1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:07,662 --> 00:00:11,356 TINA MCDUFFIE: In Sikeston, Missouri, 1942, 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:11,459 --> 00:00:14,773 a 26-year-old Black man was lynched by a white mob. 5 00:00:14,876 --> 00:00:16,568 PERSHARD OWENS: The fact remains that 6 00:00:16,671 --> 00:00:19,398 this African American man was burned 7 00:00:19,502 --> 00:00:22,125 in front of a church, 8 00:00:22,229 --> 00:00:24,714 and we don't talk about it. 9 00:00:24,817 --> 00:00:28,062 MICHAEL JENSEN: It was 10 00:00:28,166 --> 00:00:31,272 a brutal, morbid spectacle. 11 00:00:31,376 --> 00:00:33,757 CAROL ANDERSON: People are running into the church going, 12 00:00:33,861 --> 00:00:36,001 "Oh, my God! They are burning a Black man! 13 00:00:36,105 --> 00:00:38,486 They are burning a Black man!" 14 00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:40,074 HARRY SHARP: I did not hear about it 15 00:00:40,178 --> 00:00:41,627 from my parents or grandparents. 16 00:00:41,731 --> 00:00:44,734 I asked them about it one time, after I'd heard about it. 17 00:00:44,837 --> 00:00:46,529 But it was not subject to discussion. 18 00:00:46,632 --> 00:00:49,980 MCDUFFIE: Almost 80 years later, another Black man 19 00:00:50,084 --> 00:00:52,397 died in a police shootout. 20 00:00:53,674 --> 00:00:56,021 JEAN KELLY: Denzel deserved to live, he really did. 21 00:00:56,125 --> 00:00:59,093 He deserved to have a chance 22 00:00:59,197 --> 00:01:00,267 to live. 23 00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:04,754 MCDUFFIE: These stories still haunt the town today. 24 00:01:04,857 --> 00:01:08,896 LARRY MCLELLON: For years, I've said, 25 00:01:08,999 --> 00:01:10,656 "You're gonna see one of our young men 26 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,003 get shot down before long." 27 00:01:13,211 --> 00:01:14,522 MCDUFFIE: From Retro Report 28 00:01:14,626 --> 00:01:16,041 and KFF Health News, 29 00:01:16,145 --> 00:01:18,285 "Silence in Sikeston," 30 00:01:18,388 --> 00:01:21,081 a special edition of Local, U.S.A. 31 00:01:21,184 --> 00:01:24,256 ♪ 32 00:01:27,708 --> 00:01:31,746 ♪ 33 00:01:39,892 --> 00:01:43,103 [people talking in background] 34 00:01:43,206 --> 00:01:47,003 RHONDA COUNCIL: This is a town of roughly 17,000 people, 35 00:01:47,107 --> 00:01:48,970 and if I had to take a rough guess 36 00:01:49,074 --> 00:01:50,765 how many Blacks here, 37 00:01:50,869 --> 00:01:53,527 6,000, probably. 38 00:01:53,630 --> 00:01:55,667 There's not a whole lot, but it's enough. 39 00:01:56,944 --> 00:02:00,050 [marching band playing] 40 00:02:00,154 --> 00:02:03,433 All towns have good stuff along with the bad stuff, 41 00:02:03,537 --> 00:02:06,954 and unfortunately, something terrible happened here. 42 00:02:11,234 --> 00:02:17,309 If you were to ask anybody in their 20s, maybe 30s, 43 00:02:17,413 --> 00:02:19,794 about the lynching of Cleo Wright, 44 00:02:19,898 --> 00:02:21,382 probably couldn't tell you. 45 00:02:22,728 --> 00:02:24,730 And I'm talking about people here in Sikeston. 46 00:02:24,834 --> 00:02:27,630 Not anywhere else-- here in Sikeston. 47 00:02:27,733 --> 00:02:31,012 I don't know why it was a secret, 48 00:02:31,116 --> 00:02:34,257 but history can't be erased. 49 00:02:34,361 --> 00:02:37,087 Even though that was over 70 years ago, 50 00:02:37,191 --> 00:02:39,849 the story needs to be told. 51 00:02:39,952 --> 00:02:42,300 MCLELLON: Sikeston, 52 00:02:42,403 --> 00:02:45,993 they don't know how to start the healing process. 53 00:02:47,753 --> 00:02:50,584 For years, I've said, 54 00:02:50,687 --> 00:02:52,655 "You're gonna see one of our young men 55 00:02:52,758 --> 00:02:56,245 get shot down before long." 56 00:02:56,348 --> 00:02:58,695 And it, it wasn't long after that 57 00:02:58,799 --> 00:03:02,078 Denzel did get shot down. 58 00:03:02,182 --> 00:03:04,667 This young man's life 59 00:03:04,770 --> 00:03:06,841 did not have to be taken. 60 00:03:06,945 --> 00:03:10,120 This is the dark side of Sikeston. 61 00:03:10,224 --> 00:03:13,227 ♪ 62 00:03:29,726 --> 00:03:30,900 COUNCIL: Yes, ma'am. 63 00:03:35,629 --> 00:03:36,906 I just remember hearing 64 00:03:37,009 --> 00:03:40,979 that this young man was lynched in Sikeston, 65 00:03:41,082 --> 00:03:42,567 and it was kind of hard to believe 66 00:03:42,670 --> 00:03:46,053 that that actually happened in this place that I grew up in. 67 00:03:46,156 --> 00:03:48,780 But it was never talked about in public. 68 00:03:48,883 --> 00:03:50,644 Just maybe with your family it was discussed. 69 00:03:50,747 --> 00:03:53,060 But other than that, you never heard the story 70 00:03:53,163 --> 00:03:55,752 about Cleo Wright. 71 00:03:57,306 --> 00:04:00,343 MABLE COOK: I was young then-- I just felt bad over it. 72 00:04:00,447 --> 00:04:02,207 I felt hurt, mm-hmm. 73 00:04:02,311 --> 00:04:03,898 COUNCIL: Nobody talked about it after it happened. 74 00:04:04,002 --> 00:04:05,348 COOK: That's right. 75 00:04:05,452 --> 00:04:06,970 - It was like it didn't even happen. 76 00:04:07,074 --> 00:04:09,179 - Everybody said they wanted to get their mind off it. 77 00:04:09,283 --> 00:04:10,940 They didn't want to think about nothing like that, 78 00:04:11,043 --> 00:04:12,390 but I think you should, 79 00:04:12,493 --> 00:04:14,875 you know, let somebody know something went on here. 80 00:04:17,843 --> 00:04:19,845 COUNCIL: The railroad tracks are gone right now, 81 00:04:19,949 --> 00:04:22,814 but they ran right along this area here. 82 00:04:22,917 --> 00:04:26,196 And this is where they came and they burned his body, 83 00:04:26,300 --> 00:04:28,889 right in front of the church right here. 84 00:04:31,547 --> 00:04:35,033 CARLEEN HARRINGTON: We were just kids, outdoors playing 85 00:04:35,136 --> 00:04:36,448 and talking. HARRY HOWARD: Mm-hmm. 86 00:04:36,552 --> 00:04:38,623 HARRINGTON: Had a big police car come down the street, 87 00:04:38,726 --> 00:04:41,177 hollering, and saying, 88 00:04:41,281 --> 00:04:43,973 "All the [bleep] better get off the street." 89 00:04:44,076 --> 00:04:46,182 - Are you serious? - Because, uh, it had, had a, 90 00:04:46,286 --> 00:04:49,116 a man's leg tied to the back of a car. 91 00:04:49,219 --> 00:04:50,669 Dragging him. 92 00:04:50,773 --> 00:04:55,674 [car moving slowly] 93 00:04:55,778 --> 00:04:58,056 And so, they had drug him from downtown 94 00:04:58,159 --> 00:05:00,507 across the railroad track. 95 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:03,372 We was shocked, and you talking about, 96 00:05:03,475 --> 00:05:06,375 just, it was horrible feeling. 97 00:05:06,478 --> 00:05:09,757 COUNCIL: Where were you at when it happened? 98 00:05:09,861 --> 00:05:11,241 COOK: Standing on the porch. 99 00:05:11,345 --> 00:05:14,141 We heard all the commotion, so, we, me and my sister, 100 00:05:14,244 --> 00:05:16,212 we got on, on the porch and looked out, 101 00:05:16,316 --> 00:05:17,972 and we saw them dragging him. 102 00:05:18,076 --> 00:05:20,561 They could have just taken him and put him in jail or something 103 00:05:20,665 --> 00:05:22,391 and not do all that to him. 104 00:05:22,494 --> 00:05:24,185 COUNCIL: So, it was a message they was getting out? 105 00:05:24,289 --> 00:05:25,463 COOK: Yeah, that's right. 106 00:05:25,566 --> 00:05:27,810 They did that so the next one should know 107 00:05:27,913 --> 00:05:30,019 not to be trying to do the same thing, see? 108 00:05:30,122 --> 00:05:31,365 Mm-hmm. 109 00:05:33,988 --> 00:05:37,371 [clanging softly] 110 00:05:37,475 --> 00:05:41,996 ♪ 111 00:05:46,863 --> 00:05:49,659 KELLY: Denzel died three months prior 112 00:05:49,763 --> 00:05:51,661 to his 24th birthday. 113 00:05:51,765 --> 00:05:55,769 He was still young, vibrant, and energetic, 114 00:05:55,872 --> 00:05:58,427 and had so much love for his children 115 00:05:58,530 --> 00:06:00,394 and his family and friends. 116 00:06:00,498 --> 00:06:05,192 And his smile was just amazing. 117 00:06:05,295 --> 00:06:07,953 Who looks like him? WOMAN 1: Oh, yeah, it is. 118 00:06:08,057 --> 00:06:11,094 - Ayana? - Yup. [laughs] 119 00:06:11,198 --> 00:06:13,373 Just like him. KELLY: Look at this picture. 120 00:06:13,476 --> 00:06:14,822 [talking softly] 121 00:06:14,926 --> 00:06:16,790 This was taken 122 00:06:16,893 --> 00:06:20,380 a year before his death. 123 00:06:20,483 --> 00:06:24,556 He was having trouble in school out here in Chicago, 124 00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:26,972 and after eighth grade, 125 00:06:27,076 --> 00:06:30,286 when he went into high school, there were a lot of shootings 126 00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:33,703 and a lot of gang activity, and so, I was, like, 127 00:06:33,807 --> 00:06:37,258 "No, I don't feel like you're safe here in Chicago." 128 00:06:37,362 --> 00:06:41,539 So, we both agreed that he would go to Sikeston. 