A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard

by Devery S. Anderson, James Meredith (Foreword)

In the years following Brown v. Board of Education, countless Black citizens endured violent resistance and even death while fighting for their constitutional rights. One of those citizens, Clyde Kennard (1927–1963), a Korean War veteran and civil rights leader from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, attempted repeatedly to enroll at the all-white Mississippi Southern College—now the University of Southern Mississippi—in the late 1950s.

In A Slow, Calculated The Story of Clyde Kennard, Devery S. Anderson tells the story of a man who paid the ultimate price for trying to attend a white college during Jim Crow. Rather than facing conventional vigilantes, he stood opposed to the governor, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and other high-ranking entities willing to stop at nothing to deny his dreams. In this comprehensive and extensively researched biography, Anderson examines the relentless subterfuge against Kennard, including the cruelly successful attempts to frame him—once for a misdemeanor and then for a felony. This second conviction resulted in a sentence of seven years hard labor at Mississippi State Penitentiary, forever disqualifying him from attending a state-sponsored school. While imprisoned, he developed cancer, was denied care, then sadly died six months after the governor commuted his sentence. In this prolonged lynching, Clyde Kennard was robbed of his ambitions and ultimately his life, but his final days and legacy reject the notion that he was powerless.

Anderson highlights the resolve of friends and fellow activists to posthumously restore his name. Those who fought against him, and later for him, link a story of betrayal and redemption, chronicling the worst and best in southern race relations. The redemption was not only a symbolic one for Kennard but proved healing for the entire state. He was gone, but countless others still benefit from Kennard’s legacy and the biracial, bipartisan effort he inspired.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Race

303 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 8, 2023

About the author

Devery S. Anderson, Salt Lake City, Utah, is a graduate of the University of Utah and is an editor at Signature Books in Salt Lake City. He has authored or coauthored several books on Mormon history, two of which won the Steven F. Christensen Award for Best Documentary from the Mormon History Association.

Reviews

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dismaying story of racial bigotry that not only denied admission of a Black man to an all white Mississippi university, but ultimately led to his death after being framed for a crime he did not commit.

[Manda Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading

[Amy Rutherford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title truly captures the crux of the story of Kennard's life: because he had the audacity to keep attempting entrance into Mississippi Southern College, he was not only continually denied admittance, but his character was slandered, he was framed for crimes of which he was innocent, and he was denied life-saving health care while falsely imprisoned. The biography is a difficult but, in my opinion, necessary read for a fuller understanding of the tactics that kept African Americans in the South from advancement. We, rightfully, celebrate trailblazers who successfully integrated schools, but we hear less about the devastating consequences for the ones who failed.

I also enjoyed that a large section of the book was dedicated to the decades-long fight - and those involved in it, including both high school and college students!, to clear Kennard's name and recognize his contributions to Mississippi and the Civil Rights Movement. Oftentimes, actions that aren't explicitly about race can be too easily dismissed as something else. In this case, Kennard's felony charge could be used to sully his name and efforts to enroll - it wasn't because of his race, it's because he wasn't a good person. The eventual vacation of his conviction, though, shows the farce for what it was and enlightens to the more subtle and systemic ways racism functions.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is meticulously researched and Anderson has done an incredible amount of work in gathering details that I think most writers would overlook. The story of Clyde Kennard is incredibly heartbreaking, as we see over and over again the abuse of power and the mistreatment of a young man trying to better himself, all based on the color of his skin. His story needs to be told and needs to be read, even though it is very painful.

[jane roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard read but excellent in the uncovering of such a senseless crime. This was a good man who only wanted an education.

[Malola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very poignant memoir on a brave guy who was sabotaged over and over again by racists and White supremacists.
You'd think people would mind their own g0ddamm3d business.

[JoAnn Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. I graduated from USM but never knew the real story, only the name, of Clyde Kennard. Thank you Devery S. Anderson for an amazing book, well researched, and emotional story.