Racism is still deeply embedded in the state of Mississippi. Two Mississippi women are the latest who pleaded guilty to a hate-crime that resulted in the 2011 murder of 49-year-old James Anderson, reported The Guardian.
Shelbie Richards and Sarah Graves are the women who have identified themselves in having involvement in Anderson’s 2011 killing. Nine people so far have been linked to Anderson’s death, which violated federal hate-crime laws. One person involved, Deryl Dedmon, has already been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
In 2011, Dedmon used his oversized Ford F250 pickup truck to run over Anderson in an unprovoked, racially-motivated attack in Jackson, MS. According to the Guardian, Anderson was murdered early on a Sunday morning in 2011. Two-car loads of white teenagers travelled to Jackson to “go fuck with some n*ggers,” as Dedmon shouted that night.
The group of white kids spotted Anderson in a parking lot and shouted “White power” before beginning their attack. Several got out and attacked Anderson, and then Dedmon ran him over with his big truck. Unbeknownst to the attackers, their actions were caught on a surveillance camera.
Video surveillance of that night made finding the teenagers simple for the local police authorities.
Three years later, the two women are 21-years-old. After admitting their role in the attack, which consisted of them instigating the attack, Richards and Graves are looking at three years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Despite the current conservative belief that racism in America is no more, this incident should serve as proof that it is anything but. Anderson was an innocent man, and a bunch of racist, Mississippi rednecks attacked and killed him like a pack of wild dogs.
