September 21, 1871

ST JAMES, Louisiana

African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Race-Relations

Led up the stars to the wooden platform, shackled and eerily subdued, two unnamed African American men marched solemnly to their deaths. The guards shoved them into place while the executioner waited with anticipation for his cue to drop the platforms supporting the prisoners' feet. The sheriff and jailer looked on with authoritative indifference; death for these two men was drawing ever closer....