Racial Targeting Not Ancient History

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Six men — from Mississippi to Brooklyn — have been fatally attacked by racist mobs for crimes such as suspicion of sleeping with a White woman to no discernible cause. Heinous murders occurred as recently as 1989.

Trayvon Martin, an African-American killed in an attack seen by many as racially motivated, is the latest in a sad roll call. These gruesome hate crimes dating to the 1950s stirred widespread shock and fury.

Murder victim Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago teen, was killed on vacation in Mississippi

Emmett Till
On Aug. 24, 1955, Till, a 14-year-old Chicago teen on vacation in Mississippi, reportedly flirted with a White female in a store. Four nights later, two men took Emmett Till from his bed, beat him, shot him and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. An all-White jury found the men not guilty of murder.

James Earl Chaney and and fellow civil rights workers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were shot to death June 21, 1964, by the KKK in Philadelphia, Miss

James Chaney
On June 21, 1964, Chaney and fellow civil rights workers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were arrested in Philadelphia, Miss., by a deputy sheriff and then released into the hands of the KKK. They were shot, and their bodies were buried in an earthen dam.
Willie Edwards
On Jan. 23, 1957, klansmen chased Edwards, thinking he was sleeping with a white woman. They took him by car to a bridge along the Alabama River in Alabama and forced him at gunpoint to jump to his death.

An unidentified young woman lunges forward and to touch the body of Michael A. Donald during funeral services March 28, 1981, in Mobile, Ala. The 19-year-old was found beaten and strangled to death, his body hanged from a tree on March 21

Michael Donald
After a black man was freed by a jury in the killing of a white police officer in Alabama, klansmen retaliated by finding Donald, who was strung up and killed on March 20, 1981, in what is often referred to as the last recorded lynching.

Michael Griffith and three of his friends were attacked after their car broke down in Howard Beach, Queens

Michael Griffith
On Dec. 19, 1986, a car carrying Griffith, 23, and three pals broke down on Cross Bay Blvd. in Howard Beach, Queens. After eating at the New Park Pizzeria, the four men were attacked by 10 white men. Griffith tried to flee, but was run over and killed.

Yusef Hawkins was murdered in the racially charged case that came to be known as The Bensonhurst Murder Case

Yusef Hawkins
On Aug. 23, 1989, Hawkins and three friends headed to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to find out about a car for sale. Instead, they were attacked by a crowd of 10 to 30 white youths. One shot Hawkins twice in the chest, killing him.