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The city of Jacksonville, FL, was erupting with race riots. The mayor, Haydon Burns, refused to enforce a federal order to desegregate the town.
Emboldened by the ruckus, Elmer Kato, James Alex Davis, Wayne Chessman, and gunman J.W. Rich decided they were going to “get” a Black person. They found their victim in Chappell, a 35-year-old wife and mother of 10.
She was struck in the abdomen by Rich’s bullet and died waiting for a hearse, fashioned into a “colored” ambulance, to transport her to the hospital.
Jacksonville police barely put any energy into solving her case - proving how little our lives mattered - until one of the riders came forward.
Wayne Chessman confessed details that lead to only Rich’s conviction of the minimized charge of manslaughter. An all-white jury sentenced him to 10 years in prison, of which he would only serve 3.
Johnnie Mae Chappell’s murder is the reason confessions by white men like Liam Neeson - who shared his botched plot to kill ANY Black man because a friend claimed ONE Black man had raped her - are so unsettling.
The Jim Crow era was filled with senseless executions like this. Communities and families were torn apart because of the violent resentment white men held against Black people simply living their lives.
For this reason, we must continue calling out white supremacy for the harm it continues to cause.