jasper texas 1998

Clifton’s poem describes the murder of the 49-year-old Black Texan James Byrd, Jr. Despite some personal problems, Byrd was well-liked by his community. Byrd was intelligent, though not highly educated, and musically talented. As he could not afford a car, Byrd often walked through town.

On June 7, 1998, walking home after spending the day drinking and socializing with friends and family in Jasper, Byrd accepted a ride from three white men: Shawn Berry, 23; Lawrence Brewer, 31; and John King, 23. Byrd was acquainted with Berry from their brief time in a prison boot camp; Byrd was serving time for petty theft, and Berry for a failed burglary. Brewer and King were white supremacists linked to the Ku Klux Klan and racist prison gangs. Instead of taking Byrd home, the three men drove to a remote country road. Here, they beat Byrd, spray-painted his face, urinated and defecated on him, and chained him by his ankles to their truck. Then, they dragged him for three miles behind the truck. Byrd remained conscious for much of the assault and was only killed when his body hit the edge of a culvert, which severed his right arm and head. The three murderers continued to drive for another one and a half miles before they dumped Byrd’s torso in front of a Black church. After the attack, the three murderers went to a barbecue. Byrd’s remains and personal effects were found in 81 places by the police.

Berry, Brewer, and King were convicted for Byrd's murder. During the trial, robed and hooded Ku Klux Klan members and Black militants protested in front of the courthouse. Brewer and King received the death penalty and Berry was sentenced to life in prison—the first sentences ever given to white men for killing a Black person in modern Texas history. Before his death, Brewer expressed pride in his actions and expressed no remorse. Brewer was executed in 2011, and King in 2019.

Murders motivated by racism are called lynchings. Lynching—white people burning, torturing, mutilating, and hanging Black people—has its roots in the Reconstruction era, when it became a way to terrorize newly freed Black people in daily life and when Black men tried to exercise the right to vote. Shockingly, a big part of lynchings historically was a celebratory mood and revelry, with perpetrators attending barbecues and picnics during or after a lynching, buying post cards, and occasionally buying parts of the victim’s body as souvenirs.

In response to Byrd’s lynching, Texas passed hate crime laws that became models for the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. After Byrd’s death, his family created the James Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. Byrd’s son Ross has been involved with Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, an organization that opposes capital punishment. He campaigned to spare the lives of those who murdered his father.