June 12, 1947: Juanita Washington Goodman’s columns were a weekly feature in the Sentinel. In this one, she’s writes about Godwin/Goodwin “Buddy” Bush, who escaped from a mob that had taken him from the Jackson, N.C., jail May 23, 1947.
Bush, a 24-year-old sawmill worker accused of attempted rape, hid with friends until he could surrender to officials who could guarantee his safety. Seven men were held in the attempted lynching, but the Northampton County Grand Jury failed to indict them.
An educated woman reporter blames the 12 yr old victim of statutory rape, because she’s colored and therefore lacks chastity? Her editor let it slide too. Tough times.
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She was being sarcastic and was noting that a White woman’s chastity was a given in those years.
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Exactly, Michael.
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