129 00:06:41,642 --> 00:06:45,025 His dad and his stepmom, they both said, "Okay, 130 00:06:45,128 --> 00:06:48,925 well, he can stay with us out here." 131 00:06:49,029 --> 00:06:51,928 MILTON TAYLOR: Well, when he was 15, he moved in with me. 132 00:06:52,032 --> 00:06:54,862 I learned how to play, uh, how to play the 2K, 133 00:06:54,966 --> 00:06:58,383 how to play the basketball game, just to spend time with my son. 134 00:06:58,487 --> 00:07:01,110 Once he hit 21, it was, like, back and forth. 135 00:07:01,213 --> 00:07:02,629 He had his own family. 136 00:07:02,732 --> 00:07:04,527 They were at my house all the time. 137 00:07:04,631 --> 00:07:07,496 What is you doing, Bubba? 138 00:07:07,599 --> 00:07:09,325 MIKELA JACKSON: We have three girls. 139 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:11,465 We have, our oldest name, her name is Deniya. 140 00:07:11,569 --> 00:07:13,156 He named her after him, of course. 141 00:07:13,260 --> 00:07:14,882 And then, we have our middle child. 142 00:07:14,986 --> 00:07:16,919 Her name is Ayana. 143 00:07:17,022 --> 00:07:18,852 Then we have Brooklyn. 144 00:07:18,955 --> 00:07:20,923 I was actually four months pregnant with her 145 00:07:21,026 --> 00:07:23,028 when he passed away. 146 00:07:23,132 --> 00:07:25,617 [girl exclaiming] 147 00:07:25,721 --> 00:07:26,791 JACKSON: Our oldest daughter, 148 00:07:26,894 --> 00:07:28,862 she asks me all the time, "Where Daddy at?" 149 00:07:28,965 --> 00:07:30,657 And she say, "He sleeping." 150 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,728 And it broke me down, 151 00:07:32,831 --> 00:07:35,972 because no mother wants to hear their child 152 00:07:36,076 --> 00:07:38,492 say that about their dad. 153 00:07:38,596 --> 00:07:40,356 It's heartbreaking. 154 00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:43,877 [girls talking softly] 155 00:07:43,980 --> 00:07:47,812 ♪ 156 00:07:47,915 --> 00:07:49,986 MAN: It's time to pick a prize. 157 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:51,643 [bell ringing] 158 00:07:51,747 --> 00:07:54,577 ♪ 159 00:07:54,681 --> 00:07:56,303 JENSEN: The story of Sikeston is not unique. 160 00:07:56,406 --> 00:07:58,512 It's not unlike a lot 161 00:07:58,616 --> 00:08:00,410 of other little small towns in the Midwest 162 00:08:00,514 --> 00:08:02,136 or across the country. 163 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,347 Founded in about 1860, kind of a Civil War kind of town. 164 00:08:06,451 --> 00:08:09,247 This is the northernmost point 165 00:08:09,350 --> 00:08:12,008 in the United States where cotton is grown. 166 00:08:13,872 --> 00:08:15,564 Does the South begin in Sikeston? 167 00:08:15,667 --> 00:08:17,462 You could almost make that argument. 168 00:08:17,566 --> 00:08:19,395 You really could. 169 00:08:19,499 --> 00:08:21,708 I'm a lifelong resident of Sikeston, 170 00:08:21,811 --> 00:08:23,537 started a newspaper here, 171 00:08:23,641 --> 00:08:28,887 and was a publisher until 2019, when I retired. 172 00:08:28,991 --> 00:08:32,063 SHARP: Living in Sikeston, 173 00:08:32,166 --> 00:08:34,893 there have been seven generations of my family. 174 00:08:36,239 --> 00:08:40,658 And this woman right here is, from the picture is my mother. 175 00:08:40,761 --> 00:08:42,211 My great-grandparents on my mother's side 176 00:08:42,314 --> 00:08:44,316 to my great-grandchildren, 177 00:08:44,420 --> 00:08:46,318 they all contributed 178 00:08:46,422 --> 00:08:48,597 in ways that involve the community 179 00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:50,909 and that made me who I am. 180 00:08:51,013 --> 00:08:53,878 When I was a kid, Sikeston was known 181 00:08:53,981 --> 00:08:55,465 as the town with more millionaires per capita 182 00:08:55,569 --> 00:08:57,191 than any town in the United States. 183 00:08:57,295 --> 00:08:59,987 We were not among them-- we were on the edge of them. 184 00:09:00,091 --> 00:09:03,473 [marching band playing] 185 00:09:03,577 --> 00:09:06,476 Most of the uptown people 186 00:09:06,580 --> 00:09:10,929 had a patriarchal relationship with Black families. 187 00:09:11,033 --> 00:09:13,794 If they needed food, the family would help. 188 00:09:13,898 --> 00:09:16,590 If they needed medical help, the family would help. 189 00:09:16,694 --> 00:09:19,455 So, you knew each other, you know? 190 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,872 [band music fades] 191 00:09:22,976 --> 00:09:26,151 MCCLELLON: One of the first things that I point out 192 00:09:26,255 --> 00:09:28,222 to people when they come here 193 00:09:28,326 --> 00:09:32,502 is the history of Sikeston, Missouri. 194 00:09:32,606 --> 00:09:34,677 Sign says, 195 00:09:34,781 --> 00:09:39,613 "Sikeston, a white settlement, 1803." 196 00:09:39,717 --> 00:09:41,719 It means hatery-- 197 00:09:41,822 --> 00:09:45,826 hatery, bigotry, you name it-- 198 00:09:45,930 --> 00:09:51,280 and this should actually be removed. 199 00:09:51,383 --> 00:09:54,835 [train horn blows in distance] 200 00:09:54,939 --> 00:09:58,252 [horn blowing] 201 00:10:00,772 --> 00:10:03,223 [crossing signal fades] 202 00:10:03,326 --> 00:10:05,225 These tracks, it's supposed to be 203 00:10:05,328 --> 00:10:09,436 the dividing line between Black and white. 204 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,130 Back in the old day, when dark comes, 205 00:10:14,234 --> 00:10:16,546 you don't want to be caught over here after 6:00. 206 00:10:16,650 --> 00:10:19,101 You want to be on this side of the tracks. 207 00:10:19,204 --> 00:10:22,656 This area is called Sunset Addition. 208 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,971 This area is called white section of town. 209 00:10:27,074 --> 00:10:29,318 ♪ 210 00:10:29,421 --> 00:10:32,148 HARRINGTON: Sunset started where the railroad track was. 211 00:10:32,252 --> 00:10:33,771 HOWARD: So, most of the Blacks lived there. 212 00:10:33,874 --> 00:10:35,289 HARRINGTON: Mm-hmm. 213 00:10:35,393 --> 00:10:39,052 [playing "Amazing Grace"] 214 00:10:42,676 --> 00:10:45,196 HOWARD: Sunset, we had movie theater, 215 00:10:45,299 --> 00:10:47,577 stores. HARRINGTON: Plenty of stores. 216 00:10:47,681 --> 00:10:50,063 We had taxi cabs, dry cleaners, 217 00:10:50,166 --> 00:10:52,686 all kinds of things. 218 00:10:52,790 --> 00:10:53,860 HOWARD: And the whole area, 219 00:10:53,963 --> 00:10:55,240 where you saw the Lincoln School, 220 00:10:55,344 --> 00:10:57,864 so kind of a self-sufficient community. 221 00:10:57,967 --> 00:10:59,037 HARRINGTON: Yes. [both chuckling] 222 00:10:59,141 --> 00:11:00,867 HARRINGTON: Kids on the streets playing. 223 00:11:00,970 --> 00:11:02,972 It was, everything was just lovely as it could be 224 00:11:03,076 --> 00:11:04,525 for Black people. 225 00:11:10,911 --> 00:11:12,499 [piano fading] 226 00:11:12,602 --> 00:11:14,639 HOWARD: The day the lynching happened, 227 00:11:14,743 --> 00:11:17,780 you all must've been totally surprised and shocked. 228 00:11:17,884 --> 00:11:19,886 HARRINGTON: Oh, man, yes. 229 00:11:21,404 --> 00:11:24,131 Cleo, he was a real handsome-looking guy. 230 00:11:24,235 --> 00:11:26,478 Remember him just well. 231 00:11:26,582 --> 00:11:29,067 I mean, he had a whole life ahead of him, big ball player. 232 00:11:29,171 --> 00:11:30,862 HOWARD: He was well-known in the community. 233 00:11:30,966 --> 00:11:32,761 - He was well-known in the community, yeah, that's right. 234 00:11:32,864 --> 00:11:34,624 Because he was a very friendly person. 235 00:11:34,728 --> 00:11:36,730 - Mm-hmm. - We all really liked him a lot, 236 00:11:36,834 --> 00:11:38,663 and he had a beautiful wife. 237 00:11:38,767 --> 00:11:40,596 Her name was Ardella Gay, 238 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:43,254 and she was pregnant then, little kid. 239 00:11:43,357 --> 00:11:47,223 It was so sad-- man, that was sad. 240 00:11:47,327 --> 00:11:50,502 I've heard a couple of different versions of what happened, 241 00:11:50,606 --> 00:11:53,091 so I really don't know the truth. 242 00:11:54,334 --> 00:11:56,336 One version that I've heard was, 243 00:11:56,439 --> 00:11:58,821 he broke into this white lady's house. 244 00:11:58,925 --> 00:12:00,064 He apparently tried 245 00:12:00,167 --> 00:12:01,893 to attack her. 246 00:12:01,997 --> 00:12:05,414 The second version was that maybe 247 00:12:05,517 --> 00:12:07,209 he had a relationship with the lady, 248 00:12:07,312 --> 00:12:10,315 and she didn't want nobody to find out about it. 249 00:12:10,419 --> 00:12:12,386 I don't know. 250 00:12:12,490 --> 00:12:15,217 JENSEN: The story of Cleo Wright 251 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,460 is extremely complex. 252 00:12:17,564 --> 00:12:19,255 You can speak to someone else, 253 00:12:19,359 --> 00:12:23,190 and their version of the story can differ. 254 00:12:23,294 --> 00:12:26,607 And I certainly can't dispute them, 255 00:12:26,711 --> 00:12:28,678 and nor can they dispute me. 256 00:12:29,852 --> 00:12:32,821 Cleo worked at the Sikeston Cotton Oil Mill. 257 00:12:32,924 --> 00:12:34,650 The fastest way to get home 258 00:12:34,754 --> 00:12:37,066 would be to walk down the railroad track. 