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“70 Years After Brutal Rape Alabama Law Makers Apologize”

The ReadyWriter

Recy Taylor (pictured here), was raped by a gang of white men 70 years ago, and leaders of the rural southeast Alabama community where it happened apologized for the mishandling of that case on Monday. They acknowledged that her attackers escaped prosecution because of racism and an investigation bungled by police.

Taylor, 91, who now lives in Florida, did not attend the news conference but her 74-year-old brother Robert Corbitt, who still lives in town, was front and center and said he would relay the apology to his sister…

“What happened to my sister way back then … couldn’t happen today,” he said. “Boy, what a mess they made out of it. They tried to make her look like a whore when she was a Christian lady.”

Taylor who was 24, married at the time and living in her native Henry County of Abbeville when she was gang-raped, was walking home from church when she was abducted, assaulted and left on the side of the road in an isolated area.

Two all-white, all-male grand juries declined to bring charges against the perpetrators for the crime and in 2011, 70 years later the county where she lived apologizes?

If I were Ms. Recy Taylor, I would sue (the shit!!!) out of that county, from the lawmakers to the grandchildren or next of kin to the men who raped her. A hefty sum of money would be give me the satisfaction of knowing, that they were truly sorry for such an injustice.

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Published by The ReadyWriter

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106 thoughts on ““70 Years After Brutal Rape Alabama Law Makers Apologize””

      1. I’m glad Ms. Taylor finally received her apology. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem like enough for what she endured. Can’t help but think, how many men and women never even heard those words…I’­m sorry…we­’re sorry.

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      3. I’m sorry but “I’m Sorry” is just not enough for what this woman had to endure. —> COSIGN!

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    1. Oh yeah it’s “safe” to acknowledg­e the wrong now because all the criminals are dead.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      All the people involved are dead, except her…she was a strong black woman who endured the worst of all crimes and still living proof that she is a SURVIVOR.

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  3. So they calling the crimes of these no good low-down white bastards “errors” and “mistakes” GTFOH!!! It was a crime!­

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  4. The source article states: “”I would like to extend a deep, heartfelt apology for the error we made here in Alabama,” Grimsley said Monday, looking straight at Corbitt. “It was so unkind. We can’t stand around and say that it didn’t happen.””

    That statement made me cry not only for Mrs. Recy but for all the other Black women this has happened to and who have gone to their graves never receiving an acknowledg­ement, nor an apology for the crime committed against them.

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    1. That statement made me cry –> well wipe them damn tears, this was still no justice cause them racist fucks who raped this woman are dead! I agree with Trace she should sue the shit outta that county!

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      2. Racism is very much alive and well in America today.
        _________________________
        I am sorry to say it. But it’s true.

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      3. Racism is very much alive and well in America today.
        ———————————————————————

        It is. And it’s just horrible.

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    1. May God bless Mrs. Recy and give her peace regarding this terrible occurrence in her life.
      ———————————————————————–
      She recieved no justice, how in the world can she now have peace?

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  6. This woman was raped, violated, harrassed and her reputation ruined all because some low-down dirty white bastards raped her. Now “70” years later lawmakers apologize and it’s suppose to be ok? Oh hell nah, if that were my grandmama, we’d be on our way to the bank.

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  7. No one deserves to be treated like this. That’s why it’s important to fight racism on all fronts. When people dehumanize other people they are capable of anything.

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  8. I know people can move on and all that, but everywhere I look, I just see the black folk perseverin­g, eager to make friends with the white folk, even marrying them. It is all good but I will never stop wondering IF the white folk would have forgiven and forgot if they were the victim.

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    1. Africans and African Americans for the most part deal with their suffering from a spiritual perspectiv­e. Of course there are some who fall prey to anger, hatred and violence, but the majority of these communitie­s are spirituall­y based.

      Fortunatel­y things are changing, the world is uniting, and they are being brought into a global human family that is embracing them and healing them whether they like it or not.

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    1. It’s not ridiculous­, it’s sickening. And think about the countless victims who didn’t even get that much.

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  17. the fact that this was “swept under the rug” was obviously racial. This could have happened to a loved one of any one of us! This should have been handled far sooner as you can bet this woman has always lived with this injustice in her heart. That kind of wound never goes away.

    Mrs. Taylor, in my mind, is being unbelievab­ly big in asking for a mere apology.

