A Way Forward

“Dear Friend,

… I know you don’t think much of our kind of people but we don’t hate you all. We want to be your all friends but you [won't]let us. Please don't let anybody see this. I hope I haven't made you [mad.] If I did tell me about it and I will [forget] about it. I wish this was [a] northern state. I guess you call me fresh. Write and tell me what you think of me[,] good or bad. Sincerely yours, with, [sic] 

From Y.K.W.

For Cynthia Goff

I love your name. I love your voice, for a S.H. [sweetheart] you are my choice.”

This was the christmas letter Willie James Howard a 15 year old black gave his coworker Cynthia Goff in 1943. She told her father A.P. "Phil" Goff, you know what he did? He went to the house of Willie James, took him from his mother at gunpoint and proceeded to pick Willie James' father from his place of work. He then drove them to the Suwannee River where he bound Willie by the hands and feet and forced him to either jump to his death or be shot. Willie James' father watched while his son jumped to his death.