The Rape of Recy Taylor

She had to have on her a dress

because she was just coming from church.

What they did to her,

they didn't need to live.

Recy loved to go to church.

She'd go to church every chance she'd get.

And Miss Fannie was basically the same way.

Miss Fannie's son, West, he wasn't a church goer,

but he just went along for protection.

It was about two miles' walk they had to walk that night.

They had revival going on,

adding a whole in this church.

There's a lot of singing, they have prayer,

and after a while that preacher get up and bring the word.

It'd be very hot

because there was no air conditioner nor fans

in that church at that time.

They had to raise the windows.

And the church were well attended,

wasn't seats for

all the people. Some had to stand up.

You know the

Pentecost people, they like to get up

and dance a little bit on the floor, so...

I don't know if that was a...

Or if Recy done it that night.

Recy just loved to go to church.

She was more Christian than we were,

than the rest of our sisters and brothers, while she,

she was more Christian like.

But, uh...

But that night, when that happened to her,

she was at a...

A homeless church, as they call it.

Uh...

A sanctify church.

That's where she was coming from.

That's where Recy was coming from.

They said that she was a prostitute

at that time and that's

the reason why they picked her up

and all that stuff but she wasn't a prostitute.

My sister was a Christian person.

And she was married and had a baby.

But the things that they claimed that she were,

she wasn't that.

It was a kind of warm night.

It was September 3rd, you know,

still hot here in Alabama.

They were walking at night

and at that time the streets were very poorly lighted.

There was mad foxes, rabies foxes.

So West got his stick with him.

It was very unusual

for anybody to get attacked by somebody else,

here in Abbeville.

Well, these boys that, uh...

That took her that night,

they had circled the church a couple of times.

And, um...

About two...

About eight o'clock,

they dec...

They decided to go down.

They made a mistake and went to

a ladies house named Rose Jordan and Sam Jordan.

Uh, they was gonna...

They had two daughters.

And the daughters were about 17 and 18.

Each one of them has a daughter, Sam and Rose.

And they were gonna pick those girls up.

Take all with them, but

oh, they picked on the wrong family there 'cause Sam's...

Sam Jordan and Rose Jordan was

two rough women that you didn't wanna mess with.

And they chased them.

Um...

Chased these guys away.

And so they kept circling around.

And they'd knew about what time

church was out at night.

And they wouldn't bother them until they got,

oh, about,

at least a half a mile out of town.

And, uh...

And that's when they passed Recy

and Miss Fannie and West and then they'd come back.

And then they'd pass and then they'd come back.

And then... And then they finally stopped behind them.

And that was when her...

caught with the gun.

She decided to run away, right away,

as soon as she saw the gun.

And, uh...

And they yelled to her to get in the car.

She started to run away.

And she couldn't run but of

very short distance because there was a tall fence there.

[slow instrumental music playing]

If she could have got past that fence,

she could have run into the woods

but with all that, she couldn't.

And Miss Fannie told her not to run.

Said, "Don't run because they might shoot you."

And, um...

So, she went and...

Went and got in the car with them and

she said they blindfolded her.

And they took her away.

Well, West was scared because they had the gun there.

And I don't think he was no,

uh...

He was...

couldn't defend them against seven guys.

They were seven of them.

So,

West basically went along with what Miss Fannie said, that is,

try to let 'em

do what they said to do.

Maybe they'll go on.

They was interested in her because

Recy was a very nice looking young lady

at the age of 24.

He's tried to get me not to go to church that night.

That's 'cause I got a baby.

I think she was nine months old.

And I wanted to go so bad.

So, he said, "You could go ahead,

I'll stay here and keep the baby."

Saw the car

pulled up behind me.

Some white boys,

they had a gun.

And told me they are gonna shoot me,

if I run,

if you don't stand still.

I was begging them to leave me alone.

Don't shoot me.

I gotta go home to see about my baby.

Mm-hmm.

I remember that real good.

I mean, they didn't say nothin' about what they're gonna do to me.

They put me in the car.

They even blindfold me.

Tied my head up,

keeping me from knowing which way I went.

And then talking about killing me.

They had on white shirts,

I remember that.

They had on white shirts.

One of them was Lawrence Lee's boy.

Who then tried to do nothin' to me in the car.

He...

He made me get out the car.

He called that they were gonna lay me down to have sex with me.

Oh, I cried that night.

Trying to get away from them.

But they wouldn't let me go.

I can't help but tell the truth

of what they done to me.

My mother got sick.

Uh...

Back when I was a baby.

And she died when I was 13 months old.

And strangely, um,