Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas

On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr., a forty-nine-year-old black man, was walking home from a party when three white men in a pickup truck offered him a ride. They drove Byrd out to a lonely country road, tied him to a logging chain, and dragged him three miles to his death.

Joyce King, an award-winning journalist and native Texan, was assigned to cover the story, which drew international media headlines. In Hate Crime, she provides a chilling re-creation of the slaying and the subsequent trials. But she also moves beyond the details of the case to provide insight into the minds of the murderers, and to investigate the Texas prison system in which they developed their virulent racism. King also explores how the town of Jasper, Texas, endured a tragedy that threatened to divide its residents. A first-rate work of reportage, Hate Crime is also a searing look at how race continues to shape life in America.

Author: Joyce King
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 12/02/2003
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 8.02h x 5.18w x 0.64d
ISBN: 9780385721950

About the Author
A former reporter and anchor for a CBS radio affiliate, Joyce King is an award-winning twenty-year broadcast veteran. She also writes guest columns and opinion pieces for USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Dallas Morning News. This is her first book. She lives in Dallas.