259 00:12:37,170 --> 00:12:39,759 ♪ 260 00:12:39,862 --> 00:12:44,798 But Cleo went three streets over, to Kathleen, 261 00:12:44,902 --> 00:12:45,937 and entered a home, 262 00:12:46,041 --> 00:12:50,321 the home of Sarge and Grace Sturgeon. 263 00:12:50,424 --> 00:12:54,256 At some point, there either was a confrontation or an argument. 264 00:12:54,359 --> 00:12:59,433 Cleo pulled a knife out, stabbed Grace in the stomach, 265 00:12:59,537 --> 00:13:01,919 and severely, severely injured her. 266 00:13:02,022 --> 00:13:06,337 ANDERSON: The police and the neighbors come running. 267 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:09,236 They find Cleo Wright, 268 00:13:09,340 --> 00:13:11,031 and as they're putting him in the police car, 269 00:13:11,135 --> 00:13:14,138 he's fighting-- he's fighting really hard. 270 00:13:14,241 --> 00:13:17,797 JENSEN: The police officer working at the time 271 00:13:17,900 --> 00:13:19,177 was a gentleman named Hess Perrigan. 272 00:13:19,281 --> 00:13:20,903 Cleo pulled a knife 273 00:13:21,007 --> 00:13:23,492 and stuck it into Hess Perrigan's mouth. 274 00:13:23,595 --> 00:13:25,356 Hess turned around 275 00:13:25,459 --> 00:13:28,911 and, with his .45 revolver, shot Cleo four times. 276 00:13:29,015 --> 00:13:31,189 ANDERSON: They take him to the whites-only hospital. 277 00:13:31,293 --> 00:13:34,779 Then, as it's getting light, they're, like, 278 00:13:34,883 --> 00:13:36,885 "You can't be here because you're Black." 279 00:13:36,988 --> 00:13:39,163 And he's clearly dying. 280 00:13:39,266 --> 00:13:42,269 JENSEN: This location right here was City Hall. 281 00:13:42,373 --> 00:13:44,306 It was also the courthouse. 282 00:13:44,409 --> 00:13:46,273 It was also the jail. 283 00:13:46,377 --> 00:13:49,621 Police took Cleo down to a holding cell, 284 00:13:49,725 --> 00:13:50,968 which was right on the main level, 285 00:13:51,071 --> 00:13:52,348 basically by the front door. 286 00:13:54,695 --> 00:13:57,319 ANDERSON: The townsfolk are milling about, 287 00:13:57,422 --> 00:14:00,011 because what has happened to Grace Sturgeon 288 00:14:00,115 --> 00:14:05,361 has riled up the white community. 289 00:14:05,465 --> 00:14:07,467 And they began 290 00:14:07,570 --> 00:14:10,539 to break down the door to the jail. 291 00:14:10,642 --> 00:14:14,370 ♪ 292 00:14:17,511 --> 00:14:19,479 JENSEN: The crowd surged forward 293 00:14:19,582 --> 00:14:22,033 and pulled Cleo out of that cell 294 00:14:22,137 --> 00:14:26,935 and drug him off of the steps of the City Hall. 295 00:14:27,038 --> 00:14:30,421 They hooked his ankles around the bumper of the car. 296 00:14:33,217 --> 00:14:36,806 And they took him down to a location in Sunset, 297 00:14:36,910 --> 00:14:39,879 took some kerosene and poured it on the body, 298 00:14:39,982 --> 00:14:44,021 and lit the body on fire. 299 00:14:44,124 --> 00:14:46,471 ANDERSON: As his body is on fire, 300 00:14:46,575 --> 00:14:49,612 church service is going on. 301 00:14:51,407 --> 00:14:53,030 People are running into the church going, 302 00:14:53,133 --> 00:14:56,067 "Oh, my God, they are burning a Black man! 303 00:14:56,171 --> 00:14:58,725 They are burning a Black man!" 304 00:15:02,971 --> 00:15:06,664 JENSEN: The body remained out there all day on that Sunday. 305 00:15:06,767 --> 00:15:09,391 The procession of cars going down Malone Avenue 306 00:15:09,494 --> 00:15:13,533 simply to see that was virtually bumper-to-bumper. 307 00:15:13,636 --> 00:15:18,987 It was a brutal, morbid spectacle. 308 00:15:23,439 --> 00:15:25,338 HARRINGTON: I said, "Daddy, we better get out of town. 309 00:15:25,441 --> 00:15:27,409 They're setting Sunset on fire." 310 00:15:27,512 --> 00:15:30,239 And police is, is everywhere. 311 00:15:33,173 --> 00:15:36,004 I just wanted to leave, and, but Daddy kept saying, 312 00:15:36,107 --> 00:15:37,902 "We're not going no place, 313 00:15:38,006 --> 00:15:39,869 and we're going to be, live here." 314 00:15:39,973 --> 00:15:42,700 So, our house that night was just full of people sitting up, 315 00:15:42,803 --> 00:15:44,288 drinking coffee, 316 00:15:44,391 --> 00:15:46,704 and just not, don't know what to do. 317 00:15:46,807 --> 00:15:48,464 And they told me they picked up rocks 318 00:15:48,568 --> 00:15:49,879 and bricks and crowbars 319 00:15:49,983 --> 00:15:51,674 and just anything to protect our community. 320 00:15:51,778 --> 00:15:52,917 - Mm-hmm, Daddy got shotguns 321 00:15:53,021 --> 00:15:54,436 and everything else. 322 00:15:54,539 --> 00:15:57,266 It was a horrible time, and a lot of peoples left town. 323 00:15:57,370 --> 00:16:00,235 And they left they properties and everything. 324 00:16:02,892 --> 00:16:05,274 Had their suitcase on back of the cars. 325 00:16:05,378 --> 00:16:09,485 I was crying and everything else. 326 00:16:09,589 --> 00:16:13,420 It's difficult to wrap your mind around 327 00:16:13,524 --> 00:16:18,046 how people, civilized people, 328 00:16:18,149 --> 00:16:20,324 could put themselves in a situation 329 00:16:20,427 --> 00:16:22,671 where they would do something like that. 330 00:16:22,774 --> 00:16:24,742 To my way of thinking, 331 00:16:24,845 --> 00:16:29,712 you had a Black man clearly attacking a white woman. 332 00:16:29,816 --> 00:16:34,648 That was, in white society's mind, at least, 333 00:16:34,752 --> 00:16:38,100 the ultimate no-no. 334 00:16:38,204 --> 00:16:41,103 ANDERSON: What you have coming out of the white community, 335 00:16:41,207 --> 00:16:45,728 after this kind of cathartic explosion of violence, 336 00:16:45,832 --> 00:16:48,869 is a retreat into the, uh, 337 00:16:48,973 --> 00:16:51,389 you know, "Well, we're civilized, 338 00:16:51,493 --> 00:16:53,357 "and we're not those kind of people, 339 00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:56,774 but we were driven to it." 340 00:16:56,877 --> 00:17:00,364 JENSEN: Within every individual, within every community, 341 00:17:00,467 --> 00:17:02,642 there is good and there is evil. 342 00:17:02,745 --> 00:17:05,645 And on a late January day in 1942, 343 00:17:05,748 --> 00:17:09,787 evil ruled the day. 344 00:17:09,890 --> 00:17:12,548 They may have defined Sikeston, Missouri, for one day, 345 00:17:12,652 --> 00:17:15,517 but they don't define it for the history of this town. 346 00:17:15,620 --> 00:17:18,658 ♪ 347 00:17:29,151 --> 00:17:32,016 [people talking in background] 348 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,087 MAN: We're going to play some music by some of the artists 349 00:17:34,191 --> 00:17:36,607 that will be performing next week. 350 00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:40,576 KELLY: I always felt that Sikeston was a nice place to be, 351 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,545 because I like kind of the country feel. 352 00:17:43,648 --> 00:17:46,755 I always thought of Sikeston being a safe haven 353 00:17:46,858 --> 00:17:49,965 for Denzel. 354 00:17:50,069 --> 00:17:52,692 I've heard a lot of times, mothers say, 355 00:17:52,795 --> 00:17:54,487 "Oh, why did they kill my son?" 356 00:17:54,590 --> 00:17:58,456 I could never say someone deserved to die. 357 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,562 You know. 358 00:18:00,665 --> 00:18:03,392 But Denzel deserved to live, he really did. 359 00:18:03,496 --> 00:18:07,672 Um, he deserved to have a chance 360 00:18:07,776 --> 00:18:09,640 to live. 361 00:18:16,647 --> 00:18:19,132 MILTON TAYLOR: I can't stop thinking 362 00:18:19,236 --> 00:18:21,030 what I could have done different 363 00:18:21,134 --> 00:18:23,792 to change the outcome of what happened that night. 364 00:18:23,895 --> 00:18:25,345 I had been drinking. 365 00:18:25,449 --> 00:18:28,348 Yeah, I'm sure I had been drinking. 366 00:18:28,452 --> 00:18:29,970 He came and talked to me, 367 00:18:30,074 --> 00:18:32,041 asked me for some advice on some personal things, 368 00:18:32,145 --> 00:18:35,597 and my advice was not what he wanted to hear at the time. 369 00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:37,875 I didn't find out until a month later 370 00:18:37,978 --> 00:18:39,256 that he was heartbroken. 371 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:40,912 He was, he was hurt. 372 00:18:41,016 --> 00:18:43,018 See, if I had known that, I wouldn't have said 373 00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:46,055 the things I said to him to make him that angry. 374 00:18:46,159 --> 00:18:49,162 JACKSON: When Denzel called me, and I said, "You know, 375 00:18:49,266 --> 00:18:51,371 it's 2:00 in the morning-- what you need?" 376 00:18:51,475 --> 00:18:55,134 And he was, like, "I need you to come get me." 377 00:18:55,237 --> 00:18:57,066 And in the background, I could hear his dad 378 00:18:57,170 --> 00:19:00,173 just full-blown, just, arguing. 379 00:19:00,277 --> 00:19:01,968 I told him to leave my house. 380 00:19:02,071 --> 00:19:03,245 You got, it's time for him to go. 381 00:19:03,349 --> 00:19:05,144 "I'm not going to argue with you in my house." 