Activists re-enact 1946 Georgia lynching to draw attention to unsolved case

<p>Roger Malcom told a relative he thought he might not die after all when he was bailed out by a white farmer on the hot afternoon of July 25, 1946.</p><p>Eleven days earlier, he had been arrested for stabbing Barney Hester, another white farmer whom Malcom suspected of having an affair with his wife, Dorothy, who was pregnant.</p><p>On the 59th anniversary of their deaths, volunteers re-enacted how the Malcoms and their friends, George and Mae Murray Dorsey, were lynched on the banks of the Apalachee River at the Moore's Ford Bridge, about 40 miles east of Atlanta.</p><p>The foursome was dragged from a car, beaten and shot dozens of times. Six decades later, the scene was recreated, with black volunteers as Ku Klux Klansmen, fireworks for gunshots and fake blood poured on for effect.</p><p>Lakeitha Lewis-Johnson could barely watch the portrayal as she cried and turned away from the shouts of, "Get that nigger!" from the Klan leader ordering the mob.</p><p>"My grandmother lived in that era," the 30-year-old Monroe resident said. "She'd be scared to talk about this, even as an old woman. It's a hurting feeling."</p><p>A crowd of about 200 looked on as the lynchings of the Dorseys and Malcoms were brought to life at the Walton-Oconee county border. The men fought as the women pleaded for their lives, Dorothy Malcom clutching her unborn child.</p><p>Law enforcement vehicles lined the route as a caravan of more than 100 cars followed a path from the scene of the fight between Roger Malcom and Barney Hester, on to the old Walton County Jail and finally to the Moore's Ford Bridge.</p><p>Lessie Goodwin was 9 years old when the two couples were lynched in her hometown. A sharecropper's daughter living on a white man's farm, Goodwin's father told her not to ask about the lynchings.</p><p>It wasn't until years later, as an adult living near the bridge that she learned the details of what happened. At a rally before the re-enactment, Goodwin said she was glad someone is seeking justice.</p><p>"The white folk thought they could get away with this," the retired factory worker said.</p><p>The sanctuary at the First African Baptist Church in Monroe overflowed during the two-hour rally, a precursor to what organizers call the last mass public lynching in the U.S. They are urging local law enforcement to arrest and prosecute anyone still living who may have been involved in the lynchings.</p><p>The Rev. Jesse Jackson was among the religious and civil rights leaders, legislators and other activists at the rally. Between cheers and applause from the audience, he called for justice and for those responsible to come forward.</p><p>"You know who you are, and God knows who you are," he shouted. "The police will not turn you in and the prosecutors will not pursue you, but the blood of the lynched cries out."</p><p>According to the FBI's investigation into the case, the Malcoms and Dorseys were riding with a white farmer when between 20 and 25 white men stopped their car on the bridge. The mob forced the couples out of the car, dragged them down a wagon trail about 50 yards and shot them with pistols and shotguns along the Apalachee River.</p><p>"They say they cut the baby out of her stomach and took it to Atlanta," Goodwin said, referring to Dorothy Malcom, who was pregnant. "It could still be alive today."</p><p>The farmer, Loy Harrison, was spared. No one was ever charged in the lynchings, even though the FBI's report named 55 suspects.</p><p>Former Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Joseph Lowery said the criminal justice system of today was no better than a century ago, and that justice for the lynchings is overdue.</p><p>"We must be consistent and persistent and never let them forget how they done us wrong," Lowery urged.</p><p>Walton County District Attorney Ken Wynne has said he understands the desire for justice, but that the case lacks sufficient witnesses and evidence.</p><p>The FBI was ordered to investigate the case in 1946 by President Truman but was thwarted by a lack of witnesses. Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Fred Stephens said recently that his office is pursuing every lead it gets.</p><p>"They are sparse," he said, "but we have no doubt that there are still people in that community who have specific information about this case."</p><p>State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a member of the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee who first learned of the lynchings as a young activist with the SCLC, was encouraged by Monday's turnout.</p><p>"Hopefully, this will shake some folks up and get the authorities to do what they should've done years ago," Brooks said.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/7/142422