1 - Before the Burning

Summary

“There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”

Christian Bible, KJV, Proverbs 30:12.

“The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it … For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.”

Christian Bible, KJV, Micah 6: 9, 12.

“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: … You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.”

Christian Bible, KJV, Exodus 21:1, 23: 1–2

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On the third Sunday after Easter in 1899 about forty miles southwest of Atlanta near Newnan, Georgia, a white crowd burned to death a black laborer known as Sam Hose. The atrocity blended anger, contempt, brutality, festivity, and satisfaction into a mood just beyond comprehension. “Glory!” shouted an excited man enraptured by the intensity of the moment, “Glory be to God!!”