blades and pulled the gun out of his pants. He handed the gun to the skinny cop, then cuffed Marcus and pulled him to his feet, wrenching his shoulders. Marcus looked at Easton, at the dark blood on the sidewalk by his head.
Two women stared out their windows.
If Ruby had come out on the porch, she would have seen the whole thing. But she was sewing, and when she heard the gunshots, she pressed harder on the pedal. revved the small machine’s engine until the needle moved faster than her eyes.
SANTA RITA JAIL
TODAY, I READ from Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery:
There are a large number of free Negroes residing in the Southern States; but in Georgia (and I believe in all the Slave States) every colored person’s complexion is prima-facie evidence of his being a slave; and the lowest villain in the country, should he be a white man, has the legal power to arrest, and question, in the most inquisitorial and insulting manner, any colored person, male or female, that he may find at large, particularly at night and on Sundays, without a written pass, signed by the master or someone in authority; or stamped free papers, certifying that the person is the rightful owner of himself.
If the colored person refuses to answer questions put to him, he may be beaten, and his defending himself against this attack makes him an outlaw, and if he be killed on the spot, the murderer will be exempted from all blame; but after the colored person has answered the questions put to him, in a most humble and pointed manner, he may then be taken to prison; and should it turn out, after further examination, that he was caught where he had no permission or legal right to be, and that he has not given what they term a satisfactory account of himself, the master will have to pay a fine. On his refusing to do this, the poor slave may be legally and severely flogged by public officers. Should the prisoner prove to be a free man, he is most likely to be both whipped and fined.
The great majority of slaveholders hate this class of persons with a hatred that can only be equalled by the condemned spirits of the infernal regions. They have no mercy upon, nor sympathy for, any Negro whom they cannot enslave. They say that God made the black man to be a slave for the white, and act as though they really believed that all free persons of color are in open rebellion to a direct command from heaven, and that they (the whites) are God’s chosen agents to pour out upon them unlimited vengeance. For instance, a bill has been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature to prevent free Negroes from travelling on the railroads in that State. It has passed the first reading. The bill provides that the president who shall permit a free Negro to travel on any road within the jurisdiction of the State under his supervision shall pay a fine of five hundred dollars; any conductor permitting a violation of the act shall pay two hundred and fifty dollars; provided such free Negro is not under the control of a free white citizen of Tennessee who will vouch for the character of said free Negro in a penal bond of one thousand dollars. The State of Arkansas has passed a law to banish all free Negroes from its bounds, and it came into effect on the 1st day of January, 1860. Every free Negro found there after that date will be liable to be sold into slavery, the crime of freedom being unpardonable. The Missouri Senate has before it a bill providing that all free Negroes above the age of eighteen years who shall be found in the State after September 1860 shall be sold into slavery; and that all such Negroes as shall enter the State after September 1861 and remain there twenty-four hours, shall also be sold into slavery forever. Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia, and in fact, I believe, all the Slave States, are legislating in the same manner. Thus the slaveholders make it almost impossible for free persons of color to get
Two women stared out their windows.
If Ruby had come out on the porch, she would have seen the whole thing. But she was sewing, and when she heard the gunshots, she pressed harder on the pedal. revved the small machine’s engine until the needle moved faster than her eyes.
SANTA RITA JAIL
TODAY, I READ from Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery:
There are a large number of free Negroes residing in the Southern States; but in Georgia (and I believe in all the Slave States) every colored person’s complexion is prima-facie evidence of his being a slave; and the lowest villain in the country, should he be a white man, has the legal power to arrest, and question, in the most inquisitorial and insulting manner, any colored person, male or female, that he may find at large, particularly at night and on Sundays, without a written pass, signed by the master or someone in authority; or stamped free papers, certifying that the person is the rightful owner of himself.
If the colored person refuses to answer questions put to him, he may be beaten, and his defending himself against this attack makes him an outlaw, and if he be killed on the spot, the murderer will be exempted from all blame; but after the colored person has answered the questions put to him, in a most humble and pointed manner, he may then be taken to prison; and should it turn out, after further examination, that he was caught where he had no permission or legal right to be, and that he has not given what they term a satisfactory account of himself, the master will have to pay a fine. On his refusing to do this, the poor slave may be legally and severely flogged by public officers. Should the prisoner prove to be a free man, he is most likely to be both whipped and fined.
The great majority of slaveholders hate this class of persons with a hatred that can only be equalled by the condemned spirits of the infernal regions. They have no mercy upon, nor sympathy for, any Negro whom they cannot enslave. They say that God made the black man to be a slave for the white, and act as though they really believed that all free persons of color are in open rebellion to a direct command from heaven, and that they (the whites) are God’s chosen agents to pour out upon them unlimited vengeance. For instance, a bill has been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature to prevent free Negroes from travelling on the railroads in that State. It has passed the first reading. The bill provides that the president who shall permit a free Negro to travel on any road within the jurisdiction of the State under his supervision shall pay a fine of five hundred dollars; any conductor permitting a violation of the act shall pay two hundred and fifty dollars; provided such free Negro is not under the control of a free white citizen of Tennessee who will vouch for the character of said free Negro in a penal bond of one thousand dollars. The State of Arkansas has passed a law to banish all free Negroes from its bounds, and it came into effect on the 1st day of January, 1860. Every free Negro found there after that date will be liable to be sold into slavery, the crime of freedom being unpardonable. The Missouri Senate has before it a bill providing that all free Negroes above the age of eighteen years who shall be found in the State after September 1860 shall be sold into slavery; and that all such Negroes as shall enter the State after September 1861 and remain there twenty-four hours, shall also be sold into slavery forever. Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia, and in fact, I believe, all the Slave States, are legislating in the same manner. Thus the slaveholders make it almost impossible for free persons of color to get
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