The ballad of Billy Ray


Whatever happened to Billy Ray Johnson? He used to be a familiar face around town: the middle-aged and mentally challenged black man who was always walking the back roads of Linden.

Morris Dees and Billy Ray Johnson
Morris Dees and Billy Ray Johnson

On a September night in 2003, he was picked up and driven to a pasture party where four young white men gave him beer and told him to dance. They laughed and called him a nigger. Then one of them beat Billy Ray into unconsciousness. Afterward, his body was dumped on the side of a country road.

Johnson nearly died.

The collective shoulder shrug of Linden’s residents drew national outrage. “Old South racism lives in Texas town,” read one headline in the Chicago Tribune.

High-powered civil rights lawyer Morris Dees took up Johnson’s case, and in April 2007, a civil jury awarded a $9 million verdict. “After the case was over, they sat in the jury box and talked about how it had changed the community and the whole region,” Dees said in a recent phone interview.

“They felt the attention brought on the case by the news media was making their town look bad, but when they saw the facts brought out, they showed the nation they weren’t racially biased or bigoted and they could do justice.”

With the trial’s conclusion, the media glare turned elsewhere, and life as usual returned to most of Linden’s 2,100 residents. But Johnson’s story didn’t end there. The fight for his money was only beginning.


9,750 responses to “The ballad of Billy Ray”

  1. Great post. I was checking constantly this weblog and I am impressed! Very useful information specially the ultimate part 🙂 I deal with such information a lot. I was looking for this particular information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck. |

  2. I all the time used to read piece of writing in news papers but now as I am a user of web therefore from now I am using net for articles or reviews, thanks to web.|

  3. Wow, superb blog structure! How lengthy have you ever been running a blog for? you make running a blog glance easy. The whole glance of your website is excellent, let alone the content!

  4. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your post seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the issue solved soon. Cheers|

  5. This is really fascinating, You are an overly skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and stay up for looking for more of your fantastic post. Additionally, I’ve shared your website in my social networks|

  6. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Exceptional work!|

  7. I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this hike.|

  8. It’s really very complex in this full of activity life to listen news on Television, therefore I simply use internet for that reason, and obtain the most recent news.|

  9. The very next time I read a blog, Hopefully it does not disappoint me as much as this particular one. After all, Yes, it was my choice to read, but I really believed you would have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of crying about something that you could possibly fix if you were not too busy searching for attention.

  10. You are so awesome! I do not believe I have read through anything like that before. So good to find another person with some original thoughts on this subject. Seriously.. many thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality.

  11. I personally find that the trading process is simple and the robust security makes it even better. Definitely recommend to anyone in crypto.

  12. I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Superb work!

  13. Hi there! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

  14. One thing is one of the most prevalent incentives for making use of your credit card is a cash-back or maybe rebate supply. Generally, you get 1-5 back in various expenses. Depending on the cards, you may get 1 back again on most acquisitions, and 5 in return on purchases made at convenience stores, gasoline stations, grocery stores and ‘member merchants’.

  15. Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently fast.|

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *