Local groups are using the next four months to remind the community of the brutal lynching of Jesse Washington in Waco.
It’s been nearly 100 years since “The Waco Horror” dominated headlines across the country.
Groups like the Community Race Relations Coalition said the community needs to be reminded of the past, so that real change can be made in the present.
Over the next few months, the group is holding a series of events to commemorate Jesse Washington up to a Memorial service on May 15.
“There is so much fear that this is going to reflect negatively on Waco. Well, it already has. For 100 years it has. And so this opportunity now to make a statement about who we are now and to acknowledge and apologize for a lynching past and being complicit by allowing it to go on,” Jo Welter with the Community Race Relations Coalition said.
Click here for upcoming events.
Back in 1916, Washington was on trial for the murder of Lucy Fryer.
He eventually pleaded guilty to the crime. His punishment was death by hanging.
A mob formed outside the courthouse in Waco. They ended up dragging his body towards City Hall Square, which is now near the area of South 3rd St and Franklin Ave.
More than half the town watched as Washington was beaten, burned and his body mutilated.
During the torture, city leaders watched from the second floor of what once was city hall.
The Race Relation Coalition said more work still needs to be done in terms of justice for everyone and begin reparations.
The group hopes to get a historical marker placed near the lynching site of Jesse Washington to remind everyone to seek justice.
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