Willie McGee

Willie McGee (c. 1916 – May 8, 1951) was an African American man from Laurel, Mississippi, who was sentenced to death in 1945 and executed on Tuesday, May 8, 1951, after being controversially convicted for the rape of a white woman on November 2, 1945. McGee's legal case became a cause célèbre that attracted worldwide attention, as it was roundly decried as a miscarriage of justice in the Jim Crow South.

Early life Willie McGee was born in Pachuta, Mississippi, around 1916 to Bessie and Jasper McGee Sr., who was a laborer at Eastman Gardiner Lumber Company. He had one brother, Jasper McGee Jr. McGee lived with his parents and brother at 64 3d Red Line, an area of segregated colored company housing. McGee attended local, segregated schools for a short time before working. He married Eliza Jane Patton on April 15, 1935. McGee had four children with Patton: Willie Earl, Della, Gracie Lee, and Mary.

Arrest On November 3, 1945, McGee was arrested in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on a charge of grand larceny for stealing a truck owned by the Laurel Wholesale Grocery, where he was employed. Two of his friends placed him in the vicinity at the time of a rape of white resident Willette Hawkins in her home, leading to him being questioned about the rape. On November 9, 1945, McGee was charged with the rape. In late 1945 or early 1946, McGee claimed to his lawyer that it had been a consensual affair. The Daily Worker was later sued by Hawkins for claiming that she had forced McGee into a sexual relationship. In 1955, after failing to find any evidence of an affair, the Daily Worker settled with Hawkins, agreeing to pay her $5,000 in installments over ten weeks and to print two apologies.

Trials First trial On Monday, December 3, 1945, McGee was indicted by the grand jury on a charge of rape, was arraigned in the circuit court, and a plea of not guilty was entered for him by the district attorney. The trial was conducted under the protection of the troops and a military caravan returned McGee to Jackson by nightfall. A new trial was scheduled.

Testimony alleged that McGee entered Willette Hawkins's home through an outside window. It was suggested that he then violently assaulted and strangled her. The prosecution suggested that he then raced away in the stolen truck that he had parked some distance from the home. The prosecution played on the racial fears of a southern white jury by appealing to the stereotype of a sexually deviant and rapacious Black man.

Trial testimony of the alleged companion of McGee on the night of the assault stated he was on a wild joyride in the wholesale grocery truck McGee was driving. He testified that they drove around and returned to Laurel after consuming three half-pints of whiskey on the jaunt. They visited gambling houses in Laurel and left a house in "The Bottoms" about 4:00 am in the truck. He said that he left McGee and the truck at Masonite Drive and arrived at his own home half a block away at 4:15 am. Prosecutors played on the white jurors' racial stereotypes by suggesting that McGee had told another companion a few days before the rape, "I'm going to get me a white woman". Faulkner would later write to a friend that he was wrong, he spoke out of turn, and he knew too little of the facts of the matter to go on record. Supreme Court Justice Harold Burton ordered the fourth stay on July 26, 1950, creating an international affair; however the full U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear McGee's final appeal.

Lawyer Aubrey Grossman attempted to get a stay of execution. However, he was attacked while attempting to do so.

Mississippi newspapers alleged that the segregationist Governor, Fielding L. Wright, was threatened with death from the 'Northern Communists'. Wright was an ardent white supremacist and segregationist, and these claims of 'Communist Agitation' were commonly used in the Jim Crow South.

Public figures Author William Faulkner wrote a letter insisting the case against McGee was unproven. His remarks were quoted by McGee's supporters for the purpose of gathering local backing for McGee. Other notable public figures that spoke out were Civil Rights Congress activist Paul Robeson, and Civil Rights activist Josephine Baker.

Execution The night before McGee was electrocuted on May 8, 1951, by the state of Mississippi, he wrote a farewell letter to Rosetta Saffold (alias Rosalee McGee):

Among the 60 men watching him die were the husband of Willette Hawkins, her brother, and two of her brothers-in-law. The press was allowed to attend the execution. A crowd of more than 1500 were on the courthouse lawn. The execution was broadcast on radio.