She loves California but considers Mississippi home.

This incident has her asking questions about the place she was raised and the future of race relations there.

This story was profiled on 20/20 one night and one of her concerns was they made the town look like a backwards country town living in a time warp as portrayed on Mayberry RFD.

She said she knew she was being petty, but I guess she is sensitive about how Mississippi is viewed from outsiders.

I had to agree with her that they centered mainly on what the whites of the town had to say. I told her that they wanted to make a point that if whites thought it was a lynching, then it really must be.

This happened in the year 2000, a new millennium, and race relations in this country are on a decline. White supremacists and extremists are fearful of losing their middle-class status and jobs and are lashing out at what they perceive more affluent people of color taking over.

The final report still contends this young man committed suicide despite his family's protests and dismay.

There is belief by many that there was evidence tampering. Will we ever know the truth? Are we going back to the times of the old south? Is this evidence of declining race relations in Mississippi and the rest of the United States?

Dera Williams

Dera R. Williams resides and works in Oakland California. She is employed as a staff assistant a Merritt Community College. Dera has received a liberal arts degree from Vista College in Berkeley California. She has published book reviews for Affair de Coeur, a print publication and reviews black and other ethnic romance and mainstream books. She has also conducted author interviews for the same publication. Dera contributed articles for TheReadersVine.com and the now defunct Themestream.com. She will have an article published shortly by Victorian.com. and is presently working on a romance novel.

Visit her website at: Dera Williams

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