382 00:19:05,247 --> 00:19:10,563 As I was closing the door behind him, he pulled a gun out. 383 00:19:10,666 --> 00:19:11,943 [body camera chirps] 384 00:19:12,047 --> 00:19:13,876 [emergency radio running in background] 385 00:19:13,980 --> 00:19:15,947 LISA TAYLOR: Ambulance coming? OFFICER: Yeah. 386 00:19:16,051 --> 00:19:17,949 [Milton Taylor whimpering] 387 00:19:18,053 --> 00:19:19,158 OFFICER: Who was it? 388 00:19:19,261 --> 00:19:21,125 LISA TAYLOR: My stepson shot his daddy. 389 00:19:21,229 --> 00:19:25,647 KELLY: After Milton was taken away in the ambulance 390 00:19:25,750 --> 00:19:28,408 and the police were still out on the property, 391 00:19:28,512 --> 00:19:31,860 Denzel ended up back at the house. 392 00:19:31,963 --> 00:19:36,451 He was standing there-- he wasn't doing anything. 393 00:19:36,554 --> 00:19:39,108 And then, when they turned the body cam on... 394 00:19:39,212 --> 00:19:40,903 OFFICER: Show me your hands, now! 395 00:19:41,007 --> 00:19:41,973 OFFICER 2: Take your hand out of your pocket! 396 00:19:42,077 --> 00:19:43,423 DENZEL TAYLOR: Just kill me, bro. 397 00:19:43,527 --> 00:19:45,149 OFFICER 1: Now! [gun fires] 398 00:19:45,253 --> 00:19:48,221 OFFICER 2: Hands out of your... 399 00:19:48,325 --> 00:19:50,741 [radio beeps, guns firing] 400 00:19:52,156 --> 00:19:54,469 OFFICER 2: We got shots fired! We need E.M.S.! 401 00:19:54,572 --> 00:19:56,056 We got one subject down, shots fired! 402 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:57,610 OFFICER 1: Hands now! 403 00:19:57,713 --> 00:20:00,544 Hands! Hands! 404 00:20:03,892 --> 00:20:05,963 [Denzel Taylor groaning] 405 00:20:06,066 --> 00:20:07,689 OFFICER 3: What's in his pocket? 406 00:20:07,792 --> 00:20:09,380 Are you [bleep] serious? 407 00:20:09,484 --> 00:20:12,349 OFFICER 2: Looks like a [bleep] stick of wood. 408 00:20:13,591 --> 00:20:16,456 KELLY: Denzel was not armed. 409 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:21,772 He didn't pose a threat towards the police officers at all. 410 00:20:24,982 --> 00:20:27,605 JACKSON: I couldn't believe it, because it's, like, 411 00:20:27,709 --> 00:20:30,021 how, how could you do a human being like that? 412 00:20:30,125 --> 00:20:32,127 Especially someone that was unarmed. 413 00:20:32,231 --> 00:20:36,269 [radio beeps, sirens blaring] 414 00:20:38,547 --> 00:20:40,308 [girl talking] 415 00:20:40,411 --> 00:20:44,208 JACKSON: I'm numb, but I'm more so angry, 416 00:20:44,312 --> 00:20:46,210 because I'm the one that has to deal 417 00:20:46,314 --> 00:20:49,489 with my kids asking about their dad. 418 00:20:49,593 --> 00:20:54,701 [girl talking softly] 419 00:20:58,291 --> 00:21:02,364 ♪ 420 00:21:17,103 --> 00:21:18,553 NANNETTA FORREST: Well, my mother, she was pregnant with me 421 00:21:18,656 --> 00:21:21,072 at the time that it happened. 422 00:21:21,176 --> 00:21:23,834 They tell me that people were so scared, 423 00:21:23,937 --> 00:21:25,594 they were packing their luggage 424 00:21:25,698 --> 00:21:28,010 and they were getting out of there. 425 00:21:28,114 --> 00:21:30,772 And I don't know if we left right away or not. 426 00:21:30,875 --> 00:21:32,670 But I do know one thing. 427 00:21:32,774 --> 00:21:34,500 My mother never left her mother and dad. 428 00:21:34,603 --> 00:21:37,779 Everywhere Grandma and Grandpa moved, 429 00:21:37,882 --> 00:21:41,058 that's where Mama moved to. 430 00:21:41,161 --> 00:21:44,924 I was, like, 13, 14 before I even found out. 431 00:21:45,027 --> 00:21:47,961 So, I really don't know 432 00:21:48,065 --> 00:21:50,654 a whole lot to tell. 433 00:21:50,757 --> 00:21:53,760 They had, uh, an old show that used to come on 434 00:21:53,864 --> 00:21:55,452 called Strike It Rich. 435 00:21:55,555 --> 00:21:57,419 ANNOUNCER: It's the original show with a heart, 436 00:21:57,523 --> 00:21:58,972 Strike It Rich. 437 00:21:59,076 --> 00:22:02,838 FORREST: Celebrities would go on and try to win money for, 438 00:22:02,942 --> 00:22:04,702 like, underprivileged people. 439 00:22:04,806 --> 00:22:06,359 HOST: Tom is a veteran. 440 00:22:06,463 --> 00:22:07,809 His injury makes it impossible for him 441 00:22:07,912 --> 00:22:09,535 to do any hard, manual labor. 442 00:22:09,638 --> 00:22:11,122 - Well, let's help him. - Well, all right. 443 00:22:11,226 --> 00:22:12,745 [audience applauding] 444 00:22:12,848 --> 00:22:14,298 FORREST: Grandpa told me, 445 00:22:14,402 --> 00:22:17,094 "You can go on there, Nan." 446 00:22:17,197 --> 00:22:19,061 And I said, "Go on there with what?" 447 00:22:19,165 --> 00:22:20,891 And that's when 448 00:22:20,994 --> 00:22:23,376 he pulled out this piece of paper. 449 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,553 ♪ 450 00:22:30,176 --> 00:22:32,454 He told me that my father had been lynched, 451 00:22:32,558 --> 00:22:37,252 and that was my first time ever becoming aware of it. 452 00:22:39,150 --> 00:22:42,844 I do wish I had got a chance to get to know him, 453 00:22:42,947 --> 00:22:44,363 because I often wonder 454 00:22:44,466 --> 00:22:47,124 what type of person would I be today 455 00:22:47,227 --> 00:22:50,645 had he been in my life. 456 00:22:50,748 --> 00:22:52,957 Would I have been the same person? 457 00:22:53,061 --> 00:22:55,063 Would I have been a different person? 458 00:22:55,166 --> 00:22:59,239 And this is something I'll never know. 459 00:22:59,343 --> 00:23:03,968 Every now and then, people still bring it up, 460 00:23:04,072 --> 00:23:08,697 about Cleo Wright getting lynched down South. 461 00:23:12,391 --> 00:23:14,634 Had it been done differently, went to court, 462 00:23:14,738 --> 00:23:18,466 had a trial or whatever, but it didn't happen that way. 463 00:23:21,848 --> 00:23:26,957 You did anything that didn't go along with what they 464 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:30,857 wanted you to go along with, they could lynch you. 465 00:23:30,961 --> 00:23:36,794 ♪ 466 00:23:48,703 --> 00:23:50,877 They didn't think it was wrong, 467 00:23:50,981 --> 00:23:52,223 because they didn't, 468 00:23:52,327 --> 00:23:54,398 they didn't get punished for it, for one thing. 469 00:23:54,502 --> 00:23:57,401 No, they didn't. 470 00:23:57,505 --> 00:24:01,543 ♪ 471 00:24:05,029 --> 00:24:07,963 KEVIN MCMAHON: Before the lynching of Cleo Wright, 472 00:24:08,067 --> 00:24:12,830 there were 3,842 lynchings in the United States, 473 00:24:12,934 --> 00:24:14,591 and the Department of Justice 474 00:24:14,694 --> 00:24:16,903 had not fully investigated any of them. 475 00:24:17,007 --> 00:24:21,287 Lynchings clearly violated state law. 476 00:24:21,390 --> 00:24:25,187 These were murders, the worst forms of murders. 477 00:24:25,291 --> 00:24:28,156 FILM NARRATOR: In the park, a yelling mob of 10,000 white... 478 00:24:28,259 --> 00:24:30,607 BURNHAM: But the states weren't prosecuting, 479 00:24:30,710 --> 00:24:35,197 and lynching was never a federal crime. 480 00:24:35,301 --> 00:24:38,580 ♪ 481 00:24:55,528 --> 00:24:57,461 MCMAHON: There were movements to pass 482 00:24:57,565 --> 00:25:01,223 anti-lynching legislation, but it never became law. 483 00:25:03,985 --> 00:25:06,850 So, this is the first time the Department of Justice 484 00:25:06,953 --> 00:25:10,060 steps in, saying, "We're going to prosecute you." 485 00:25:10,163 --> 00:25:11,751 Where in the past, 486 00:25:11,855 --> 00:25:14,271 they would just look the other way. 487 00:25:15,617 --> 00:25:17,999 [plane engines roaring in distance] 488 00:25:18,102 --> 00:25:19,518 [explosions erupting] 489 00:25:19,621 --> 00:25:22,348 FILM NARRATOR: December 7, 1941. 490 00:25:22,451 --> 00:25:24,384 MCMAHON: The lynching of Cleo Wright 491 00:25:24,488 --> 00:25:27,111 happens a month and a half after Pearl Harbor. 492 00:25:27,215 --> 00:25:32,220 Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. 493 00:25:32,323 --> 00:25:37,294 To that high concept, there can be no end 494 00:25:37,397 --> 00:25:40,366 save victory. 495 00:25:40,469 --> 00:25:41,954 [applauding] 496 00:25:42,057 --> 00:25:45,751 ANDERSON: This war is being cast as a human rights war 497 00:25:45,854 --> 00:25:48,719 against tyranny-- 498 00:25:48,823 --> 00:25:51,239 racial tyranny. 499 00:25:51,342 --> 00:25:55,036 ♪ 500 00:25:55,139 --> 00:25:57,901 Against a regime 501 00:25:58,004 --> 00:26:01,214 that is predicated on Aryan supremacy. 502 00:26:03,907 --> 00:26:05,425 But there's a problem. 503 00:26:05,529 --> 00:26:08,290 The problem is Jim Crow in the United States. 504 00:26:14,642 --> 00:26:18,473 MCMAHON: You have this war against a racist Nazi regime, 505 00:26:18,577 --> 00:26:20,786 and the United States is representing itself 506 00:26:20,889 --> 00:26:22,857 as a defender of democracy. 507 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,067 And if it is a defender of democracy, 508 00:26:26,170 --> 00:26:30,347 how can you allow an individual 509 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:32,867 who's been accused of a crime 510 00:26:32,970 --> 00:26:35,766 to be taken from a jail and lynched? 511 00:26:35,870 --> 00:26:41,427 ♪ 512 00:26:41,530 --> 00:26:43,878 ANDERSON: Japan looks up and is, like, "See? 513 00:26:43,981 --> 00:26:47,295 Look at what they do to their own people." 