Chapter 5: Civil Rights
4/5/99

In Jasper, Texas, a small town about 100 miles northeast of Houston, John William King was sentenced to death for his part in a gruesome murder. The murder captured the nation's attention due partly to its grizzly details but primarily because the victim was killed solely due to his race. The victim was black and his murderers, who beat him and then dragged him behind a pickup truck for nearly three miles, were white. The crime and trial made the nation aware that racial hatred still exists.

The imposition of the death penalty in the case has also raised our awareness of racial divisiveness. John King became the first white sentenced to death for killing a black person since Texas reinstituted the death penalty. In the same time period, dozens of blacks have been sentenced to death for killing white people in Texas.

For more details about the King trial go to Judgment in Jasper at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-02/24/049r-022499-idx.html

1/14/99

Sexual harassment of students is a serious concern at all levels of education from elementary schools to colleges and universities. Male and female students have a right to be educated in an environment that is free of sexual harassment as defined in federal law. The Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education has put on the web a pamphlet that provides fundamental information about recognizing and dealing with sexual harassment under Title IX. It outlines basic principles in a question-and-answer format. The pamphlet is available at the SEXUAL HARASSMENT: IT'S NOT ACADEMIC web site.

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