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(More customer reviews)Here's a real-life version of the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, though it's far murkier and complicated. Willie McGee was an African-American man who, in 1945, was sentenced to death for raping a white housewife, Willette Hawkins. His trial was unfair- he was tried by an all-white jury who debated for only about two minutes before convicting him in a hostile courthouse where he couldn't even put together two words coherently, he was so terrified of being lynched by the mob outside.
Willie McGee caught the interest of many civil rights organizations in America and even more people around the world. William Faulkner spoke out about him. Norman Mailer. Letters poured in from China, Germany, the UK and countless other places, pleading his innocence. But did those supporters really have the facts straight? As Alex Heard investigates the case, he finds multiple, serious discrepancies about the "facts" presented. Did Willie and Willette have a forbidden affair? Who was Willie's wife at the time, and did she really take care of his children? Was Willie innocent? Was Willette as horrible and manipulative as some people believe?
This book is fascinating. Heard touches on race relations, the political climate, William Faulkner and so much else. He uses the trial as a central point from which to explore all sorts of historical events and personalities of the period. He touches on newspaper titans, white supremacist senators, Harry Truman, Jessica Mitford, and the way people can bend the facts so that a case can serve as a rallying cry for an organization.
But that's the sad (and fascinating) thing. What *were* the facts in this ase? Whites who remember Willette Hawkins strongly believe that she was raped. Blacks who remember Willie McGee believe he was innocent and was the victim of a corrupt justice system. Both sides are so strong in their beliefs that they are unwilling to budge, looking at the same trial transcripts, the same information- and are unable to meet in the middle.
I don't read much non-fiction, but I found this book absolutely riveting. It was a disturbing portrait of America after World War II, but it was also a very successful attempt to view the country through the lens of one case and the way it affected an entire nation. It was amazing to see how far news of Willie McGee spread- we like to think that we live in a global environment now, but even in the 1950s, people as far away as the USSR and China knew and had strong opinions about one African-American man sentenced to death. It was so interesting to read about someone who so captured the public imagination and who helped, in some small part, in starting a full-scale Civil Rights movement. Highly recommended!
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South
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