Lynching Of Jesse Thornton
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Jesse Thornton was a 26-year old African-American man who was lynched in the town of
Luverne, Alabama Luverne is a city in and the county seat of Crenshaw County, Alabama, United States. The city describes itself as "The Friendliest City in the South", a slogan that appears on its "welcome" signs. At the 2020 census, the population was 2,765. ...
, on June 22, 1940. Thornton was lynched for allegedly refusing to address a white man as "Mister". He was shot to death, and his body was thrown into the Patsaliga River.Jessie P. Guzzman & W. Hardin Hughes, “Lynching-Crime,” ''Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life, 1944-1946'', 1947; part of National Humanities Center, ''The Making of African American Identity, Vol. III, 1917-1968''; accessed 04 June 2018
/ref> The Equal Justice Initiative documented that the white man Thornton had apparently offended by his
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
infraction was a police officer. According to ''Legacy of Lynching'', the killing took place on June 21. Police officer Rhodes hears Thornton mention his name, apparently leaving out "Mr." He arrested him but while he was taking him to jail, a mob started throwing stones at Thornton, who was held by another officer, Nolan Ellis. Thornton managed to escape but was shot by the mob, which pursued him and then shot him dead. The mob then went to his house where they abused Nellie May, Thornton's wife. Later, they came back to the house, abducted May, and threatened to kill her if she would tell on them. The
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
's local chapter investigated, and with the assistance of Thurgood Marshall sent a report to the United States Department of Justice. No prosecution resulted from the investigation or the report.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Jesse 1940 murders in the United States 1940 in Alabama Deaths by person in Alabama Lynching deaths in Alabama June 1940 events Racially motivated violence against African Americans