Black & White Divide & Denial
Sanchez: Black-and-white divide
CARLOS SANCHEZ Editor
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Admittedly, I have barely begun reading a newly released 206-page book about Waco. But because of the importance of the topic, I am already prepared to endorse the book to everyone in this community.
It's The First Waco Horror: The Lynching Of Jesse Washington And The Rise Of The NAACP and concerns a chapter in Waco history that continues to haunt this community.
In 1916, a crowd of about 15,000 grabbed a 17-year-old black boy who had just been convicted of murdering and raping a white woman. He was snatched out of a McLennan County courtroom. The mob proceeded to beat him, hack off body parts, hang and burn him before dragging his charred body through the streets of Waco to Robinson.
The book's Houston-based author, Patricia Bernstein, argues that one of the more troubling things about this – one of nearly 5,000 race-related lynchings in America between 1880 and 1930 – was the fact that it occurred in a community that the Houston Chronicle at that time called “the cultured, reputable City of Waco.”
And unlike so many other lynchings that plagued the country for the better part of half a century, this one occurred on the front lawn of city hall with the mayor and police chief looking on from a second-story office.
I became aware of the book last week when an angry caller heard it mentioned on ABC's "Nightline" and called us to complain that there is no good reason to resurrect this horrid incident.
Yes, this book potentially could bring some bad publicity to this community – but only if we take the attitude of the angry caller.
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