Justice sought for 1923 Missouri lynching victim

Monday, November 8, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Columbia community leaders are working to correct the record in the 1923 lynching of a black University of Missouri janitor accused of raping a white professor’s daughter.

James T. Scott was charged with the crime eight days after the 14-year-old girl was assaulted. He insisted he was mistakenly identified.

But before he could face a trial, a mob of 500 men stormed the Boone County jail, took Scott out and hanged him near the campus. Thousands watched.

Scott’s death certificate has a handwritten note listing “committed rape” as a secondary cause of death. A local documentary filmmaker has petitioned state recordkeepers to strike that note.

And Second Baptist Church leaders are raising money to add a headstone to Scott’s small grave marker in Columbia Cemetery. The church held a fundraiser Sunday night.

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misshoneybee 2 years, 6 months ago

Shoot, to this day, in the sick minds of some people, all black men secretly 'lust' after and want to rape white women. And all black women are 'hot blooded' and have insatiable sexual appetites.

3kids 2 years, 6 months ago

So the true question is did they ever find out if he did or did not rape the girl...no matter the skin colors involved? Misshoneybee you are too funny..dont you know its all the white man slave masters who want all the black women?

3kids 2 years, 6 months ago

Unreal...really...all women are beautiful no matter the color of their skin and men could take a clue from them and learn to charish what they have in each other. Its time as man kind everyone starts realizing it doesnt matter the color of the skin but what kind of person you are. My big question against this case is why wipe it clean...they dont know if he did or didnt do it...maybe do a trial now and if he didnt and that comes out then remove it. If it shows he did it then leave it there. But really I think we have other things more pressing...a man killing 3 people injuring another, a teenage girl killing a young girl, missing children and women...these are all current things going on in our world right now in our little area of the woods.

nunyabidness 2 years, 6 months ago

Wow, overt racism on the JCNT website, what a shock. Black women aren't as beautiful as white women, so that's why black men lust after them? You disgust me. Unreal is right.

And 3kids, we'll never know if he did it or not. What we do know is that he wasn't afforded the due process that everyone in the country is guaranteed by the constitution. He was murdered by a mob who didn't know if he did it or not either. As he was not proven guilty in a court of law, it should come off.

JCLifer 2 years, 6 months ago

And all black women are 'hot blooded' and have insatiable sexual appetites

Learn something every day!

wcywing 2 years, 6 months ago

they should strike the note, it will be a small step to right a huge wrong.

wow 2 years, 6 months ago

In 1923 a man is accused of a crime, and even though for 87 years his demise has always been known to have happened due to criminal conduct. In 2010 people question "his" innocence. We will never know if Mr. Scott raped that girl, but we do know 500 men took part in "murdering/lynching" Mr. Scott in front of 1000's bystander's. An accused man is murdered in broad daylight near the campus of Mizzou and not one person is prosecuted. Please tell us why? Mr. Scott was in police custody yet was snatched by a mob and then murdered. What happened to the cops guarding him? Can somebody shed some light on that? Why isn't somebody apologizing to his family. Oh I forgot..it happened to long ago and people need to get over this incident. In part I agree; however un-prosecuted lynchings were an all to frequent occurrence and if we're not willing to forget an 87 year old "accusation" of rape, we obviously cannot forget an 87 year old murder, especially when there is evidence the "murder" actually occurred. Just-Us

wow 2 years, 6 months ago

1 of the 500 prosecuted, not good odds. It's even worse if he was found to have been doing nothing more than his civic duty. After all protecting "white women" from the black beast was a common cry of the day in 1923. What's even more crazy is the on lookers who by way...out numbered the lynch mob...all stood by and watched as if there was a carnival going on. I know I wasn't there, but how else can it be described?

Rape nor lynching is okay, regardless of who is involved!
Oh well no more comments until I read up on this. Please tell me the name of the book? Thanks for the info

3kids 2 years, 6 months ago

Not saying this was right but everyone needs to look at the year it happened. There was much more racism in that day then even today. The issue though if we remove rape from his charge then are we saying to the rape victims family that it was never a rape and because of the color of the mans skin and what happened to him that she didnt matter either? Its a fine line...he shouldve stood trial but just as this happened to many Native Americans early on it also happened to many blacks (men and women alike), it happened to many Asians, it happens and its never good...but the question I ask if this was a man of any other color would we be hearing anything of it today? We have muslims being attacked in 2010 just for being Muslim but many feel that is ok because of 9/11...is it right? Its time to step back look at history as a whole and remember we have to learn from the past...

january 2 years, 6 months ago

3kids, I think you might be a bit confused. It states "commited rape" as a secondary cause of death on his death certificate. This is what they were trying to correct not any documentation that he was charged with rape.

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