=173–174}} and his wife leaned over and shook Evers' hand.<ref name = powers/>

===Later political career===

In 1978, Evers ran as an independent for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democrat [[James Eastland]].<ref name="GOP">{{cite web|url=http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/07/11/gates-charles-evers-rich-part-states-history/12560811/|title=Gates: Charles Evers rich part of states history|publisher=Clarion Ledger.com|access-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref> He finished in third place behind his opponents, Democrat [[Maurice Dantin]] and Republican [[Thad Cochran]]. He received 24 percent of the vote, likely siphoning off African-American votes that would have otherwise gone to Dantin.<ref name="GOP"/> Cochran won the election with a plurality of 45 percent of the vote. With the shift in white voters moving into the Republican Party in the state (and the rest of the South), Cochran was continuously re-elected to his Senate seat.<ref name="GOP"/> After his failed Senate race, Evers briefly switched political parties and became a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]].<ref name="GOP"/>

In 1983, Evers ran as an independent for governor of Mississippi but lost to the Democrat [[Bill Allain]].<ref name="Govrace">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19711103&id=jo9PAAAAIBAJ&pg=1748,2187362&hl=en|title=The Bryan Times Edition 1983|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312101032/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19711103&id=jo9PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7lEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1748,2187362&hl=en|archive-date=March 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Republican [[Leon Bramlett]] of [[Clarksdale, Mississippi|Clarksdale]], also known as a college [[All-American]] football player, finished second with 39 percent of the vote.<ref name="Govrace"/>

Evers endorsed [[Ronald Reagan]] for President of the United States during the [[1980 United States presidential election]].<ref name="GOP"/> Evers later attracted controversy for his support of judicial nominee [[Charles W. Pickering]], a Republican, who was nominated by President [[George H. W. Bush]] for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-107shrg83959/html/CHRG-107shrg83959.htm|title=NOMINATION OF CHARLES W. PICKERING|publisher=GPO.org|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826230853/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-107shrg83959/html/CHRG-107shrg83959.htm|archive-date=August 26, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Evers criticized the NAACP and other organizations for opposing Pickering, as he said the candidate had a record of supporting the civil rights movement in Mississippi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/public-statement/24121/nomination-of-charles-w-pickering-sr-of-mississippi-to-be-united-states-circuit-judge-for-the-fifth-circuit-continued|title=Nomination of Charles W. Pickering Sr., of Mississippi, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit (continued)|publisher=Vote Smart.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210459/http://votesmart.org/public-statement/24121/nomination-of-charles-w-pickering-sr-of-mississippi-to-be-united-states-circuit-judge-for-the-fifth-circuit-continued|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Evers befriended a range of people from [[sharecropper]]s to presidents. He was an informal adviser to politicians as diverse as [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], [[George Wallace|George C. Wallace]], [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Robert F. Kennedy]].<ref name="PBS"/> Evers severely criticized such national leaders as [[Roy Wilkins]], [[Stokely Carmichael]], [[H. Rap Brown]] and [[Louis Farrakhan]] over various issues.<ref name="PBS"/>

Evers was a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] for 30 years when he spoke warmly of the 2008 election of [[Barack Obama]] as the first black President of the United States.<ref name="Obama">{{cite web|url=http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/9677096/evers-comments-on-obama-becoming-1st-african-american-president|title=Evers comments on Obama becoming 1st African-American president|publisher=MSNewsnow.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615111003/http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/9677096/evers-comments-on-obama-becoming-1st-african-american-president|archive-date=June 15, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]], Evers supported [[Donald Trump]]'s [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/politics/2016/03/04/charles-evers-endorses-trump/81341810/|title=Brother of Medgar Evers endorses Trump|author=Bracey Harris|newspaper=[[Hattiesburg American]]|access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref>

===Books===
Evers wrote two autobiographies or memoirs: ''Evers'' (1971), written with Grace Halsell and self-published; and ''Have No Fear,'' written with [[Andrew Szanton]] and published by [[John Wiley & Sons]] (1997).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dXw6gR2GgkC&pg=PA284|title=African American Lives|page=284|isbn=9780199882861|via=Google Books|access-date=January 14, 2016|last1=Gates|first1=Henry Louis Jr.|last2=Higginbotham|first2=Evelyn Brooks|date=April 29, 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-471-12251-7|title=Have No Fear: The Charles Evers Story|publisher=Publishers Weekly.com|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012183933/http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-471-12251-7|archive-date=October 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Evers was briefly married to Christine Evers until their marriage ended in [[annulment]]. In 1951, Evers married Nannie L. Magee, with whom he had four daughters.<ref name=dies/> The couple divorced in June 1974.<ref name=dies/> Evers lived in [[Brandon, Mississippi]], and served as station manager of [[WMPR|WMPR 90.1 FM]] in [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]].<ref name="MCP"/>

