The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation

Thick cloud had pressed down on Tuscaloosa all night, and now it was lingering into the morning. Sheriff William Butler was awoken with a knock on his door much like he was awoken on a morning just like this 5 years ago with the sound of a bugle on the fields of Gettysburg. The Sheriff as he was called in his hometown of Tuscaloosa was an imposing figure, at 6'2 he was not somebody you would want to start a fight with. The Sheriff went downstairs to open the door and much to his annoyance standing in the door way was his partner at the sheriffs department Joseph Brooks. "What is so important that you must wake me on my one day off" asked Butler in an annoyed voice. "We found a body lying near the Warrior river sir" answered Brooks. "That's it this is why you had to wake me up, because some idiot drowned!" screamed Butler. "No sir not drowned he was murdered, and by the looks of it it's the work of the KKK" said Brooks. "Even better you wake me up because of some dead Negro, have you no respect for anybody Brooks!" replied Butler. "Oh no he's not a black man sir he's a white man" said Brooks calmly.

The life of William Butler is a lonely one. Butler's life revolves around his job. If Butler is not working he is usually sleeping. A civil war veteran Butler fought for the South at Gettysburg and has a bullet wound to prove it. Following the civil war the reconstruction period so far had been tough on Butler. With the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and other anti black groups the rate of murders had sharply increased thus making life a lot tougher for William Butler.

Thirty minutes later Butler saw what was so important. In the middle of a crowd of sheriffs, reporters, and gathering spectators on the left bank of the Black Warrior River lay the weathered and decomposed body of a man who must have been in his late forties or early fifties. Judging by what was left of his clothes and the size of his stomach this man was pretty well of as well. It was this scene that Sheriff Butler found himself presiding over. Butler observed that the body itself had numerous bruising. Most noticeable was the fact that the mans neck was slit and at the same time had a long bruise around it which one usually gets from a hang mans noose. Butler was used to seeing this scene but it was the first time he had seen this happen to a white man. Butler turned to Brooks and said "it's the Ku Klux Klan alright but something's not right. Usually they leave their victim out in the open for the whole world to see but this time it looked as if they tried to get rid of the body by dumping it into the river. Well let's start out by identifying the victim." A few minutes later while Butler was examining the body one of the sheriffs came up to him and said "there's a lady here who claims to be the mans wife and is asking to talk to you, she says her name is Mrs. Frank." "Let her through" replied Butler.

"Good morning my name is Sheriff Butler and how may I help you" said Butler in his professional tone. The woman he was addressing replied in a surprisingly calm tone "hello my name is Elizabeth Frank

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