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  18. WTF? SMH…No words right now, I gotta process this. seriously Trace, this story got me fucked up. and look @this woman looking my grand-mama n-shit. this story got me tearing up ya’ll fa-real.

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  19. About those juries, who did not convict those thugs for this horrible crime, all I have to say is this:

    I can understand a child, who is afraid of the dark; but not a man, who is afraid of the “Light”.

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    1. It’s not that they weren’t convicted – two grand juries refused to even charge them with a crime. They were never put on trial.

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      1. About those juries, who did not convict those thugs for this horrible crime,
        *******************************************
        Maybe it would have felt a little more sincere had they named all the jurist on the two juries, the judge, and members of the “bungling” law enforcemen­t community by name.

        Instead these people avoid the searing eyes of historical judgment by remaining anonymous. Anonymous does not commit crimes, what this community did to this lady was a “crime”.

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      2. Yes, I am happy for the apology. But, at the same time sad, because all this did was cause this woman to relive the nightmare all over again.

        But how fucked up, a gang rape coming from church?

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      3. Two, all white male juries and not one of them found it in his heart, mind, soul, and/or conscience to speak out. wow

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      4. They should keep the spotlight focused on everyone who helped in whitewashi­ng this incident. Publicly name names and tell what these people did. Let them, and the public know that their actions added to the crime.

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      6. Posting their pictures and even naming their names don’t negate the fact that a crime was committed., this woman was violated and lived with it for 70 years. And a 70 y/o apology is just not enuff!

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    1. Nothing says, “I’m sorry”, like a HUGE check with a lot of zeros.
      ____________________________________________
      I can’t speak for her or her family, but justice back then probably would’ve meant more than a check right now.

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  21. White Supremacy! The laws that protected it then, and the laws that the Republican Baggers are attempting to resurface and protect now.

    The only difference is… the hood and sheets have been exchanged for a suit and a button down shirt, hate was their rhetoric then and hate is their rhetoric now!

    Nothing’s change, except a black man sittin in a white house.

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  22. According to the article, she said that she would like an apology. So issuing an apology is appropriat­e, though several decades too late.

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  23. It it not about where and how injustices occur.. the Fact is

    “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere­.”
    — Martin Luther King Jr.

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    1. I agree. But don’t you think Rev. King would celebrate that a town was facing it’s racist past and offering an apology to someone who suffered as result of that racism?

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  25. apologies don’t begin to rectify the damage done to this fine woman. this is simply disgusting!!!!

    Look at her­, and to the many in the US who still hold blacks in scorn, FUCK YOU!!!!!

    I am truly sorry this woman had to carry this all these years. she didn’t deserve it. i am sorry.

    😦

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    1. Imagine if Recy Taylor was your grandma, or your mother. Or your sister…y­our daughter..­.your wife. Just imagine what her life was like. it is almost unbearable to think of her carrying on somehow.

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      1. 70 years Ya’ll….. 70 years?????

        And the barbaric treatment of black people still continues today.

        Yeah, yeah, the children play together, blah blah blah. I am here to say this hurts!!!!

        Racism is indeed alive and well! I cried for this lady.

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  28. They say that revenge is best served cold. I guess that now applies to delayed justice. I am happy to see that Alabama finally recognized its mishandlin­g of Ms Recy Taylor’s horrific case.

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  30. Such a small step towards healing. But a very important one. I am glad that Ms. Taylor was still alive to receive the apology.

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  31. First of all, God bless this woman…God bless her because she lived with this…God Bless her for having the strength to survive. 🙂 God Bless her for being alive to get an apology and although “an apology” is not good enough for us, may she find peace and reap the benefits of an unjust system in order to have her own “peace of mind”.

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  32. Too little and way too late. They were shamed into apologizin­g because of the book written by Danielle McGuire. If they meant a word of it they would have apologized many years ago. Those that refused to prosecute and those following who continued to refuse to prosecute should all be prosecuted now. I don’t care how old they are, if they are drawing breath lock DEY ASSES up.

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  33. I appreciate Alabama stepping up to apologize for such an ordeal. It’s a very good step towards healing, and I hope it encourages many more such steps towards humane treatment of all American citizens, regardless of color or creed.

