Nothing should have been finer

Then Alcolu, South Carolina,

In the springtime.

People, segregated by rail tracks

White, on the west side, east side, black. 

All too poor to spare a dime.

 

George was raised to respect,

His church taught what was correct,

In life, he deserved so much more.

But he was let down badly,

By white justice, sadly,

Contradictory evidence ignored.

 

Young white girls, murdered,

A tearful community, angered,

A volunteer lynch mob mustered.

Their two bodies found,

Dumped in waterlogged ground,

The Sheriff's men looked on, flustered.

 

That same day, George was arrested,

Prosecution gave evidence uncontested,

He was convicted in less than a day.

White racists were outspoken,

The blacks had their hearts broken,

George's life would be taken away.

 

His useless lawyer was ambivalent.

The case against George was fraudulent, 

No appeal was to be made.

George, tightly strapped to the chair,

Viewed by gathered onlookers there,

He died, tearfully afraid.

 

Father sacked immediately, now jobless,

Family home repossessed, now homeless,

Deemed justice for such a heinous act,

But years later, we find

That southern justice was blind,

An unsafe arrest, distorted facts.

 

When questioned, there was no legal representation.

Family members barred, there was no prevention

To the coercion from the sheriff's bullies.

Even the state governor washed his hands,

Agreed, the conviction should rightly stand,

Everyone, but George, was in a hurry.

 

From arrest to execution in a mere eighty days, 

Less than three hours for his one day in court

His rock-solid alibi, rejected and ignored

His lawyer did little, he was no last resort 

Seventy years before commonsense

prevailed, to expunge the obscene,

Eventually, though, he gained his defence

Justice for George, aged FOURTEEN