514 00:26:47,398 --> 00:26:50,539 ♪ 515 00:26:53,888 --> 00:26:56,407 And so, the violence raining down on Black people 516 00:26:56,511 --> 00:27:00,170 in the United States becomes war propaganda 517 00:27:00,273 --> 00:27:03,242 for the Axis nations. 518 00:27:03,345 --> 00:27:06,659 [radio chime plays] 519 00:27:06,763 --> 00:27:08,488 RADIO ANNOUNCER: A rumor originating 520 00:27:08,592 --> 00:27:10,974 in a certain quarters in the United States claims 521 00:27:11,077 --> 00:27:14,115 President Roosevelt is some kind of a Ku Klux Klan. 522 00:27:14,218 --> 00:27:16,704 President Roosevelt also plays upon the loyalty 523 00:27:16,807 --> 00:27:18,257 of the colored people. 524 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:21,985 The repeated treacheries against their race for the past years 525 00:27:22,088 --> 00:27:25,195 give them very little reason to love him. 526 00:27:25,298 --> 00:27:28,405 MCMAHON: This is a crisis of democracy being challenged 527 00:27:28,508 --> 00:27:30,269 by a serious foreign threat. 528 00:27:30,372 --> 00:27:33,617 And you need to say, "Well, well, what is democracy? 529 00:27:33,721 --> 00:27:35,550 "What's democracy for African Americans 530 00:27:35,654 --> 00:27:37,103 living in the South?" 531 00:27:37,207 --> 00:27:41,211 ♪ 532 00:27:41,314 --> 00:27:44,248 ANDERSON: You also had this agitation 533 00:27:44,352 --> 00:27:46,665 happening in the Black community 534 00:27:46,768 --> 00:27:52,360 of, "Remember Pearl Harbor and Sikeston, Missouri." 535 00:27:52,463 --> 00:27:57,572 You have one of the premier Black newspapers in the nation 536 00:27:57,676 --> 00:28:01,610 launching what was called the Double V Campaign. 537 00:28:01,714 --> 00:28:03,923 ♪ 538 00:28:04,027 --> 00:28:07,513 The Double V Campaign was victory against fascists 539 00:28:07,616 --> 00:28:12,518 overseas and against fascists here in the United States. 540 00:28:12,621 --> 00:28:15,797 ♪ 541 00:28:23,356 --> 00:28:25,600 So, Black folks were making the connection 542 00:28:25,704 --> 00:28:28,120 that this war for freedom wasn't just a war 543 00:28:28,223 --> 00:28:30,087 for freedom over there. 544 00:28:30,191 --> 00:28:32,814 It was for freedom here, as well. 545 00:28:32,918 --> 00:28:37,094 WOMAN: ♪ If you people will listen to me ♪ 546 00:28:37,198 --> 00:28:40,926 ♪ From my heart I prayed anew 547 00:28:41,029 --> 00:28:42,928 ♪ For we are Americans 548 00:28:43,031 --> 00:28:44,205 SINGERS: ♪ Praise God 549 00:28:44,308 --> 00:28:46,069 WOMAN: ♪ We are Americans 550 00:28:46,172 --> 00:28:48,899 SINGERS: ♪ Praise God 551 00:28:49,003 --> 00:28:50,867 WOMAN: ♪ We are Americans 552 00:28:50,970 --> 00:28:52,627 ALL: ♪ Praise God 553 00:28:52,731 --> 00:28:54,422 ♪ Praise His holy name 554 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,288 ♪ 555 00:28:58,391 --> 00:29:00,600 BURNHAM: After the Cleo Wright lynching, 556 00:29:00,704 --> 00:29:02,982 the political imperative 557 00:29:03,086 --> 00:29:05,157 to do something about this case 558 00:29:05,260 --> 00:29:07,676 was quite strong. 559 00:29:07,780 --> 00:29:10,265 So, the Justice Department 560 00:29:10,369 --> 00:29:13,648 began to look at two statutes 561 00:29:13,752 --> 00:29:17,169 that had been used in the immediate wake of the Civil War 562 00:29:17,272 --> 00:29:22,036 to see if they could be applied to lynching situations. 563 00:29:23,313 --> 00:29:26,592 Both of these statutes addressed activities 564 00:29:26,695 --> 00:29:31,597 to deprive an individual of his or her civil rights. 565 00:29:33,495 --> 00:29:36,222 MCMAHON: When you've been accused of a crime, 566 00:29:36,326 --> 00:29:39,501 you have a right, a federal right, 567 00:29:39,605 --> 00:29:41,020 to a trial, 568 00:29:41,124 --> 00:29:43,885 and what the Justice Department wants to say is, 569 00:29:43,989 --> 00:29:47,716 "The members of the lynch mob have committed the crime 570 00:29:47,820 --> 00:29:50,823 "of denying Cleo Wright his right to trial. 571 00:29:50,927 --> 00:29:54,723 "They've determined that he is guilty 572 00:29:54,827 --> 00:29:56,967 and then carried out the punishment, which is death." 573 00:29:57,071 --> 00:29:59,625 ♪ 574 00:29:59,728 --> 00:30:02,731 BURNHAM: The federal government conducted 575 00:30:02,835 --> 00:30:05,079 a fairly wide-ranging investigation. 576 00:30:06,356 --> 00:30:08,427 And as investigators 577 00:30:08,530 --> 00:30:11,568 sought to find out who was in that mob, 578 00:30:11,671 --> 00:30:13,190 no one saw anyone. 579 00:30:13,294 --> 00:30:15,296 [camera shutter clicks] 580 00:30:16,607 --> 00:30:20,888 No one could remember seeing anyone else in that mob. 581 00:30:20,991 --> 00:30:23,925 ♪ 582 00:30:24,029 --> 00:30:26,514 The Justice Department took their case 583 00:30:26,617 --> 00:30:29,897 against the lynchers to federal court. 584 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,970 The grand jury declined to indict. 585 00:30:34,073 --> 00:30:36,593 They rejected the argument that 586 00:30:36,696 --> 00:30:42,081 the existing federal statutes applied in a lynching case. 587 00:30:42,185 --> 00:30:45,671 So, not getting an indictment had a chilling effect 588 00:30:45,774 --> 00:30:48,674 on the federal government's initiative 589 00:30:48,777 --> 00:30:51,746 to use these statutes to address lynching. 590 00:30:53,299 --> 00:30:56,406 It's very, very unfortunate 591 00:30:56,509 --> 00:30:59,409 that this case failed. 592 00:30:59,512 --> 00:31:02,619 Had the Cleo Wright case been successful, 593 00:31:02,722 --> 00:31:06,278 those laws would have been 594 00:31:06,381 --> 00:31:10,661 muscular engines to address racial violence. 595 00:31:10,765 --> 00:31:16,805 ♪ 596 00:31:21,638 --> 00:31:23,674 [siren wailing, police radio beeping] 597 00:31:23,778 --> 00:31:27,575 [people talking in background] 598 00:31:27,678 --> 00:31:31,268 [camera shutter clicking] 599 00:31:31,372 --> 00:31:33,650 KELLY: I would imagine there would've been 600 00:31:33,753 --> 00:31:37,205 a different outcome if someone was out there 601 00:31:37,309 --> 00:31:40,105 trying to tell the cops, "Don't shoot him. 602 00:31:40,208 --> 00:31:42,003 "Please, don't shoot him. 603 00:31:42,107 --> 00:31:45,075 "Let him get a chance to explain 604 00:31:45,179 --> 00:31:46,905 his side of the story." 605 00:31:47,008 --> 00:31:48,941 So, you know, 606 00:31:49,045 --> 00:31:53,325 how the law says innocent until proven guilty? 607 00:31:53,428 --> 00:31:55,085 Who is the judge and who is the jury 608 00:31:55,189 --> 00:32:00,988 to make such, uh, decisions in such a quick manner? 609 00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:05,820 REPORTER: Authorities say it could be several weeks 610 00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:07,856 before they can piece together exactly what happened 611 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,307 on this street in Sikeston. 612 00:32:10,411 --> 00:32:13,586 JAMES MCMILLEN: When there's something like that happens 613 00:32:13,690 --> 00:32:15,278 that's such a high profile, one of the first things 614 00:32:15,381 --> 00:32:18,798 that I do is contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol. 615 00:32:18,902 --> 00:32:21,008 They conducted the investigation. 616 00:32:22,664 --> 00:32:24,080 INVESTIGATOR: We're going to, uh, 617 00:32:24,183 --> 00:32:27,738 go over the events that took place Wednesday morning. 618 00:32:29,464 --> 00:32:31,846 - I just looked up and saw somebody that matched 619 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:33,986 that description that we were given. 620 00:32:34,090 --> 00:32:35,746 I could tell that he was holding onto something, 621 00:32:35,850 --> 00:32:37,679 I just couldn't see what it was. 622 00:32:38,887 --> 00:32:40,303 - We all have our, our weapons out, 623 00:32:40,406 --> 00:32:41,856 assuming he's armed, 624 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,755 and he just seemed like he was just trying to... [sighs] 625 00:32:44,859 --> 00:32:47,310 Just getting the courage to [bleep] pull the gun out 626 00:32:47,413 --> 00:32:48,897 and [bleep] shoot us, you know? 627 00:32:49,001 --> 00:32:50,830 In, in my mind, I mean, he thinks 628 00:32:50,934 --> 00:32:52,867 he just killed his damn dad, you know? 629 00:32:52,971 --> 00:32:54,973 And what's shooting a police officer at that point? 630 00:32:55,974 --> 00:32:57,734 OFFICER 1: Show me your hands, now! 631 00:32:57,837 --> 00:32:59,046 OFFICER 2: Take your hand out of your pocket! 632 00:32:59,149 --> 00:33:00,047 DENZEL TAYLOR: Just kill me, bro. 633 00:33:00,150 --> 00:33:01,048 OFFICER 1: Now! 634 00:33:01,151 --> 00:33:02,532 [gun fires] 635 00:33:02,635 --> 00:33:04,051 OFFICER 2: Hands out of your... 636 00:33:04,154 --> 00:33:05,259 [police radio beeps] 637 00:33:05,362 --> 00:33:09,159 [guns firing] 638 00:33:09,263 --> 00:33:10,919 OFFICER 2: We got shots fired-- we need E.M.S.! 639 00:33:11,023 --> 00:33:13,405 We got one subject down, shots fired. 640 00:33:13,508 --> 00:33:15,510 OFFICER [on radio]: 10-4. 