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On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, photographs of Mylinda Byrd Washington, 66, on the right, and Louvon Byrd Harris, 61, present photographs of their brother James Byrd Jr. in Houston. James Byrd Jr. has fallen victim to what is considered one of the most abominable hate crime murders in recent Texas history. (AP Photo / Juan Lozano)
JASPER, Texas – A Texas city is still haunted by a hate crime in which a black man was dragged behind a pickup truck and killed by three white men almost 21 years ago.
The story of Jasper will be re-examined Wednesday, when the leader responsible for the brutal 1998 murder, James Byrd Jr., must be executed.
Jasper executives say that their community's reputation as a place of racial disturbance and intolerance is undeserved.
But other locals, as well as members of Byrd's family, think that Jasper has never fully accepted the place of crime in its history. They say that some tensions between white and black communities remain unresolved.
Byrd's family still hopes to build a multicultural center and museum in Jasper to promote diversity and education.
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