Learning From Jasper's Pain

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 26, 1999 / 5:08 PM EST / CBS

Just back this day from a trip to Jasper, Texas, and the sentencing of convicted murderer John William King.

If your reporter did not already love this part of the world - East Texas, back behind the pine-tree curtain - I would have cause to do so this day.

Jasper has been crowded by reporters for the better part of a year. Believe me, the town is not especially eager to see another reporter for another year.

But everywhere we went, we found open smiles and a warm welcome. Even in a part of the world that is famous for its hospitality, JasperÂ's reception was out of the ordinary.

Impossible to reconcile this generous, loving community - or any community - with the murder of James Byrd Jr. - chained to pickup truck and dragged to his death.

Most whites in Jasper say they can't believe that the racism that killed James Byrd could find even a temporary home in Jasper.

But many blacks we talked to admitted - quietly - that, yes, even in Jasper, racism does happen. Perhaps especially here. East Texas has not washed away some difficult chapters in its history, including slavery and the Ku Klux Klan.

Many whites in Jasper were startled to learn that blacks in Jasper did believe that racism exists in their community - and many blacks were startled to learn that whites were startled.

Whites and blacks in Jasper are friends and neighbors, and they realize they have got to start talking now. Because what they donÂ't know could hurt somebody.

That's a tough realization to make in private - to say nothing of making such a realization under the glare of the world press.

But Jasper is coming to terms with its past, in the hope of building a better future - and, if they're kindly toward the press, it may be because they hope other communities will stop and think and learn from Jasper's example.