Kissing Case
Encyclopedia
The Kissing Case is an incident relevant to the African-American Civil Rights Movement
.
In 1958 in Monroe, North Carolina
, two African American children, seven-year-old David "Fuzzy" Simpson and nine-year-old James Hanover Thompson, were arrested for violating the state's Anti-miscegenation laws
. They had participated in a kissing game with a white girl during which the girl kissed Thompson on the cheek. The girl subsequently told her mother, the girl's father and neighbors armed themselves with shotguns and went looking for the boys and their parents. That evening, James Hanover and Fuzzy were arrested on the charge of rape. The young children were detained for six days without access to their parents or legal council, during which they were handcuffed and beaten in a lower level cell of the police station. A few days later a juvenile court judge found them guilty and sentenced them to indefinite terms in reform school. The boys, who were again denied legal counsel, were told they might get out when they were 21 years old.
Despite pressure from Civil rights leader Robert F. Williams
, the local chapter of the NAACP, former first lady/civil rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt
and New York
attorney Conrad Lynn
, the local and state government at first refused to back down; Governor Luther H. Hodges
and attorney general Malcolm Seawell opposed Williams' writ to review the detention of the boys. Williams called well-known Black civil rights lawyer Conrad Lynn, who came down from New York to take the case. The mothers of the two boys were not allowed to see their children for weeks.
Joyce Egginton, a journalist from England, got permission to visit the boys and took their mothers along. Egginton smuggled a camera in and took a picture of the mothers hugging their children. Egginton's story of the case and photo were printed throughout Europe and Asia, the London Observer
ran a photograph of the children's reunion with their mothers under the headline "Why?", and the United States Information Agency
reported receiving more than 12,000 letters regarding the case.
An international committee was formed in Europe to defend James and Fuzzy. There were huge demonstrations in Paris, Rome and Vienna and in Rotterdam, the U.S. Embassy was stoned. This was an international embarrassment for the U.S. government. In February, officials asked the boys' mothers to sign a waiver—an admission of guilt—with the assurance that their children would be released. The mothers refused to sign. Two days later, after three months in detention, James and Fuzzy were released without conditions or explanation
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
.
In 1958 in Monroe, North Carolina
Monroe, North Carolina
Monroe is a city in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 36,397 as of the 2010 census. It is the seat of government of Union County and is also part of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC Metropolitan area.-Geography:...
, two African American children, seven-year-old David "Fuzzy" Simpson and nine-year-old James Hanover Thompson, were arrested for violating the state's Anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races...
. They had participated in a kissing game with a white girl during which the girl kissed Thompson on the cheek. The girl subsequently told her mother, the girl's father and neighbors armed themselves with shotguns and went looking for the boys and their parents. That evening, James Hanover and Fuzzy were arrested on the charge of rape. The young children were detained for six days without access to their parents or legal council, during which they were handcuffed and beaten in a lower level cell of the police station. A few days later a juvenile court judge found them guilty and sentenced them to indefinite terms in reform school. The boys, who were again denied legal counsel, were told they might get out when they were 21 years old.
Despite pressure from Civil rights leader Robert F. Williams
Robert F. Williams
Robert Franklin Williams was a civil rights leader, the president of the Monroe, North Carolina NAACP chapter in the 1950s and early 1960s, and author. At a time when racial tension was high and official abuses were rampant, Williams was a key figure in promoting both integration and armed black...
, the local chapter of the NAACP, former first lady/civil rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
attorney Conrad Lynn
Conrad Lynn
Conrad Lynn was a Black civil rights lawyer in the United States. He was a member of the African Forum for Socialist Education. He was a member of the Communist Party until 1937. He was the lawyer for militant civil rights activist Robert F Williams during the 1960s, when Williams lived in Cuba,...
, the local and state government at first refused to back down; Governor Luther H. Hodges
Luther H. Hodges
Luther Hartwell Hodges, Sr. was an American politician, who served as the 64th Governor of the state of North Carolina from 1954 to 1961 and as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1961 to 1965.-Biography:...
and attorney general Malcolm Seawell opposed Williams' writ to review the detention of the boys. Williams called well-known Black civil rights lawyer Conrad Lynn, who came down from New York to take the case. The mothers of the two boys were not allowed to see their children for weeks.
Joyce Egginton, a journalist from England, got permission to visit the boys and took their mothers along. Egginton smuggled a camera in and took a picture of the mothers hugging their children. Egginton's story of the case and photo were printed throughout Europe and Asia, the London Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
ran a photograph of the children's reunion with their mothers under the headline "Why?", and the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
reported receiving more than 12,000 letters regarding the case.
An international committee was formed in Europe to defend James and Fuzzy. There were huge demonstrations in Paris, Rome and Vienna and in Rotterdam, the U.S. Embassy was stoned. This was an international embarrassment for the U.S. government. In February, officials asked the boys' mothers to sign a waiver—an admission of guilt—with the assurance that their children would be released. The mothers refused to sign. Two days later, after three months in detention, James and Fuzzy were released without conditions or explanation
External links
- 'The Kissing Case' And The Lives It Shattered 2011-04-29 at NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...