The Fear of a Nation and the Bravery Within: Devil in the Grove

It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who famously said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”. There was a deep-seated irrational fear in Lake County, Florida in 1949 four black boys accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. White supremacists obsessed over controlling the black race, and protecting the “flower of southern womanhood”. While blacks feared for their lives. And with the influential but extremely courageous help of the NAACP, especially Thurgood Marshall, some fought back. Gilbert Kings Novel, The Devil in the Grove, tells the story of a rather suspenseful tragic time for our Nation that should never be forgotten or repeated. A time when irrational
McCall had offered to drive the boys, who never made it back to Florida that night. McCall drove them down a dirt road and shot them both in attempt of cold-blooded murder. He claimed the two handcuffed victims had run away and he had no other choice. The innocent lay helpless on the ground, Samuel martyred instantly, and Walter faking his death. The infamous scene was photographed for what is now the cover of this book paints a gory picture of the life of this man and of others in the south. Further sickening the picture of the south in the 1940s and 50s. The boys had not run away but were victims to this fear, this relentless disease of racism. It truly shows how far McCall was willing to go by what he did next, tearing his clothes, having himself hit on the head so a trickle of blood would appear and he would look like a victim.
The jury was made up of mostly McCall’s peers and friends, they feared going against him. He was swiftly and quickly convicted innocent on self-defense. Even the FBI offered better evidence to help Irvin’s case. But the judge dismissed this, and it was never allowed in the hands of Marshall. The injustice of the trial began sweeping the nation. Even though the boys had no chance in the court system Marshall and others worked tirelessly in every way they could. Organizing boycotts in Florida of their goods and services. Also