On July 22, 2020, Evers died in Brandon at age 97.<ref name=dies>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/charles-evers-dead.html|title=Charles Evers, Businessman and Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 97|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|date=July 22, 2020|access-date=July 22, 2020|work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722213709/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/charles-evers-dead.html|archive-date=July 22, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wlbt.com/2020/07/22/charles-evers-brother-medgar-evers-dead/ |title=Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Evers, dead at 97 |date=July 22, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200722195607/https://www.wlbt.com/2020/07/22/charles-evers-brother-medgar-evers-dead/ |archive-date=July 22, 2020 |access-date=July 22, 2020 }}</ref>

==Media portrayal==
Evers was portrayed by [[Bill Cobbs]] in the 1996 film ''[[Ghosts of Mississippi]]'' (1996).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CBInl8GHNcEC&pg=PA56|title=Whoopi Goldberg and Alec Baldwin Star in Medgar Evers film 'Ghosts of Mississippi'|date=December 30, 1996|publisher=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|access-date=February 16, 2020|quote=Bill Cobbs portrays Medgar Evers' brother, Charlie Evers}}page 58</ref>

== Honors ==
* 1969: Evers was named "Man of the Year" by the [[NAACP]].<ref name="PBS" />
* 2012: Evers was honored with a marker on the [[Mississippi Blues Trail]] in Fayette.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://themississippilink.com/2012/04/30/black-disc-jockeys-honored-with-blues-marker/|title=Black disc jockeys honored with blues marker {{!}} The Mississippi Link|date=April 30, 2012|website=The Mississippi Link}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/charles-evers|title=Charles Evers|website=Mississippi Blues Trail|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112185530/http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/charles-evers|archive-date=November 12, 2019|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref>
* 2025: Evers was honored with a Freedom Trail Marker in Fayette.<ref>{{cite web|title=Visit Mississippi Unveils Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker for Charles Evers|url=https://visitmississippi.org/news/visit-mississippi-unveils-mississippi-freedom-trail-marker-for-charles-evers/|website=visitmississippi.org|date=March 3, 2025|access-date=March 3, 2025|publisher=Visit Mississippi}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Mississippi}}
* [[List of civil rights leaders]]
* [[List of African-American United States Senate candidates]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Works cited ==
* {{cite book| last = Busbee| first = Westley F. Jr.| title = Mississippi: A History| publisher = John Wiley & Sons| edition = second| date = 2014| location =  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sG0gBQAAQBAJ| isbn = 9781118755921}}
* {{cite book| last = Nossiter| first = Adam| title = Of Long Memory: Mississippi And The Murder Of Medgar Evers| publisher = Addison-Wesley| date = 1994| location = Reading, Massachusetts| isbn = 9780201483390}}
* {{cite book| last = Sansing| first = David G.| title = Mississippi Governors: Soldiers, Statesmen, Scholars, Scoundrels| publisher = Nautilus Publishing Company| edition = first| date = 2016| location = Oxford| isbn = 978-1-936946-81-5}}
* {{Cite book|last=Sumners|first=Cecil L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8qBC3V-qgcC|title=The Governors of Mississippi|date=1998|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=9781455605217}}

==Further reading==
* Charles Evers and [[Andrew Szanton]], ''Have No Fear, Have No *'' {{cite book | last=Beito  | first=David and Linda | title=Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard's Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power | location=Urbana | publisher=University of Illinois Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-252-03420-6}}
* {{cite book | last=Dittmer | first=John | title=Local People: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi | location=Urbana | publisher=University of Illinois Press | year=1994 | isbn=0-252-02102-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/localpeoplestrug00ditt }}.
* [[Charles M. Payne]], ''[[I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle]]''

==External links==
* ''The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow'', PBS [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_evers.html]
* 90.1 WMPR, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070722182147/http://www.wmpr901.com/c_evers.php] Jackson Mississippi, Charles Evers station manager : [[blues]], [[urban contemporary gospel]], talk, variety
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100611144930/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/Evers-C/evers-c.asp Oral History Interview with Charles Evers, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library]
*Warren, Robert Penn. [https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/charles-evers-and-neil-e-goldschmidt Interview with Charles Evers], February 12, 1964 published in [[Who Speaks for the Negro?|Who Speaks for the Negro]]? searchable transcript at ''Who Speaks for the Negro?'' Digital Archive of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University based on collections at University of Kentucky and Yale University Libraries.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=LEAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41 LIFE Magazine "A Black Governor for Mississippi?" May 14, 1971]
*Program from [[Mississippi Public Broadcasting|Mississippi ETV]], [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-r785h7d47z “Newsmaker; Campaign '71. Charles Evers,”] [[American Archive of Public Broadcasting]]
* {{C-SPAN|92798}}

{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evers, Charles}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:African-American mayors in Mississippi]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Mississippi]]
[[Category:African-American DJs]]
[[Category:Alcorn State University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Mississippi Blues Trail]]
[[Category:Mississippi independents]]
[[Category:Mississippi Republicans]]
[[Category:Politicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:People from Decatur, Mississippi]]
[[Category:People from Fayette, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Radio personalities from Mississippi]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American people]]
[[Category:African-American activists]]
[[Category:African-American candidates for the United States Senate]]
[[Category:African Americans in World War II]]
[[Category:21st-century American writers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American writers]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]