Free Republic

At least eight people have died after an explosive fire broke out along the Tennessee River in Alabama and it could take authorities four days to recover all victims, authorities have said. At least 35 boats docked along the Tennessee River were destroyed by the blaze at Lake Guntersville, Jackson around 12.30am Monday but authorities said divers need to locate each one and search them individually to be sure. All eight people who were earlier reported missing were confirmed dead, later on Monday morning and a local fire chief said 'that number could go up, because we don't know how...

The legacy of the “Scottsboro Boys” is secure: The nine black teens were wrongly convicted more than 80 years ago in one of America’s most infamous racial tragedies. Alabama is now moving to repair its own legacy, and correct past injustices, with a bill to allow posthumous pardons for the group. On Thursday, the state House voted 103-0 in favor of legislation setting up a procedure to pardon the teens, who were falsely accused of rape by two white women in 1931. The Senate had passed the bill earlier, 29-0. Gov. Robert Bentley has indicated he will sign it. “This...

In the 1930s, two white prostitutes falsely accused nine black men of gang-rape, in order to avoid facing other police charges. Before the ensuing Scottsboro trials were over, the main accuser, Victoria Price (the second accuser had recanted) was transformed by the white public into a woman of the purest virtue, the epitome of Southern woman; and any challenge to this image was indignantly resisted: (snip) Times change, and the colors are different, but human nature remains the same. Two years out of high school Crystal Mangum claimed to have been once dragged into a bathroom and gang-raped by some...