Last Lynching Outline

Samantha Brown
**10-17-08**
Eng 131
*The Last Lynching Outline*

I. Cruelty in the 1900’s
a.) Law student named Artur Davis, a democrat from Birmingham held the Ku Klux Klan accountable
for Michael Donald’s murder in the 1980’s.
b.) Michael Donald was an innocent victim chosen at random, who died for the cause of another black
man, Josephus Andersonan.
II. The Family
a.) Donald was captured by two Klansmen, his throat was slit and he was hung on a tree close by his
family’s house for them to see.
b.) The FBI was soon to be involved but were convinced that Donald was just involved in a drug deal
gone wrong.
III. Last Lynching
a.) James Knowles and Henry Hays were arrested and convicted for the murder, Hays was 26 and
Knowles was 17 then.
b.) Henry Hays was executed in the electric chair in 1997, Knowles was interviewed by Ted Koppel an is
serving a life sentence for testifying against Hays.
VI. Making it better
a.) Morris Dees was a civil rights attorney who was the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center
whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education and
litigation.
b.) The United Klans of America went bankrupt when they were sued by Beulah Mae for a $7 million
Wrongful-death verdict on the case.
Conclusion: People seem to think that because we have a black candidate running for president that
there will be a post racial period in American history. Ted Koppel stated that he feels there might never
be a time for the racial era to be over. The only thing that we can do for now is make racial harmony in
this country and raise up our children to know where they came from.