641 00:33:15,614 --> 00:33:17,374 KELLY: I seen the body cam. 642 00:33:17,478 --> 00:33:18,997 While they were saying, 643 00:33:19,100 --> 00:33:21,585 "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!", 644 00:33:21,689 --> 00:33:26,625 they didn't give him not even a minute. 645 00:33:26,728 --> 00:33:28,282 OFFICER 2: Why didn't you just take your hand 646 00:33:28,385 --> 00:33:29,628 out of your pocket, man? 647 00:33:29,731 --> 00:33:31,423 KELLY: The protocol is, 648 00:33:31,526 --> 00:33:35,530 you shoot because you're feeling in danger. 649 00:33:35,634 --> 00:33:37,636 But if they're not waving a weapon at you, 650 00:33:37,739 --> 00:33:39,983 if they're not pointing a weapon at you, 651 00:33:40,087 --> 00:33:41,847 there is no reason, 652 00:33:41,950 --> 00:33:48,060 no excuse to draw a weapon and shoot someone. 653 00:33:48,164 --> 00:33:51,098 MCMILLEN: It's when you feel like that there is 654 00:33:51,201 --> 00:33:54,239 a threat to your life or a threat to someone else's life, 655 00:33:54,342 --> 00:33:57,345 is when you can use deadly force. 656 00:33:57,449 --> 00:34:00,348 Do I think that they intentionally shot him 657 00:34:00,452 --> 00:34:03,179 many times just out of meanness or, or... 658 00:34:03,282 --> 00:34:04,801 No, I don't believe that at all. 659 00:34:04,904 --> 00:34:06,320 [siren wailing] 660 00:34:06,423 --> 00:34:08,736 [camera shutter clicks] 661 00:34:08,839 --> 00:34:10,531 There's got to be some accountability 662 00:34:10,634 --> 00:34:12,533 of not following these commands, 663 00:34:12,636 --> 00:34:14,949 and "accountability" may not be the right word. 664 00:34:15,053 --> 00:34:17,538 But nobody wanted this to happen. 665 00:34:17,641 --> 00:34:20,092 [siren blaring in distance] 666 00:34:32,380 --> 00:34:35,107 SHARP: This is Smith Chapel Methodist Church, 667 00:34:35,211 --> 00:34:39,525 and I came here in 1996 to be the pastor. 668 00:34:39,629 --> 00:34:42,321 [voiceover]: It was a Black congregation, 669 00:34:42,425 --> 00:34:43,805 and when I became pastor of the church, 670 00:34:43,909 --> 00:34:45,255 I had no idea that 671 00:34:45,359 --> 00:34:47,740 the guy had been dragged right by where the church was. 672 00:34:47,844 --> 00:34:51,606 It would have been right down Osage Street here. 673 00:34:51,710 --> 00:34:54,437 [voiceover]: Cleo Wright was lynched in 1942. 674 00:34:54,540 --> 00:34:56,439 That was the year I turned four. 675 00:34:56,542 --> 00:34:57,888 I did not hear about it 676 00:34:57,992 --> 00:35:00,270 from my parents or grandparents, ever. 677 00:35:00,374 --> 00:35:01,685 I asked them about it one time, 678 00:35:01,789 --> 00:35:03,204 after I had heard about it, 679 00:35:03,308 --> 00:35:06,449 but it was not subject to discussion. 680 00:35:06,552 --> 00:35:09,935 JENSEN: By and large, Sikeston went on as normal. 681 00:35:10,038 --> 00:35:12,282 They wanted to put it out of their mind. 682 00:35:12,386 --> 00:35:14,457 They wanted to move on. 683 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:19,151 I think that the prevailing mindset at the time was, 684 00:35:19,255 --> 00:35:21,015 "It's over and it's done. 685 00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:25,295 Let's move on." 686 00:35:25,399 --> 00:35:28,540 COUNCIL: After you all saw the, the lynching that happened, 687 00:35:28,643 --> 00:35:31,336 did you and your friends talk about that? 688 00:35:31,439 --> 00:35:33,407 COOK: We didn't talk about it, no. 689 00:35:33,510 --> 00:35:35,374 Mm-mm. 690 00:35:35,478 --> 00:35:37,100 My dad-- my daddy told us 691 00:35:37,204 --> 00:35:39,344 not to have nothing to be saying about it. 692 00:35:39,447 --> 00:35:42,830 Said it'll go away if you not talk about it. 693 00:35:45,039 --> 00:35:47,352 COUNCIL: It's got to kind of eat you up on the inside, 694 00:35:47,455 --> 00:35:48,974 witnessing something like that. 695 00:35:50,182 --> 00:35:53,358 You just can't pretend that it didn't happen. 696 00:35:53,461 --> 00:35:54,842 You can't. 697 00:35:54,945 --> 00:35:56,913 I can't say I can just easily get over it, 698 00:35:57,016 --> 00:35:58,984 no, I wasn't there when it happened, 699 00:35:59,087 --> 00:36:02,470 but it has an effect on my grandmother. 700 00:36:02,574 --> 00:36:03,816 She's a part of me. 701 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:06,336 I'm a part of her. 702 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,167 I used to ask Mom, you know, 703 00:36:09,270 --> 00:36:14,655 "What is this with this man that supposedly got lynched?" 704 00:36:14,758 --> 00:36:16,174 And she told me, 705 00:36:16,277 --> 00:36:19,832 "Don't you ask no questions about Cleo Wright." 706 00:36:19,936 --> 00:36:21,731 She knew what it was all about, 707 00:36:21,834 --> 00:36:23,319 and she didn't want to take no chance 708 00:36:23,422 --> 00:36:24,941 on that happening to me. 709 00:36:25,044 --> 00:36:28,496 Young white ladies used to come out 710 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:32,500 to my house and blow the horn for me. 711 00:36:32,604 --> 00:36:34,122 My mom would tell them, 712 00:36:34,226 --> 00:36:35,917 "You all go on back uptown. 713 00:36:36,021 --> 00:36:37,850 I don't want my son to get in no trouble." 714 00:36:37,954 --> 00:36:41,371 See, I didn't cross the line, 715 00:36:41,475 --> 00:36:44,685 because I knew what was waiting 716 00:36:44,788 --> 00:36:47,481 any time you get caught up in something like that. 717 00:36:47,584 --> 00:36:51,795 I knew what time it was here in Sikeston, Missouri. 718 00:36:51,899 --> 00:36:58,561 [protesters clamoring] 719 00:36:58,664 --> 00:37:00,148 WOMAN: He didn't have no weapon, 720 00:37:00,252 --> 00:37:01,805 and they shot him anyway. 721 00:37:01,909 --> 00:37:04,429 MCCLELLON: It's hard to get 722 00:37:04,532 --> 00:37:07,225 my people to protest. 723 00:37:07,328 --> 00:37:09,606 JACKSON: I wasn't satisfied 724 00:37:09,710 --> 00:37:12,368 with how we protested. 725 00:37:12,471 --> 00:37:16,026 The world, they have no idea who Denzel Taylor is. 726 00:37:16,130 --> 00:37:18,788 They have no idea he got shot 19 times 727 00:37:18,891 --> 00:37:20,617 by police officers, 728 00:37:20,721 --> 00:37:24,000 from chest on down to his legs. 729 00:37:24,103 --> 00:37:26,278 WOMAN: Hands up! WOMAN: Don't shoot! 730 00:37:26,382 --> 00:37:28,832 JACKSON: When we did the protest for Denzel, 731 00:37:28,936 --> 00:37:31,179 we wanted them to feel our pain. 732 00:37:31,283 --> 00:37:33,354 MAN: They're trying to kill all of us. 733 00:37:33,458 --> 00:37:36,012 JACKSON: But the protest didn't do much. 734 00:37:36,115 --> 00:37:38,014 MCCLELLON: It's a funny thing. 735 00:37:38,117 --> 00:37:40,948 It just washed away in the rinse. 736 00:37:41,051 --> 00:37:44,054 You didn't hear anything else. 737 00:37:44,158 --> 00:37:45,815 You know, 738 00:37:45,918 --> 00:37:48,369 some of our own people, 739 00:37:48,473 --> 00:37:52,580 they have a problem when they see you speaking out 740 00:37:52,684 --> 00:37:54,927 regarding an issue like that. 741 00:37:55,031 --> 00:37:57,067 MAN: Police violence no more! 742 00:37:57,171 --> 00:37:59,346 MCCLELLON: And when all this stuff 743 00:37:59,449 --> 00:38:03,764 was going on about George Floyd, worldwide, 744 00:38:03,867 --> 00:38:07,043 Sikeston stood pat. 745 00:38:07,146 --> 00:38:09,528 Nothing. 746 00:38:09,632 --> 00:38:13,429 Sikeston, they're stuck in times, 747 00:38:13,532 --> 00:38:15,948 and they're just afraid 748 00:38:16,052 --> 00:38:19,193 of things that has happened right here in this town. 749 00:38:19,297 --> 00:38:22,576 They don't want trouble to arrive. 750 00:38:22,679 --> 00:38:23,577 [car door shuts] 751 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:24,923 I tell them, "Hey. 752 00:38:25,026 --> 00:38:26,511 "You can speak out 753 00:38:26,614 --> 00:38:31,067 and support whatever we're trying to do." 754 00:38:31,170 --> 00:38:34,381 But it doesn't hardly reach first base. 755 00:38:34,484 --> 00:38:37,073 They say right now that 756 00:38:37,176 --> 00:38:39,386 we've come a long ways. 757 00:38:39,489 --> 00:38:42,665 But we haven't really came a long ways, 758 00:38:42,768 --> 00:38:45,323 because they are still 759 00:38:45,426 --> 00:38:48,878 shooting us down every day. 760 00:38:48,981 --> 00:38:51,708 And I, and... 761 00:38:51,812 --> 00:38:53,814 [exhales] 762 00:38:56,713 --> 00:38:58,439 [sniffs] 763 00:39:02,270 --> 00:39:06,171 So, it gets, it gets next to me. 764 00:39:10,555 --> 00:39:14,904 [sirens blaring] 765 00:39:15,007 --> 00:39:18,804 ANDERSON: When I think about the line that goes from 766 00:39:18,908 --> 00:39:21,220 the way policing worked in the past 767 00:39:21,324 --> 00:39:24,845 to what we're seeing today, 768 00:39:24,948 --> 00:39:28,331 it is that you've got a system that says, 769 00:39:28,435 --> 00:39:33,025 "You're guilty before you're innocent." 770 00:39:33,129 --> 00:39:36,408 Lynching created a narrative 771 00:39:36,512 --> 00:39:38,652 that Black people were so criminal 772 00:39:38,755 --> 00:39:42,759 that they did not deserve to go through the justice system. 