In Georgia's Toombs County, deep in the dark land of white supremacy, Robert Mallard was known to many white folks as a "biggety nigger." At 37, he was a traveling salesman, strong, brash and prosperous. His voluminous sales of caskets, embalming fluid, and clothing irked his white competitors. He owned a 36-acre farm, drove a flashy 1948 Frazer sedan. He made frequent trips North and was fond of calling himself "Mister Robert Mallard."
In Toombs County, adjoining Montgomery County, where a Negro was shot to death last September for daring to vote in the Democratic primary (TIME, Sept. 20), Mallard...
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