Laid at Some Colored Person’s Door
May 13, 1905
Summary
Authorities arrest Austin Johnson, “a colored man with an unsavory reputation” for the assault of a “little white girl.”
Transcription
A little white girl, named Ruth Pinchbeek was criminally assaulted by a colored man, it is alleged and Austin Johnson, a colored man with an unsavory reputation is charged with the crime. When he was first arrested, he was carried before the girl and she failed to identify him. He was released. She later declared that he was the right man, but that she was afraid to say so. Johnson was again arrested. He protests that he is innocent. But that is neither here nor there, so far as the point we wish to make is concerned.
The county authorities and the city officials have combined in their efforts to suppress all forms of lawlessness and to prevent a lynching. The mob will be made to understand the law and that in maintaining its majesty the primary purpose is not so much to protect the prisoner as it is to defend the government itself. If Johnson is guilt, he is as good as dead now. If he is innocent, there is no law-abiding citizen, be he white or black, who would wish to take his life.
The better class of colored people are satisfied whenever a lecherous scoundrel of this type is made to walk the stairway and land upon the gibbet on his way to the other world. They injure us as a people more than they do the victims of their bestiality. All we ask is that the case be impartially investigated with the idea in view of establishing the fact that the circumstances surrounding the case are just as the victim describes them.
There is a class of colored youngsters dangerous to every community and they fear nothing but the unerring arm of the law. We sympathize with the family of this unfortunate girl and only hope that the person responsible for her condition will receive short-shift to the rope’s end.
The county authorities and the city officials have combined in their efforts to suppress all forms of lawlessness and to prevent a lynching. The mob will be made to understand the law and that in maintaining its majesty the primary purpose is not so much to protect the prisoner as it is to defend the government itself. If Johnson is guilt, he is as good as dead now. If he is innocent, there is no law-abiding citizen, be he white or black, who would wish to take his life.
The better class of colored people are satisfied whenever a lecherous scoundrel of this type is made to walk the stairway and land upon the gibbet on his way to the other world. They injure us as a people more than they do the victims of their bestiality. All we ask is that the case be impartially investigated with the idea in view of establishing the fact that the circumstances surrounding the case are just as the victim describes them.
There is a class of colored youngsters dangerous to every community and they fear nothing but the unerring arm of the law. We sympathize with the family of this unfortunate girl and only hope that the person responsible for her condition will receive short-shift to the rope’s end.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Ryan Shah
Citation
“Laid at Some Colored Person’s Door,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 21, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/366.