773 00:39:42,863 --> 00:39:44,796 They deserved whatever punishment 774 00:39:44,899 --> 00:39:48,006 that the community could mete out to them. 775 00:39:48,109 --> 00:39:52,942 The inability to talk about these events 776 00:39:53,045 --> 00:39:57,256 generated enormous trauma 777 00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,742 for those who witnessed them, 778 00:39:59,845 --> 00:40:04,298 and that trauma was carried across the generations. 779 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:08,785 COUNCIL: I can't even imagine what my grandmother saw 780 00:40:08,889 --> 00:40:12,927 or what the whole Sunset community saw at that time. 781 00:40:13,031 --> 00:40:17,898 Nobody deserves to be lynched, I don't care what you did. 782 00:40:18,001 --> 00:40:20,694 If they arrested him, that was fine. 783 00:40:20,797 --> 00:40:22,696 But then to drag him through the streets? 784 00:40:22,799 --> 00:40:24,594 That was so wrong. 785 00:40:24,698 --> 00:40:28,356 It's easy to sort of be outraged 786 00:40:28,460 --> 00:40:32,430 if somebody who was innocent of a crime gets lynched. 787 00:40:32,533 --> 00:40:35,881 If you want to defend the right to a trial by jury, 788 00:40:35,985 --> 00:40:38,228 it's got to be for everyone, 789 00:40:38,332 --> 00:40:41,508 not just those who you think are innocent. 790 00:40:41,611 --> 00:40:43,717 ANDERSON: The people who 791 00:40:43,820 --> 00:40:45,270 yanked Cleo Wright out, 792 00:40:45,373 --> 00:40:47,237 nothing happened to them, 793 00:40:47,341 --> 00:40:51,000 and we see that moving forward. 794 00:40:51,103 --> 00:40:53,968 The lack of accountability 795 00:40:54,072 --> 00:40:57,351 in policing for killing Black people, 796 00:40:57,455 --> 00:41:01,528 that ability to hold life and death in your hands 797 00:41:01,631 --> 00:41:02,977 with impunity. 798 00:41:03,081 --> 00:41:05,324 BURNHAM: Although there have been 799 00:41:05,428 --> 00:41:07,050 many changes in the law, 800 00:41:07,154 --> 00:41:10,744 what lingers in our legal system 801 00:41:10,847 --> 00:41:14,782 from 1942 is really 802 00:41:14,886 --> 00:41:18,821 our inability to control 803 00:41:18,924 --> 00:41:22,652 police violence against people of color. 804 00:41:22,756 --> 00:41:28,175 ♪ 805 00:41:32,110 --> 00:41:36,321 ♪ 806 00:41:36,424 --> 00:41:38,599 JACKSON: The officers was put on leave, 807 00:41:38,703 --> 00:41:41,947 and they returned back to work after that. 808 00:41:42,051 --> 00:41:45,710 They was not on leave long at all. 809 00:41:45,813 --> 00:41:51,854 ♪ 810 00:41:57,998 --> 00:42:01,035 I feel like had they tased Denzel, 811 00:42:01,139 --> 00:42:04,452 or just did matters completely different, 812 00:42:04,556 --> 00:42:06,316 Denzel would have had his day in court. 813 00:42:06,420 --> 00:42:09,734 Denzel would have been able to tell his side of the story. 814 00:42:09,837 --> 00:42:13,600 ♪ 815 00:42:21,815 --> 00:42:23,989 KELLY: I obtained a lawyer, 816 00:42:24,093 --> 00:42:28,062 and I just say it's a moral standard for me 817 00:42:28,166 --> 00:42:29,685 to seek justice. 818 00:42:31,859 --> 00:42:35,069 I hope that the police officers, 819 00:42:35,173 --> 00:42:36,761 the, the chief of police, 820 00:42:36,864 --> 00:42:39,039 I hope they have a wake-up call, 821 00:42:39,142 --> 00:42:42,560 and I want them to be cognizant of what they 822 00:42:42,663 --> 00:42:45,114 are to do when they put on their uniforms 823 00:42:45,217 --> 00:42:47,806 and they get their weapons 824 00:42:47,910 --> 00:42:50,775 and they're out to protect people, 825 00:42:50,878 --> 00:42:54,088 and not to kill people. 826 00:42:54,192 --> 00:42:56,332 MILTON TAYLOR: I was angry. 827 00:42:56,435 --> 00:42:58,610 I was very angry at Denzel. 828 00:42:58,714 --> 00:43:00,716 I was angry until I saw that video. 829 00:43:00,819 --> 00:43:02,580 When I saw that video, 830 00:43:02,683 --> 00:43:07,239 my anger just went away, and I, I began to cry, and... 831 00:43:07,343 --> 00:43:11,658 They took away my chance to make amends with my son. 832 00:43:11,761 --> 00:43:13,211 They were supposed to come there 833 00:43:13,314 --> 00:43:16,766 and defuse the situation, and they made it worse. 834 00:43:16,870 --> 00:43:19,631 Denzel needs justice. 835 00:43:19,735 --> 00:43:21,806 Just like any other person 836 00:43:21,909 --> 00:43:23,808 that has been put in Denzel's situation. 837 00:43:27,052 --> 00:43:32,817 ♪ 838 00:43:43,586 --> 00:43:45,346 This, according to Cleo Wright's death certificate, 839 00:43:45,450 --> 00:43:47,728 is where he was buried. 840 00:43:47,832 --> 00:43:51,387 And I do wish he had some kind of acknowledgment out here. 841 00:43:51,490 --> 00:43:54,010 We can't help what our ancestors did in the past. 842 00:43:54,114 --> 00:43:55,460 We can't help that, 843 00:43:55,563 --> 00:43:57,773 but I would like for just one white person 844 00:43:57,876 --> 00:43:59,947 to acknowledge and say this happened, 845 00:44:00,051 --> 00:44:03,157 and for them to say they're sorry, as well. 846 00:44:03,261 --> 00:44:05,366 MCCLELLON: It's a major problem 847 00:44:05,470 --> 00:44:07,506 because they know what they've done. 848 00:44:07,610 --> 00:44:12,788 They don't know how to start the healing process. 849 00:44:14,030 --> 00:44:15,860 SHARP: I would like some magic fairy dust 850 00:44:15,963 --> 00:44:17,344 to heal this community. 851 00:44:17,447 --> 00:44:19,553 I don't know what it is, 852 00:44:19,657 --> 00:44:22,452 but there are always people that would say, 853 00:44:22,556 --> 00:44:25,870 "See how bad the white people were?", 854 00:44:25,973 --> 00:44:27,595 and make that meaning "are." 855 00:44:27,699 --> 00:44:29,459 I have no question there were some bad people 856 00:44:29,563 --> 00:44:31,427 involved with that lynching, 857 00:44:31,530 --> 00:44:34,879 but let's don't paint everybody with that brush. 858 00:44:34,982 --> 00:44:36,984 ♪ 859 00:44:37,088 --> 00:44:41,057 JENSEN: I think there remains a level of communal shame, 860 00:44:41,161 --> 00:44:43,266 communal regret, 861 00:44:43,370 --> 00:44:45,061 and I can't justify it. 862 00:44:45,165 --> 00:44:47,685 But let's let a sleeping dog lie. 863 00:44:47,788 --> 00:44:48,927 I mean, come on. 864 00:44:49,031 --> 00:44:51,274 What is served by talking about this? 865 00:44:51,378 --> 00:44:52,517 Okay? 866 00:44:52,620 --> 00:44:54,346 Will it change our community? 867 00:44:54,450 --> 00:44:57,246 Will it, will it improve race relations in our community? 868 00:44:57,349 --> 00:45:00,214 It's legitimate to say, 869 00:45:00,318 --> 00:45:02,907 "Are you really trying to grind down to zero 870 00:45:03,010 --> 00:45:05,081 or are you just picking a scab?" 871 00:45:10,362 --> 00:45:15,022 [kids calling] 872 00:45:15,126 --> 00:45:18,646 [music playing on speakers] 873 00:45:20,476 --> 00:45:21,891 OWENS: Hello, everybody. 874 00:45:21,995 --> 00:45:23,617 My name is Pershard Owens. 875 00:45:23,721 --> 00:45:25,412 Juneteenth is something important 876 00:45:25,515 --> 00:45:29,209 that we have not been taught while we were growing up. 877 00:45:29,312 --> 00:45:31,452 It's time for us to stop expecting other people 878 00:45:31,556 --> 00:45:33,731 to educate our kids on our history, 879 00:45:33,834 --> 00:45:35,594 and it's time for us to start stepping up 880 00:45:35,698 --> 00:45:36,803 and doing it on our own. 881 00:45:36,906 --> 00:45:38,528 [crowd applauds and cheers] 882 00:45:38,632 --> 00:45:40,427 [people exclaiming] 883 00:45:40,530 --> 00:45:42,429 OWENS: There is something deeply embedded 884 00:45:42,532 --> 00:45:47,296 in Sikeston that needs to be uprooted. 885 00:45:47,399 --> 00:45:49,539 And that way, we can move forward. 886 00:45:49,643 --> 00:45:53,198 The fact remains that this African American man 887 00:45:53,302 --> 00:45:57,030 was burned in front of a church, 888 00:45:57,133 --> 00:46:01,034 and we don't talk about it. 889 00:46:01,137 --> 00:46:03,105 When I saw the video of Denzel Taylor, 890 00:46:03,208 --> 00:46:04,451 when that got released, 891 00:46:04,554 --> 00:46:06,591 that hurt me, because that could have been me. 892 00:46:06,694 --> 00:46:08,489 OFFICER: We got one subject down, shots fired. 893 00:46:08,593 --> 00:46:09,628 OWENS: That could have been my nephew. 894 00:46:09,732 --> 00:46:11,492 That could have been my brother. 895 00:46:11,596 --> 00:46:15,531 And, um, you know, it's just hard. 896 00:46:15,634 --> 00:46:17,809 [people talking in background] 897 00:46:17,913 --> 00:46:20,225 OWENS: I want people to understand 898 00:46:20,329 --> 00:46:22,710 that not all Black men are a threat. 899 00:46:22,814 --> 00:46:25,921 I'm a person, just like the next person is, 900 00:46:26,024 --> 00:46:27,163 and, you know, 901 00:46:27,267 --> 00:46:28,786 when you see stuff like that happen, 902 00:46:28,889 --> 00:46:29,821 it's just, like, "Okay. 903 00:46:29,925 --> 00:46:32,444 What do we do to change it?" 904 00:46:32,548 --> 00:46:34,239 [talking in background] 905 00:46:34,343 --> 00:46:36,863 You know, the video is out on, on social media. 