By Kaylee Hayes | Reporter
On Monday, almost 110 years since the lynching of Jesse Washington, Baylor University hosted an author talk and panel discussion about the stories and horrors, of Waco’s racist past. This panel was hosted in lieu of the Baylor Press’s recent publication, “God of the Whirlwind: Horror Memory and Story in Black Waco,” edited by Tyler B Davis.
Davis is a research administrator and professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. His book shares the stories Black Waco locals who have firsthand experience with the lynching of Jesse Washington and the damage or renaissance that the Waco tornado of 1953 led to.
Featured on the panel were Reverend Michael Babers, LaRue Dorsey and Linda Lewis, all have had a rich history within the Black communities in Waco and the Waco community at large and featured in Davis’ book.
Jesse Washington was a Black Waco local who was lynched on May 15th, 1916, according to Lynching In Texas.
He was burned alive, his fingers were cut off, was tied to the back of a car and dragged around Waco and for years his story went untold, Babers said.
“There are reasons why people don’t hear things and things are not shared. One, because it’s painful to relive those memories. And then two, sometimes, well, in most cases, children just don’t hear those stories,” Babers said. “And then there’s another reason, is because Black people were afraid that the same thing might happen to them.”
Babers then explained how different perspectives have viewed the 1953 Tornado in Waco.
“In White circles, they acknowledge the tornado of ’53 as a tragedy, but in Black Waco, we acknowledge the tornado of ’53 as God’s vengeance,” Babers said. “God help me in hearing the cry of the oppressed. In 1916, Jesse Washington had nobody to defend him, but in 1953 the God avenged – avenged a black community – and that’s the way we thought about it.”
Bambers also confronted the audience about Waco’s racist history.
“Waco needs to come clean. We have a problem.” Babers said. “We’ve got to tell a story. If they don’t hear it, they won’t know … We need to get together and share. There’s so much… We need to tell the stories, so they will know and understand.”
In the years following the tragedy of Washington’s lynching, the Black communities within and among Waco were afraid to speak out for fear that the may be the next victim, Babers said in reference to explaining the reasons that may hinder oral storytelling.
Despite time passing, these memories are still fresh as new names and faces take the stage when it comes to race related deaths.
“They have George Floyd, but we have Emmett Till, you know, [history] repeats itself because somehow, instead of acknowledging, addressing and fixing the problem, we just name it something new, and it keeps going on,” Lewis said.