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  34. So horrible – I feel so sick reading this…and even more so knowing that there were so many more faceless, nameless victims who faced this same type of horror. May God bless them, and may God bless you, Ms.Recy…­for coming forward. Now – for those sons of biTches that did this..I sincerly hope you all are ROASTING in Hades rotisserie style in a lake of FIRE. And if you are not dead yet…just know what ya got waiting on you.

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    1. Rotten “son uba bitches” (In my Bernie Mac Voice)

      “For those sons of biTches that did this..I sincerly hope you all are ROASTING in Hades rotisserie style in a lake of FIRE. And if you are not dead yet…just know what ya got waiting on you.” I Co-Co-sign!!!

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  35. Just imagine if this situation would have been reversed where a white woman claimed that she was gang raped by a few black men in the year 1944. Those black men would have been lynched even before an investigat­ion.

    American justice has been flawed for centuries. ‘Equal Justice for all’ is only in our books and have never been practiced satisfacto­rily.

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    1. hell who can forget? We were beaten, enslaved, mistreated and killed. It’s apart of our grim history., all of it!!!!

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      1. I often wonder if I would have had the strength to remain as strong and proud as I am, if I had to endure what some of my ancenstors went through. I don’t know. I really don’t know if I could do it.

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      2. I would like to see a reparation­s package that would fund the African-Am­erican community’­s ability to seek profession­al help and allow blacks to have their family histories done free of charge. We should not have to pay for something that was stolen from us.

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      3. @ebony, they ain’t given us shit!!!! and you wonder why some of our people don’t survive the racist injustices. So many of our people have gone to their graves with ‘untold stories’.

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      4. And let us NOT forget about Emmett Till. What savagery!
        **********
        Poor little Emmitt Till was viciously murdered by three grown ass men who were so insecure over the teenager just speaking to a white woman. Sad indeed.

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      5. Poor little Emmitt Till was viciously murdered by three grown ass men who were so insecure over the teenager just speaking to a white woman. Sad indeed.
        ———————————————————————

        some say he whistled at her, then i heard he told her a fresh joke. either way they murdered him.

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      6. some say he whistled at her, then i heard he told her a fresh joke. either way they murdered him.
        *******************************************
        Emmett Louis “Bobo” Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till

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  37. Thanks for the post Trace but this one hurts on the real. Can’t help but look at this woman and think about my own grandmother., that makes this shit so real for many of us. God blessings to this woman.

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  41. It is a good thing this apology, but why so long? Wasn’t the racial climate becoming better 10 yrs ago? 20yrs? 30yrs? 40yrs? 50yrs? Why did this have to wait 70 years later?

    I don’t understand­. Some have suggested money for her, she is owed much, much more than money. She is owed justice.

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    1. She is owed 70 years of her life back, that which she will never get.

      She is owed an apology from every last person of ANY color who called her names or spat at her for accusing someone of abusing her.

      This is some serious bullshit right here!

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      1. What she is owed is undefinabl­e and there is no amount of money that can make up for it. That is the horrendous part of this story, but she is not the only one that is owed something. The whole black race is owed something.

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  42. I guess they had to wait until the rapists and their friends were dead and buried before they apologized­.

    Bastards!

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  43. I am so glad that Mrs. Taylor finally got her apology. I’m happy she got it before she passed out of this world. Blessings and love to you Recy Taylor.

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    1. An apology??? Too little too late.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      She asked for an apology before she died. She got that. It was the least they could do. You don’t get to decide if it’s too little or too late. That’s up to Mrs. Taylor. No one else.

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      1. The apology is a good first step.
        However: Abbeville – They also need to add some money to their apology to her.

        We wish Recy Taylor only better days & happy times for the remainder of her Life

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  47. I think Americans are very aware of the horrors of racism, past and present. Some just don’t care. Hatred and racism are taught. It starts in the home, and spreads to communitie­s, black, white, and otherwise. Teaching history is all well and good, but it will do little to change behavior patterns learned from family and friends.

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  48. Recy Taylor wanted an apology and finally got one. She kept her dignity and integrity, despite what happened to her. That’s the history lesson I think is so important. She didn’t let herself be a victim of a sick society, and in the end she won. That’s what matters most, isn’t it?

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      1. I swear, apologies are words; she should have been compensate­d financiall­y for having lived all these years without justice.

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      3. It would be nice if something could be created or offered in her name. A rape crisis center or something? I think a lasting monument to the injustice that this woman suffered would be better than any financial compensati­on.

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