Mark Charles Parker example essay topic

How would you like to be accused of a crime and then be disenfranchised because of your race? Well this is what happened to Mark Charles Parker because he allegedly raped June Walters a pregnant white woman on February 23 1959. In Howard Smead's historical nonfiction book Blood Justice he describes one of the most important investigations of a racist, motivated crime in the history of the United States. Blood Justice is about the killing of Mark Charles Parker and the investigation after his death. Mark Charles Parker was accused of the rape of June Walters which Occurred on March 1, 1959. R. Jess Brown a well-known African American lawyer represented Parker. On April 13th an all white grand jury indited Parker for rape and two counts of kidnapping.

On April 17th Parker pleaded not guilty to each charge. Next Parker's trial date was set for April 27th. Then Brown asked Judge See Dale's to drop the case because a black man was not on the grand jury. Brown did this because of a recent ruling made by the 5th U.S. circuit court of Appeals. The ruling stated that it was unconstitutional for a jury of an all white people to convict a black man. The ruling went on to say that one African American had to be on a jury when an African American was on trial.

This defense tactic by Brown was a legally intelligent thing to do but this actually became the motive for the mob to kill Parker. On Friday April 24th J.P. Walker, Preacher Lee, Crip Reyer and L.C. Davis got into Reyer's Oldsmobile and they took off on a mission to kill Mark Charles Parker. (3 other cars of men followed) They went to the courthouse / jail in Poplarville and they could not get in. So they went to Jewel Alford's House (The jail keeper) to get the keys to the Jail.

Alford went with the four men to the courthouse. When he got there he went in and down the hall to Sheriff Moody's office and got the keys to the jail. He opened the door to the jail and Lee, Reyer, Davis, Walker followed Alford into the jail. Alford then opened Parkers cell and Lee and Davis pulled Parker out of the jail and courthouse to the Reyer's Oldsmobile. Alford then left and the men got into the car.

The Oldsmobile sped away and the other cars followed. The mob headed southwest on highway 26 toward Pearl River. This river separates Mississippi and Louisiana. The other cars quit following the Oldsmobile after awhile and they went home.

They drove just to the Louisiana side of the river and they stopped. Next they dragged Parker form the car and tried to put a rope around his head to hang him. Then parker tried to get away and then the mob shot him to death on Saturday April 25th at about 12: 30 a.m. Sheriff Moody called Mississippi Governor Coleman to inform him of the kidnapping of Mark Charles Parker. The Governor suggested that he call in the F.B.I. At 4: 00 a.m. on April 25th the F.B.I. got permission to enter the case. As soon as the F.B.I. entered the case they began questioning people to find out what happened on the night Parker was killed.

The town's People of Poplarville almost immediately did not like the F.B.I. involvement in the case. The whole town began to not even talk to the F.B.I. On Wednesday May 13th Arthur Smith under pressure from the F.B.I. told agents that Lee, Reyer, Davis, and Walker were in the front car that carried Parker from the jail. On May 20th 1959 the F.B.I. concluded that there were no federal laws violated that they could prove against the accused. Then they handed the case over to the State and local government. There were two Grand jury hearings to see if there was enough evidence to have a trial against Walker, Lee, Davis and Reyer after the F.B.I. dropped out of the investigation.

The first one was in November of 1959. In November of 1959 a Pearl River County grand jury simply ignored the case. Next a federal grand jury met in Biloxi, Mississippi in January of 1960. The grand jury said that there was not enough evidence to charge the suspects. The Mob members got away with their crime in life but they won't get away with it in there After life. The main Characters of this book are Mark Charles Parker, J.P. Walker, "Preacher" Lee, Crip Reyer, and L.C. Davis.

Mark Charles Parker was portrayed as a Black rapist who got what he deserved. Walker, Lee, Reyer, and Davis were portrayed as white racist who could not stand that a black man would get off of rape charges, so they took the law into their own hands. These men have a deep amount of hate in their minds. Blood Justice took place in Pearl River County in southwestern Mississippi. Most of the story took place in the town of Poplarville.

The Story starts on February 23, 1959 when June Walters was raped and it ends in January 1960 when the federal grand jury does not indite the accused criminals. Poplarville is described as a small town where information travels fast and people live simple lives. The area is a very religious area and also very racist. Blood Justice told a story about race relations in a small town in Mississippi.

This book gave me a great understanding of what life was like for blacks to live Southern Mississippi in 1959. Blood Justice detailed the events of Mark Charles Parkers Adduction from prison to his death and the investigation to find who his murders were. This book was one of the best books that I have ever read! Mark Charles Parker died because he was a black man who was defending him self in a court of law.

I believe that he was innocent of his crime but because he was an African American a mob of white decided that he should not have a chance to defend him self. Blood Justice taught me that hate is a very powerful force and we must prevent it from entering our minds. Work cited web Howard. Blood Justice. Oxford University press New York, Oxford 1986.