I was just 19 years old when it happened but by that time I understood the racial dynamics of the United States.
June 7 marked the 12th anniversary of the dragging murder of James Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas. On June 7, 1998, three White males wrapped a heavy chain around his ankles, connected the chain to a pickup truck, and then dragged Byrd for several miles. The dragging resulted in Byrd losing his arms and his head. The three murderers dumped Byrd’s mutilated remains in front of a cemetery and then went to enjoy some barbecue. Yes, barbeque.
I had to rehearse that history for the young people who may read this blog and know nothing about James Byrd. However, they only have to check the latest news wires to read about an alleged ‘Jasper-style’ dragging that just took place last week in South Carolina.
An Associated Press headline reads ‘SC police: Black man shot to death, body dragged’. According to the story:
Two men who worked at a South Carolina poultry processing plant had spent most of the day together Tuesday, hanging out late into the evening, maybe rehashing their long shifts. By the next morning, one of the men – who was black – was dead, shot to death and then dragged behind a pickup truck for more than 10 miles down a country road. The other – a white man – was in jail, charged with murder, and authorities were investigating the death as a possible hate crime.
This is not 1810…..this is in 2010.
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The writer further reports:
The FBI has been working with Lloyd’s agency to sort out what led up to the shooting death of Anthony Hill, 30. South Carolina has no state hate crime statute, and federal authorities have not decided if they will take over the case.
The body of the former S.C. National Guard firefighter was found around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 176 in Newberry, a town of about 11,000 in central South Carolina.
Killed by a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said Hill’s body was tied to a pickup truck with nylon rope and dragged until it snapped, leaving his body in the roadway.
Tracing the bloody trail left by Hill’s body, deputies were led to the home of Hill’s 19-year-old co-worker, Gregory Collins. For several hours, Collins refused to come out of his mobile home, surrendering only after state police agents fired tear gas inside, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.
Have we really progressed in this country even after President Obama signed off on the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act? In 2008, another ‘Jasper-style’ dragging took place in Paris, Texas when a Black man by the name of Brandon McClelland was murdered by two White males who were reportedly his ‘friends.’ They dragged Brandon up and down a highway. Those two men are free at home right now and probably enjoying the 2010 NBA Finals while Brandon’s mother continues to grieve over the lost of her only son.
Some people oppose teaching young people about the history of Blacks being lynched in America. Some would prefer to say ‘that’s in the past–move on.’ And others, like a few members of the Texas Board of Education, want to pretend lynching and other events did not happen in this country’s history by watering it down.
But I invite the young people to crack open books like ‘100 Years of Lynching’ by Ralph Ginzburg and read the countless accounts of news rep
