Blood Justice: The Lynching of Mack Charles Parker
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Book Overview
Based on previously unreleased FBI and Justice Department documents, extensive interviews with many of the surviving principals involved in the case, and a variety of newspaper accounts, Smead meticulously reconstructs the full story of one of the last lynchings in America, detailing a grim, dramatic, but nearly forgotten episode from the Civil Rights era.
In 1959, a white mob in Poplarville, Mississippi abducted a young black man named Mack Charles Parker--recently charged with the rape of a white woman--from his jail cell, beat him, carried him across state lines, finally shot him, and left his body in the Pearl River. A massive FBI investigation ensued, and two grand juries met to investigate the lynching, yet no arrests were ever made. Smead presents a vivid picture of a small Southern town gripped by racism and distrust of federal authority, and describes the travesty of justice that followed in the wake of the lynching. Ultimately revealing more than an account of a single lynching, he offers what he calls "a glimpse at the tidal forces at work in the South on the eve of the civil rights revolution."
In 1959, a white mob in Poplarville, Mississippi abducted a young black man named Mack Charles Parker--recently charged with the rape of a white woman--from his jail cell, beat him, carried him across state lines, finally shot him, and left his body in the Pearl River. A massive FBI investigation ensued, and two grand juries met to investigate the lynching, yet no arrests were ever made. Smead presents a vivid picture of a small Southern town gripped by racism and distrust of federal authority, and describes the travesty of justice that followed in the wake of the lynching. Ultimately revealing more than an account of a single lynching, he offers what he calls "a glimpse at the tidal forces at work in the South on the eve of the civil rights revolution."
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0195054296
ISBN13:9780195054293
Release Date:April 1988
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Length:248 Pages
Weight:0.56 lbs.
Dimensions:0.5" x 5.4" x 8.0"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
a tough but good read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
This book is well researched and well written. It does an excellent job of chronicling the series of events that took place with vivid detail. Although the book does not read fast, it is still well worth taking the time to read.
An Absolute Must !
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Thanks to the diligent work of Howard Smead,Blood Justice will become a cornerstone in every civil rights library.
Clear, in depth account of a tragic example of lynch mob justice.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This book accomplishes everything it sets out to do.
Interesting read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
I read this for a History class and I found it interesting. Nuff said.
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