By: Vincent L. Hall
“If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected — those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most! — and listens to their testimony.” — Baldwin, No Name on the Street.
What oppressed Americans (and that’s 61% of us) need more than anything else is the assurance that only history can provide. When things look dim, gloomy, and unfathomable, a good read of the past is the best medicine.
Some days after lamenting the death of Renee Nicole Good, we as a nation find ourselves languishing in one of those periods that call for a stroll down memory lane. When a White woman ain’t safe in the care and custody of battalions of White “officers” we need to rehearse the words of King Solomon: “That this too shall pass.”
Optimism requires that we believe wholeheartedly that Renee Good is a martyr for freedom. A real “Dreamer” has to see some possibility of positive change in the notorious deaths of innocent people.
On May 7, 1955, in Belzoni, Mississippi, Reverend George Lee was a sacrificial lamb. A registered voter and a preacher, Lee “used his pulpit and his printing press to urge others to vote. He refused to accept protection from County officials and was later murdered.
A 14-year-old boy in the same state of Mississippi was shot, severely beaten, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River. After revealing his mangled body in an open casket, Emmett Till’s mother parlayed the lifeless remains of her only son for the salvation of her people.
No reason to leave Mississippi yet, so let’s talk about Herbert Lee, a Black voting rights activist who was killed by his White neighbor and childhood friend. E.H. Hurst, a member of the state House of Representatives, killed Lee. And for good measure, Louis Allen, a Black witness who decided to testify against Hurst after talking with Julian Bond, was felled by gunshot blasts in the driveway of his home before the trial.
Renee Nicole Good is just the latest. There is a list of angels who died before, and too lengthy for this space.
April 9, 1962, in Taylorsville, Mississippi. Corporal Roman Ducksworth, a military officer on leave to visit his sick wife, became a celebrated victim of homegrown American hatred. When he refused to get off the bus, he was “mistakenly” killed by a police officer who “may have” believed he was a Freedom Rider.
September 30th, same year, same state, “Paul Guihard, a reporter for a French news service, was killed by gunfire from a white mob during protests over the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi.”
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, no relation to Jeffery, I suppose, died after his home was firebombed. He was wealthy and went on the radio to announce that he would pay poll taxes for anyone who couldn’t afford them. Apparently, that didn’t sit too well with the Segregationist and racist faction of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The list of names goes on. James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Henry Schwerner are three of the best known. Jimmie Lee Jackson. Reverend James Reeb and Viola Gregg Liuzzo lost their lives fighting for the equal rights of their day.
Dr. Martin Luther King’s name is etched in the listing of this “great cloud of witnesses” and his death in 1968 fractured the chains of oppression, racism, and a litany of precepts in America’s lackluster code of ethics.
Renee Nicole Good was one of those unprotected Americans who could tell you before she was killed how justice is administered. Prayerfully, we can find solace in understanding history. Our ancestors did, and they would quickly remind you that “Trouble don’t last always!”
Sleep well sister!
