From the brutal 1944 Alabama rape case of Recy Taylor, who wastaken from her car and gang raped by 7 white men, all of whom the state declined to hold accountable (twice).
The state of Alabama in 2011 issued the following apology which I came across today.
1 HJR194
2 127665-1
3 By Representatives Grimsley, Ball, Melton, England, Holmes,
4 Colston and Mitchell
5 RFD: Rules
6 First Read: 24-MAR-11
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1 127665-1:n:03/22/2011:MCS/mfp LRS2011-1549
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8 EXPRESSING REGRET FOR THE STATE OF ALABAMA'S
9 INVOLVEMENT IN THE FAILURE TO PROSECUTE CRIMES COMMITTED
10 AGAINST RECY TAYLOR.
11
12 WHEREAS, on September 3, 1944, in the small Town of
13 Abbeville, Alabama, Recy Taylor, a young Black mother was
14 walking home from church with her companions when she was
15 confronted by a car of seven white men; the men forced Ms.
16 Taylor into the car at knife and gunpoint, drove off, and six
17 of the seven men brutally raped her in a deserted grove of
18 pine trees; and
19 WHEREAS, Taylor's younger brother, Robert Corbitt,
20 of Abbeville, said he remembers the day his sister was raped
21 67 years ago like it was yesterday, saying the police tried to
22 blame his sister, and the family was harassed so that he was
23 not allowed to play in the front yard; and
24 WHEREAS, an all white, all male grand jury failed to
25 bring any charges for indictment; and then Governor Chauncey
26 Sparks ordered a second investigation, and the grand jury
27 again failed to indict; and
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1 WHEREAS, the case got the attention of NAACP
2 activist Rosa Parks, who interviewed Taylor in 1944 in
3 Abbeville and later recruited other activists to create the
4 "Alabama Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor";
5 and
6 WHEREAS, in an interview last year with the AP, Recy
7 Taylor, who now resides in Florida, said she eventually gave
8 up trying to bring charges against the men; and
9 WHEREAS, this deplorable lack of justice remains a
10 source of shame for all Alabamians; now therefore,
11 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH
12 HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That we acknowledge the lack of
13 prosecution for crimes committed against Recy Taylor by the
14 government of the State of Alabama, that we declare such
15 failure to act was, and is, morally abhorrent and repugnant,
16 and that we do hereby express profound regret for the role
17 played by the government of the State of Alabama in failing to
18 prosecute the crimes.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we express our deepest
20 sympathies and solemn regrets to Recy Taylor and her family
21 and friends.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That it is the specific
23 intent of the Legislature that reparations shall not be
24 considered or made regarding past actions of the government of
25 the State of Alabama concerning the lack of prosecution of the
26 crimes committed against Recy Taylor, and that this resolution
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1 shall not be used or construed in any manner whatsoever as
2 support for such reparations.
It read okay right up to that last little bit.
