Lynching Resolution, No Apology — (05/18/2006)
KXXV Texas
McLennan County will not apologize for the 1916 lynching of a convicted murderer.
Tuesday the court room was packed, and a supporter of the resolution wore a noose around his neck, while others sat quietly and listened. All this attention stems from an incident that happened in 1916. A black teenager named Jesse Washington was found guilty for murdering Lucy Fryer, a white woman. Minutes after being sentenced to death a mob attacked Washington. They lynched him, burned his body and dragged it through town.
The Community Race Relations Coalition says an apology resolution is an opportunity for the public to renounce this ugly part of its history. But the Commissioner's Court says aside from some technical reasons, they won't apologize for something that happened long before they were born.
McLennan County Commissioner Ray Meadows said Tuesday, “I cannot do that, come out with true repentance because- y'all are probably tired of hearing this- I didn't have anything to do with it, ya know."
But Nona Baker, who favors the resolution said, “We're not harboring or looking for someone to blame. We’re asking is to do what's right, because it's right."
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