Welcome back!
In this particular post I am going to talk about Mrs. Williams and her role in the book. But for me to explain why she is important, I must give you guys some context first. She is introduced in chapter nine, which primarily focuses on McMillian’s hearing. Unlike many of the instances before, this hearing is good news. It is finally a chance for Stevenson to prove that McMillian is innocent. And with Ralph Myers recanting his original statement, that McMillian killed Ronda Morrison, and willing to provide a new (more truthful) testimony, things were looking good for McMillian’s hearing. In addition to that, Stevenson had a handful of new witnesses to testify including Clay Kast, who is McMillian’s mechanic, Woodrow Ikner, a local policeman, state doctors, who treated Myers, and several inmates, who were incarcerated with Myers. All their statements collectively proved that McMillian was never at the crime scene, that Myers’ accusations were false, and that the state prosecutors were pressuring people to lie. The hearing took three days and according to Stevenson each day went very well. However, like most of Stevenson’s experiences in the courtroom, the hearing did not end without a couple mishaps. One of them involved Mrs. Williams, an older black woman.
On the second day of the hearing, black people were denied entrance into the courtroom but state supporters were let in. When Stevenson confronted Judge Norton, he was given the response, “Mr. Stevenson, your people will just have to get here earlier”(Stevenson 175). It’s quite evident that their tardiness was not the reason they couldn’t go in. The added metal detectors and aggressive police dogs at the courtroom were an additional hint that the state prosecutors did not want black people in the room. Once the courtroom was half full of state supporters, the black people were let in. But because the number of people who wanted to come in outnumbered the amount of seats available, only a select few were allowed in. Mrs. Williams was one of the selected. Not much is given about her background but from what Stevenson described, Mrs. Williams is well respected around the community. It was clear from her nicely worn outfit and confidence that she wanted to be in that courtroom. So when she entered the room with elegance, took a few steps in, and suddenly turned around and left, it was a surprise. The cause for her exit was the police dog. The dog scared her to the point where she couldn’t walk past it.
To be honest, when I first read this I was kind of confused why Stevenson included this in his book. Compared to his other anecdotes, this scene with Mrs. Williams didn’t seem so important. It wasn’t until later that I realized that Mrs. Williams symbolized something important.
“‘...I was supposed to be there and I wanted to be there...When I saw that dog, I thought about 1965, when we gathered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and tried to march for voting rights. They beat us and put those dogs on us’”(Stevenson 179).
This passage completely changed my view on Mrs. Williams. For instance, when Stevenson described Mrs. Williams entrance into the courtroom, “...there was something commanding about her presence-I couldn’t help but watch her as she moved carefully through the doorway”(Stevenson 176), I didn’t think much of it. I thought maybe it was some silly little crush Stevenson had on Mrs. Williams. But now, I realize it wasn’t some crush, it was admiration. To Stevenson and the rest of the community, she represented strength and unity in the face of oppression. And her fear of police dogs symbolized the relationship between black people and government authorities. So on the next day, when Mrs. Williams walked right past the police dog and shouted “I ain’t scared of no dog” over and over again, she wasn’t just directing it towards the dogs. She was telling everyone who had caused her pain and injustice, that she wasn’t scared anymore.
After all this analyzing, I think Stevenson included Mrs. Williams’ story into the book because it further connected McMillians case to racial injustice. It reminds the readers, that this case isn’t just about the broken criminal justice system, it’s about what’s causing the system to fail. And a large part of it has to do with racism. Furthermore, I think Mrs. William’s story demonstrates how Stevenson wants to be. He wants to fight. Although McMillian’s case isn’t exactly the same as Mrs. Williams participating in the Selma marches, it has many similarities. One of which is that they are both fighting for racial equality, whether it is about voting or the criminal justice system.
That’s it for today! If you are interested in learning more about the Selma marches, I have included a video at the bottom of this blog that will give you a brief summary.
Video from https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/index.html
Maxine,
ReplyDeleteI was also interested by this passage of the book. For me, this passage represented an important transition from the first couple hundred pages of the novel. Before this, all of the people he mentioned had been beaten down, cast aside, and oppressed by the very government that claimed that they were free and equal citizens of America. But with Mrs. Williams, it was not an example of a down-trodden individual, but rather, as you said above, a symbol of standing tall in the face of adversity and never backing down from what you believe in. It makes this passage all the more important when you can make that distinction.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful comment. I hope someday the people like Mrs. Williams outnumber the racists.
Maxine, I remember being touched by this passage as well, because it reflected both the progress (and the reason for the progress) and the problems related to race and discrimination. I appreciate how you have discussed Stevenson's development of this section and how he develops these ideas.
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