Devil in the Grove

The narrative returns to New York and the activities of Marshall at the NAACP, where he leads with vivacity and humor. We learn of the many people with whom he works—including reporter Evelyn Cunningham, attorney Constance Baker Motley, sociologist Annette Peyser, and famed black leader W.E.B. DuBois. We also learn how Marshall’s law professor, Charles Hamilton Houston, helped him attain his position at the NAACP shortly after graduating from Howard University.

At his office Marshall daily receives letters from the South detailing incidents of racial injustice. At great risk to his safety, Marshall frequently travels around the South alone dealing with these cases, gaining the reputation as Mr. Civil Rights. Being on the road so frequently puts a strain on his marriage with Buster, and he engages in extramarital affairs.

Among the people Marshall defended during the 1930s and ’40s were a black Connecticut butler accused of raping his white female employer and a black sharecropper accused of murdering a white farming family in Oklahoma—both of whom appear on closer investigation to be innocent. Cases like these convince Marshall that the American justice system is stacked against powerless blacks (57), but sees signs of hope. Many people donate money to the NAACP, increasing its power and influence.

This chapter picks up the narrative of Norma and Willie Padgett. Not having made it home that night, Norma shows up at a roadside café early in the morning. She tells the watchman, Lawrence Burtoft, that the previous night some black men, after pulling over to help her and Willie, hit Willie over the head and carried her away in their car. Burtoft drives Norma along the road until they find Willie with another man; Willie, Norma and the man drive away.

Lake County sheriff Willis McCall receives a report over the radio about a rape of a white woman by some black men. McCall orders that the black men—Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin—be hidden in the woods to protect them from an already forming lynch mob. They are transported to a jail in another town.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old black boy named Charles Greenlee, who is passing through Groveland on his way to find work, is also accused of the rape and is arrested. The mob gathers around the jailhouse, but McCall prevents a lynching.

Back at the NAACP, tension develops between Marshall and fellow lawyer Walter White. White divorces his wife of 27 years to marry a white woman, causing controversy in the black community. His health problems force him to take a leave of absence from the NAACP, leaving Marshall and Crisis magazine editor Roy Wilkins in charge.

Fearing violence from the Ku Klux Klan, Groveland’s black residents evacuate. Charles Greenlee is brutally beaten and forced to confess to the rape. Meanwhile, Charles’s friend Ernest Thomas, with whom he had been traveling the night of his arrest, flees north.

We learn the backstory of Sheriff Willis McCall, a shrewd and image-obsessed politician with a morally compromised character. While focusing his efforts on citrus labor issues in Florida, McCall must also keep an eye on the practice of bolita, a popular gambling game in the state that can create “bloody turf battles” over money (78).

A reporter named Mabel Norris Reese tries to uncover McCall’s part in the bolita racket. Another person making McCall’s life difficult is Harry Tyson Moore, a black NAACP member who follows racial issues closely and has campaigned successfully on behalf of voting rights for blacks.

The black population has evacuated Groveland. McCall alerts the police to look for Ernest Thomas; the scene of the alleged rape is examined for footprints; and a doctor examines Norma Lee. Ku Klux Klan members roll into town to “wipe the place clean” of blacks (91), and the National Guard arrives to keep peace. Charles Greenlee is transported to the state prison in Raiford, joining Shepherd and Irvin there. McCall attempts to quell racist violence in Groveland, but nevertheless many black homes are burned to the ground. Business leaders in the town worry about the effect of the mass exodus on the economy.

We learn the backstory of Henry Shepherd, the father of Samuel Shepherd, at one time a successful farmer who drew the resentment of white farmers in the area—envy that was increased by Samuel’s and Irvin’s army uniforms and fancy car. In Groveland society, blacks are tolerated so long as they work in citrus groves, where they can be closely controlled by the whites. Many white farmers desire the demise of all independent black farmers (97). Having fled Groveland, Henry Shepherd returns to find his farm looted and his family hiding in the woods. He is forced to abandon his farm for good.

Meanwhile, the local press publishes untruths about the case and calls for the suspects to be executed.