A new statue in Alabama

Source: 'A time to dance' | Local News | enewscourier.com

. . . Thursday as hundreds of people turned out for the unveiling of the Judge James Horton Jr. statue on the Limestone County Courthouse Square.

Horton famously set aside an all-white jury's guilty verdict against an African-American falsely accused of rape in the so-called Scottsboro Boys trial of the 1930s.
. . .
After five years of planning, fundraising and work, the statue memorializing the man who embodied justice during a dark chapter in history was finally finished and revealed to the 200-plus people who gathered for the event, including about 20 Horton family members.
. . .
On June 22, 1933, Horton set aside the verdict and death sentence of an all-white jury that found Haywood Patterson, an African-American, guilty of raping two white women. Patterson was one of nine black youths — later known as the Scottsboro Boys — falsely accused of committing acts of rape in March 1931. Horton's decision to order a new trial for Patterson was a resounding blow to Jim Crow justice. Although northern newspapers called Horton “Lincolnesque,” he simply believed he was doing his sacred duty by upholding the dignity and integrity of the court.

Horton faced threats on his life, and his name became a lightning rod for supremacists who labeled him a traitor for overturning the verdict, according to the sign, which was sponsored by the Horton descendants, Limestone County Historical Society and Athens-Limestone Tourism Council 2016.
. . .​

Bob Wilson

 

I drove to Athens this morning to take these:





Bob Wilson

 

You might also find this interesting: Republic of Winston - Wikipedia

Winston County is located in the hilly terrain of North Alabama. At the time of the Civil War Winston County also included the areas that later became Cullman and Blount counties. Its shallow soil is highly unsuitable for plantation-style agriculture, and thus the county was never home to many slaves. The 1860 US Census lists only 3,450 white residents in the underpopulated county, and just 122 slaves.[2] Winston's residents were mainly poor farmers who viewed the Confederacy with suspicion, fearing it was meant to maintain the political control of the wealthy planter class.[citation needed]

Winston County's representative at the January 1861 Alabama Secession Convention was Charles Christopher Sheats, a 21-year-old school teacher. He refused to sign Alabama's ordinance of secession, even after it had been passed by a vote of 61 to 39. Sheats became so vocal in his opposition that he was finally arrested. On his release, he became a leader of a pro-neutrality group. Later, he would become an open supporter of the Union and spent most of the war in prison.[3]Many Winston County residents refused induction into the Confederate Army, and some spoke openly of organizing troops to support the Union. The worried state authorities moved to enforce obedience through conscription and loyalty oaths, which only made matters worse. A meeting was held at Looney's Tavern, where a series of resolutions were passed. These stated that the people of Winston County had no desire to take part in the war and intended to support neither side. One resolution declared that if a state could secede from the Union, then a county could secede from the state. Richard Payne, a pro-Confederate, laughed with delight. "Winston County secedes!" he shouted. "Hoorah for the Free State of Winston!" From Payne's remark was born the legend of the "Republic of Winston".[3]​

I'm a recent transplant, 1985, from Oklahoma with relatives who served in the Union. So it is interesting to see that the Confederacy had its own secessionists. Not common but they were there.

Bob Wilson

 

Harry Golden, Carolina Israelite, diagnosed it as a Caste society with a pecking order as rigid as a flock of chickens. So even the most down and out, disgraced white man could feel superior to the most honorable and successful black man. It is not a meritocracy which explains their modest economic achievements.

Bob Wilson

 

Spending four years in the Marines affected me that the only color that matters is gray.

 

A caste system does not need 'slavery'. It can be as simple as a false conviction for rapes that did not occur and a sentence of death. The very thing Judge Jame Horton stopped and whose statue now graces the Athens Alabama Court House square.

As for this labor dispute, I don't have a dog in that fight.

Bob Wilson