For stealing a cheap knife and some cookies from a supermarket in 1965, a young Mississippi Negro named Arthur Roberts was sentenced to 90 days. The sentence was harsh enough, but it led to even more severe consequences.
Though Arthur, the son of a Baptist preacher, was only 15, he was thrown in with adult convicts at the Leflore County prison farm. There a Negro "trusty" named Columbus Williams, who was serving time for assault and battery with intent to kill, was entrusted with a 12-gauge shotgun to guard other prisoners. One day Williams led a chain gang into the countryside...
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