E M Weiss

Beyond Twilight E M Weiss

'We cannot change the past, but we can sanctify the present" David, a white World War II veteran falls in love with Ann, and then discovers that she has Negro blood. His struggle with his ignorance of racial prejudice leads him to despondency, dread, and indecision. He is dismayed at his own defects of character that surface as he becomes aware that the Goliath of racism he is facing is within himself. Jim Crow raises its ugly head. He is appalled to discover that while he returned home from his Navy service to praise and glory, an honorably discharged Negro Army Sergeant while returning home, after five years of war time service, was beaten into blindness. He had used a "White Only" restroom to relieve himself.. Most disturbing was the lynching at "Moore's Ford Bridge" just a few miles from Ann's home. Two married Negro couples were shot to death because one of them was accused of insulting a white man. One of the victims was the wife of the veteran who had served five years in the Pacific Theater. She was nineteen years old and seven months pregnant. Of the sixty shots fired, twelve of them pierced the womb of the pregnant teenage wife. In his anguish, David turns to Ann's childhood friend, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr for counsel. That meeting gives rise to Dr. King's first act of non-violent civil disobedience. Most disturbing was the lynching at "Moore's Ford Bridge" just a few miles from Ann's home. Two married Negro couples were shot to death because one of them was accused of insulting a white man. One of the victims was the wife of the veteran who had served five years in the Pacific Theater. . She was nineteen years old and seven months pregnant. Of the sixty shots fired, twelve of them pierced the womb of the pregnant teenage wife. In his anguish, David turns to Ann's childhood friend, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr for counsel. That meeting gives rise to Dr. King's first act of non-violent civil disobedience.