When an Innocent Person is Put to Death who are the Real Criminals? 7 Innocent Black Men Executed Over 1951 Rape of a White Woman Granted Posthumous Pardons by VA Governor. How Can Revenge be Exacted?
/From [HERE] Nearly 70 years after their unjust executions, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons Tuesday to seven Black men known as the "Martinsville Seven," who were executed for the alleged rape of a white woman in 1951 in Martinsville, Va.
Northam granted the pardons after a meeting with the descendants of the Martinsville Seven. He said the pardons do not address whether the men were guilty, but rather serve "as recognition from the Commonwealth" that they were tried without adequate due process.
"This is about righting wrongs," Northam said in a news release. "We all deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and gets it right—no matter who you are or what you look like. While we can't change the past, I hope today's action brings them some small measure of peace."
The history behind the Martinsville Seven
Seven Black men were executed in February 1951 over the alleged rape of a white woman, Ruby Stroud Floyd, in 1949. They were Frank Hairston Jr., 18, Booker T. Millner, 19, Francis DeSales Grayson, 37, Howard Lee Hairston, 18, James Luther Hairston, 20, Joe Henry Hampton, 19, and John Claybon Taylor, 21.
Floyd said 13 Black men raped her on the evening of Jan. 8, 1949, as she passed through a predominately Black neighborhood.
Floyd identified both Grayson and Hampton as her rapists, but she had trouble identifying the others, according to BlackPast.org, an online reference center for Black history. [MORE]