906 00:46:36,966 --> 00:46:39,313 [voiceover]: I had never really considered myself 907 00:46:39,417 --> 00:46:41,419 to have any prejudice or bias. 908 00:46:41,522 --> 00:46:42,730 How you all doing? 909 00:46:42,834 --> 00:46:44,215 [voiceover]: But I came to Sikeston 910 00:46:44,318 --> 00:46:46,389 to work as a police officer, 911 00:46:46,493 --> 00:46:49,461 and some of my first calls in the Black community 912 00:46:49,565 --> 00:46:52,361 were dealing with drug dealers and people in shooting cases 913 00:46:52,464 --> 00:46:54,881 and stuff like that, I started thinking, 914 00:46:54,984 --> 00:46:57,193 "I don't have anything in common with these people," 915 00:46:57,297 --> 00:46:59,506 and just unfairly judged the whole community 916 00:46:59,609 --> 00:47:01,577 off those few experiences. 917 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,373 So, case by case, you know, 918 00:47:04,476 --> 00:47:05,961 it didn't happen overnight, 919 00:47:06,064 --> 00:47:08,584 but I started to learn how, really, I had that wrong. 920 00:47:08,687 --> 00:47:10,068 ♪ 921 00:47:10,172 --> 00:47:12,208 Where do you preach at? 922 00:47:12,312 --> 00:47:15,211 [voiceover]: I think that our failure at times 923 00:47:15,315 --> 00:47:17,179 is that we don't really 924 00:47:17,282 --> 00:47:20,527 consider ourselves as an entire community. 925 00:47:20,630 --> 00:47:23,495 We've got to be willing to look at and just say, 926 00:47:23,599 --> 00:47:27,775 "How can we better this?" 927 00:47:27,879 --> 00:47:32,366 ♪ 928 00:47:34,886 --> 00:47:39,235 ♪ 929 00:47:47,934 --> 00:47:51,247 ♪ 930 00:48:00,636 --> 00:48:03,087 OWENS: I came here looking for truth. 931 00:48:03,190 --> 00:48:05,227 I wanted to know more about the lynchings 932 00:48:05,330 --> 00:48:08,092 that I never was taught in school. 933 00:48:08,195 --> 00:48:10,266 I want to know all of the history. 934 00:48:10,370 --> 00:48:14,201 I don't want a watered-down version of it. 935 00:48:14,305 --> 00:48:17,964 In the museum, one of the things 936 00:48:18,067 --> 00:48:21,899 that was written on the wall was, "Slavery, it didn't end. 937 00:48:22,002 --> 00:48:24,211 It just progressed." 938 00:48:26,662 --> 00:48:28,560 Bringing more awareness to Cleo Wright 939 00:48:28,664 --> 00:48:30,183 is going to upset a lot of people. 940 00:48:30,286 --> 00:48:32,702 In Sikeston, there is so much tradition. 941 00:48:32,806 --> 00:48:34,152 At some point, you just have to say, 942 00:48:34,256 --> 00:48:35,429 "You know what? 943 00:48:35,533 --> 00:48:36,983 "If it pisses you off, it is what it is. 944 00:48:37,086 --> 00:48:40,158 It's the truth and we need to talk about it." 945 00:48:40,262 --> 00:48:42,126 [piano playing gospel song] 946 00:48:42,229 --> 00:48:43,782 [people applauding and exclaiming] 947 00:48:43,886 --> 00:48:46,716 [piano continues] 948 00:48:46,820 --> 00:48:48,995 CHOIR: ♪ Glory, glory 949 00:48:49,098 --> 00:48:52,032 ♪ Hallelujah 950 00:48:52,136 --> 00:48:55,449 ♪ As I lay my 951 00:48:55,553 --> 00:48:59,626 ♪ Burden down 952 00:48:59,729 --> 00:49:04,148 [song ends, people applauding] 953 00:49:04,251 --> 00:49:06,978 We are honored and humbled 954 00:49:07,082 --> 00:49:08,946 to serve as instruments 955 00:49:09,049 --> 00:49:13,329 in the remembrance service for Cleo Wright. 956 00:49:13,433 --> 00:49:14,952 [playing softly] 957 00:49:15,055 --> 00:49:18,024 OWENS: And while we are here, 958 00:49:18,127 --> 00:49:20,405 gathered for, for such a, 959 00:49:20,509 --> 00:49:22,683 a horrible crime that was done, 960 00:49:22,787 --> 00:49:24,892 we have to remember that things cannot change 961 00:49:24,996 --> 00:49:27,585 unless it's us who do it. 962 00:49:27,688 --> 00:49:29,656 [audience exclaims, applauding] 963 00:49:29,759 --> 00:49:31,589 OWENS: And the song I'm going to sing is called 964 00:49:31,692 --> 00:49:33,625 "A Change is Gonna Come," and that change is gonna come. 965 00:49:33,729 --> 00:49:36,283 [exclaiming, applauding] 966 00:49:36,387 --> 00:49:38,630 [piano playing slowly] 967 00:49:38,734 --> 00:49:43,739 ♪ I was born by the river 968 00:49:43,842 --> 00:49:45,603 [audience applauding] 969 00:49:45,706 --> 00:49:49,883 ♪ In a little tent 970 00:49:49,987 --> 00:49:54,060 ♪ And just like the river, I've been running ♪ 971 00:49:54,163 --> 00:49:56,510 ♪ Ever since 972 00:49:56,614 --> 00:50:00,721 ♪ It's been a long 973 00:50:00,825 --> 00:50:03,897 ♪ Long time coming 974 00:50:04,001 --> 00:50:06,969 ♪ But I know 975 00:50:07,073 --> 00:50:08,833 ♪ A change is gonna come 976 00:50:08,936 --> 00:50:10,317 [song fading]: ♪ Oh, yes, it is 977 00:50:10,421 --> 00:50:13,562 COUNCIL: The African American community 978 00:50:13,665 --> 00:50:16,703 has always been silenced for fear 979 00:50:16,806 --> 00:50:19,706 of something possibly happening to their family 980 00:50:19,809 --> 00:50:21,225 or to themselves, 981 00:50:21,328 --> 00:50:22,640 but right now, 982 00:50:22,743 --> 00:50:25,229 we are giving Cleo Wright a voice. 983 00:50:25,332 --> 00:50:28,404 I never in a million years thought this would happen. 984 00:50:29,819 --> 00:50:32,374 My grandmother Mable and my Aunt Carleen 985 00:50:32,477 --> 00:50:34,445 unfortunately passed away 986 00:50:34,548 --> 00:50:36,930 not even a year apart. 987 00:50:37,034 --> 00:50:40,071 And I hate that she could not have seen this... 988 00:50:40,175 --> 00:50:42,487 [breath catching] 989 00:50:42,591 --> 00:50:44,420 I hate that she could not have seen this happen, 990 00:50:44,524 --> 00:50:48,286 because she had kept that story to herself for so long. 991 00:50:49,908 --> 00:50:51,186 To be able to say it, 992 00:50:51,289 --> 00:50:52,842 to be able to tell it, 993 00:50:52,946 --> 00:50:54,465 this is just so amazing, 994 00:50:54,568 --> 00:50:58,089 so amazing-- she'd be so happy. 995 00:51:01,023 --> 00:51:02,611 MICHAEL HARRIS: Sikeston has some history 996 00:51:02,714 --> 00:51:05,821 we still have yet to work towards resolving. 997 00:51:05,924 --> 00:51:08,030 The lynching of Cleo Wright, 998 00:51:08,134 --> 00:51:11,413 uh, it, it shaped the mindset 999 00:51:11,516 --> 00:51:14,416 of how we as citizens of Sikeston respond to one another. 1000 00:51:18,523 --> 00:51:22,424 I was trying to pull out all the topsoil that I could 1001 00:51:22,527 --> 00:51:24,081 so that we can have some clean fill 1002 00:51:24,184 --> 00:51:26,221 when we get ready to put it into the jars. 1003 00:51:28,637 --> 00:51:31,088 I think this will kind of capture the essence 1004 00:51:31,191 --> 00:51:34,194 of the occasion. 1005 00:51:46,413 --> 00:51:51,763 ♪ 1006 00:51:51,867 --> 00:51:55,905 [people talking in background] 1007 00:51:56,009 --> 00:51:58,494 MICHAEL SNIDER: Once I got to Sikeston, 1008 00:51:58,598 --> 00:52:01,566 I was welcomed with open arms, 1009 00:52:01,670 --> 00:52:05,122 because I was Cleo's great-grandson, 1010 00:52:05,225 --> 00:52:06,709 and I didn't realize 1011 00:52:06,813 --> 00:52:08,815 what kind of impact it had on the town 1012 00:52:08,918 --> 00:52:10,368 until I got here. 1013 00:52:10,472 --> 00:52:13,682 It scarred Sikeston. 1014 00:52:13,785 --> 00:52:16,719 Even the newer generation can see 1015 00:52:16,823 --> 00:52:19,205 that something was wrong-- something's wrong here. 1016 00:52:19,308 --> 00:52:22,311 KYLE PERNELL: How do you offer a prayer 1017 00:52:22,415 --> 00:52:23,692 when there are so many different 1018 00:52:23,795 --> 00:52:26,488 emotions and things that are going on? 1019 00:52:26,591 --> 00:52:30,906 The Bible says that the Lord spoke to Cain and said, 1020 00:52:31,009 --> 00:52:35,669 "The blood of your brother 1021 00:52:35,773 --> 00:52:37,844 "is crying out 1022 00:52:37,947 --> 00:52:41,296 from the ground unto me." 1023 00:52:41,399 --> 00:52:46,439 And the blood is still crying out. 1024 00:52:48,234 --> 00:52:51,168 It's been crying out, but nobody has been echoing 1025 00:52:51,271 --> 00:52:54,171 what it's been saying until now. 1026 00:52:54,274 --> 00:52:59,866 ♪ 1027 00:53:04,319 --> 00:53:08,909 SNIDER: It's a victory over that mental slavery. 1028 00:53:10,808 --> 00:53:13,811 Once we were able to break them, them mental chains, 1029 00:53:13,914 --> 00:53:15,261 people started voicing. 1030 00:53:15,364 --> 00:53:17,090 They started asking questions. 1031 00:53:19,092 --> 00:53:22,199 HARRIS: Y'all keep coming-- any, any jar. 1032 00:53:22,302 --> 00:53:24,546 SNIDER: It's the beginning of acknowledgment, 1033 00:53:24,649 --> 00:53:27,894 and that being quiet isn't the answer. 1034 00:53:27,997 --> 00:53:31,346 It's still tragic, 1035 00:53:31,449 --> 00:53:34,141 but we can actually talk about and express 1036 00:53:34,245 --> 00:53:37,110 how we feel about it in the open. 1037 00:53:37,214 --> 00:53:41,597 So, instead of an apology, I'd rather see change. 1038 00:53:41,701 --> 00:53:44,600 I'd rather see a more positive turn in life 1039 00:53:44,704 --> 00:53:50,054 for the community that has such a tragic history. 1040 00:53:57,855 --> 00:54:02,894 ♪ 1041 00:54:20,567 --> 00:54:23,777 ♪ 1042 00:54:31,682 --> 00:54:36,134 ♪ 1043 00:55:04,784 --> 00:55:10,824 ♪