Fifteen years ago, on a hot June night in the small East Texas city of Jasper, James Byrd Jr. left a party at a friend’s house and began the long walk to his home on the other side of town. Accustomed to catching rides with passing drivers, the year-old African-American apparently didn’t hesitate when a pickup stopped and a white man he was acquainted with, Shawn Berry, offered to take him home. Inside the truck were two other white men, Lawrence Brewer and John King, both of whom had ties to white supremacist groups in and out of prison. Byrd never made it home.
When the story of the abduction and murder of James Byrd Jr. hit the next day’s news, it was as if a bomb had exploded in the complacent consciousness of contemporary America. The details of the crime were almost too horrible to believe, but anyone familiar with the history of the American South could recognize the echoes of a not-so-distant past filled with arbitrary white-on-black brutality, mob justice, torture and lynchings. Berry, Brewer and King had driven Byrd to a remote country road where they beat him and chained him to the back of the truck by his ankles. The men then dragged Byrd for three and a half miles.
James Byrd, Jr. ()
James Byrd, Jr. is considered one of the last lynching victims in the United States. On the morning of June 7, , year-old Byrd left his parents’ residence and was walking home alone along Huff Creek Road in Jasper, Texas. He was approached by three white men, John William King, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and Shawn Allen Berry, who offered him a ride home. Byrd accepted. The men then drove their unsuspecting passenger to a remote area and then beat and urinated on him. They tied him by his ankles to the back of a pickup truck using log chains and dragged him until he died and his body was dismembered. Portions of his corpse were found dispersed in seventy-five different spots along the two-mile stretch of country road that the men traveled. Byrd’s torso was located approximately one mile from his head. The trio left what body parts remained affixed to the truck at a black cemetery before heading to eat. Law enforcement agents used finger prints to determine Byrd’s identity. The gruesome nature of Byrd’s death captured national attention and demonstrated that racialized violence in America was not a relic of a Jim Crow past.
Born on May 2, in Beaumont,
James Byrd Jr.
James Byrd Jr. was born on May 2nd, in He is best remembered for being an African American individual who was murdered by white individuals. His murder made headlines throughout the United States. Similarly, it led to a series of legislative changes.
Early Life
James Byrd Jr. was born on May 2nd, in His place of birth was in Beaumont, Texas. He was the son of James Byrd Sr. and Stella.
Byrd’s mother was a Sunday, school teacher. His father was also in the same line of service as he served as a deacon. His religious upbringing also influenced young Byrd, and as a result, he actively participated in playing the piano and singing in church.
Education
James Byrd Jr. attended Jasper Rowe High School where he later graduated in In spite of the encouragement he received from his parents, he did not enter college.
Marriage
Shortly after completing his high school education, James Byrd Jr. tied the knot and had three children with his wife. In , Byrd divorced his wife. Three years later, he migrated back to Jasper with a mission of improving his life. Consequently, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous.
Murder
On June 7th, in , James Byrd Jr
() On June 7, , James Byrd Jr. accepted a ride from three white men, who beat him, chained him to the back of a truck and dragged him to his death. His brutal murder made national headlines, with two of the assailants drawing the death penalty. In , President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. Born on May 2, , in Beaumont, Texas, James Byrd Jr. was the third of eight children. His parents, Stella and James Byrd Sr., raised the family in an East Texas community called Jasper, and their lives revolved around church. While Byrd's mother served as a Sunday School teacher, his father was a deacon at the Greater New Bethel Baptist Church. A young Byrd also contributed by singing and playing the piano. In Byrd graduated from Jasper Rowe High School as part of the last segregated class in its history. Despite an excellent academic record and encouragement from his parents, Byrd did not follow his two older sisters to college. Instead, he married a few years out of high school and fathered three children: Renee, Ross and Jamie. Byrd worked sporadically as a
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James Byrd Jr.
Who Was James Byrd Jr.?
Early Life and Family
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