"A Southern story of unbelievable cruelty and a passionate pursuit for justice. An important chapter in
the American struggle for civil rights."
--Morris Dees, chief trial counsel, Southern Poverty Law Center
"Achieves its greatest possible goal: setting the event in history as a disturbing record of continued American
racism."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"A remarkable balance of candor, clarity and feeling."
--Los Angeles Times
Publisher Web Site, December, 2003
Summary
On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr., a forty-nine-year-old black man, was walking home from a party when three white
men in a pickup truck offered him a ride. They drove Byrd out to a lonely country road, tied him to a logging chain,
and dragged him three miles to his death.
Joyce King, an award-winning journalist and native Texan, was assigned to cover the story, which drew international
media headlines. In Hate Crime, she provides a chilling re-creation of the slaying and the subsequent trials. But
she also moves beyond the details of the case to provide insight into the minds of the murderers, and to investigate
the Texas prison system in which they developed their virulent racism. King also explores how the town of Jasper,
Texas, endured a tragedy that threatened to divide its residents. A first-rate work of reportage, Hate Crime is
also a searing look at how race continues to shape life in America.
