One of the most shameful acts committed by United States citizens--lynching--cannot be ignored. More often than we would lie to admit, this brutal crime against humanity, veiled as vigilante law enforcement, has occurred throughout the nation, but mostly in the South. Men and women of various racial groups (mostly African American men) hung from trees, sometimes with bonfires beneath them and sometimes with hundreds of gunshots fired around them.
HOUSE OF SEVEN, which is fiction, includes an account of one man's attempt to escape this hideous crime. As you read it, you'll want to run with Trousdale as he works to escape. Here's a brief excerpt. It is the early 1900's. In this scene, Trousdale has been running to get away from the men who wanted to kill him back in Mississippi. He goes to north Louisiana. Now he's outrunning the flood of the Mississippi River. He encounters Theodore Roosevelt.
“Honored to meet
you, Mr. President.” Trousdale rubbed his muddy hand on his pants and extended
it.
Mr. Roosevelt gave
Trousdale a hardy handshake.
Trousdale brushed
back the tears. He tried not to smile too much. In his life, the first white
man to shake his hand was the former President of the United States.
“Joe Smith.” The
other man shook Trousdale’s hand too.
“You must be
starving to death.” The President dished up bacon, eggs, and biscuits on a tin
plate, while Joe Smith poured a cup of coffee.
“Cream and sugar?”
Joe asked.
“Yes, please.” Trousdale
took the plate and fork. He concentrated on his manners. He wanted to scarf the
food down in one bite. “I walked all day yesterday and all night.”
“What are you
running from?” Mr. Roosevelt asked.
“Lynching.”
“Oh.” The
President, who must have been stunned into silence, stood a few feet from Trousdale.
“I suppose you might tell us why.”
“My boss landlord
claimed I poisoned his well because his cow died, but the cow never drank from
the well, and none of the people that did died. Now ain’t that crazy?”
Mr. Roosevelt
nodded. “So you ran...."
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