They were sentenced to death for a crime that a white person would not have been executed for . In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that imposing the death penalty for rape was cruel and unusual punishment. But in Virginia in 1949, even aiding or abetting a rape could be punishable by death. Although there were Black people in the jury pool, each of the juries was made up entirely of White men. In the 43 years that Virginia had recorded executions, they noted, 45 Black men had been sentenced to death for rape; not a single White man had.

Source: Washington Post December 12, 2020 15:00 UTC