Racial violence and atmosphere of fear and intimidation
Rivera offers another example of how racial violence fostered an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. In this case, he describes his coverage of the Isaiah Nixon lynching in Georgia and how he was run out of town for his efforts to photograph and interview Nixon's family.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Alexander M. Rivera, November 30, 2001. Interview C-0297. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- ALEXANDER RIVERA:
-
The next one was a lynching in Georgia. Isaiah lynching.
- KIERAN TAYLOR:
-
Another lynching.
- ALEXANDER RIVERA:
-
Then we went down to investigate that one. That was the one that I was
sure that my luck had run out. Something happened that had never
happened before in my whole life. Something told me, I don't
know what the something was to go dressed as a chauffeur. It was easier
traveling as a chauffeur because everybody figured that you worked with
somebody important. They didn't want to have any problems. So
I got to thinking. I've got a
chauffeur's cap. I kept it because it saved my life.
I'm sure it saved my life. I had a little black bow tie on
and a chauffeur's cap. I went down to this place and I
couldn't find him. Couldn't find where he lived
because he lived in the country. He didn't live in a little
town. So I saw a guy sweeping, sweeping off his front there so I asked
him, I said, 'Let me ask you something.' He was
nervous. I said, I asked him, I said, 'Did you know Isaiah
Nixon?' He starts sweeping real fast. He said,
'Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I knew him. Yeah.' I said,
'You know where he lives?' He said,
'Yeah.' He said, 'But you
can't get there in that car, in your car. Your car
won't go up there.' I said, 'What you
mean?' I had a Roadmaster vehicle. 'What do you
mean this car won't go up there?' He said,
'It's just a little trail.' He said,
'You won't go up.' I said,
'Will your car go up there?' He said,
'Yeah.' I said, 'Will you take me up
there?' He said, 'No.' I said,
'Is it worth five dollars for you to take me up
there?' He thought a while, 'Yeah.' I
had my camera stuff in my bag, travel bag and I had. We went up. I
photographed the family and the kids and talked to, interviewed the wife
and we left. (We got a ways) and I was going back to my car no incident
at all. But in leaving we had to go circuitous in this turpentine
district. So coming out we made a turn in this turpentine district and
came face to face with a carload. I says, I was out of breath. I said,
'Who are they?' 'I don't
know, but one of them's the sheriff.' I said,
'One of them is the sheriff.' That
didn't mean anything. So I said well, they just kept on and I
said, 'Well this might be it.' So they told us to
back up. Go on and back up to. Well, I hadn't anticipated a
problem. So I had, we didn't have any escape plan or
anything. I didn't know what they would pick on us. When we
got up to the house, stay in the car. They were going - he
asked, they asked him who was I. They told, he told them that I was a
relative of Nixon that came to see about the
funeral, burial. I hadn't been over there with her. So then
they went in and I don't know what she was going to say or
anything. Then the only thing she would say truthfully was that I was a
reporter from the Pittsburgh Courier. Well they
came out and said you can go. I still don't know whether it
means that I, we can go until we get back down in those turpentine
district with the trees and what not. We went all the way out to where
my car was. Well I got to the car and I said,
'Atlanta's closer. It's the closest big
town. That's what I wanted to get to.' Atlanta was
the closest big town. I'd have to go all the way through
Georgia, South Carolina, until I got to North Carolina.