Bridget Condie's essay When Rape was Legal: The Politics of African American Women’s Bodies During the Reconstruction Era comprises part of the YHR Senior Essay Edition.

1. uring the 1871 trials of the Ku Klux Klan a
general pattern of questioning the witness
took place. The typical pattern veers from the
“norm” when the testifying woman is asked what the
Klan did to her. In trial after trial, a black woman would
begin her terribly gruesome story of sexual assault and
rape. In front of an all-white and likely all-male court-
room, these brave women took the stand to reveal inti-
mate truths about what racial violence in the South did
to them. The result of their bravery? Justice for their hus-
bands and fathers, but none for themselves.
In the Reconstruction Era, the Ku Klux Klan often
used extreme sexual violence against a man’s wife or
daughterstointimidatehimintovotingdifferentlyornot
at all. In the case of Harriet Simril, Simril testifies that she
was gang raped by Klansmen, who aimed to force her
husband into joining the Democratic ticket. All of the
questions asked in Simril’s testimony focus on her hus-
band and his vote being the motivation behind the vio-
lence. When prosecuting attorney David T. Corbin asks
the witness to recount the violence she endured, Simril
identifies her attackers by name and physically points
at them leaving no doubt who they were. However, af-
ter this scene, the attorney never mentions these men in
the trials again, because the men identified as rapists do
not further the ultimate argument that Corbin tried to
prove: that the Klan, and more specifically the men on
trial, used violence to obstruct black men’s voting rights.
Harriet Simril is just one of many black women who tes-
tifiedagainstherwhiterapistandfoundnojusticeforher
bravery and survival.
If these crimes are discussed in grave, irrefutable de-
tail in a court of law and no legal action is taken, what
does that say about the illegality of rape? In finding jus-
tice for oppressed and victimized black men, an injustice
is committed against black women. It is tragically ironic.
Throughout the many testimonies and examinations, it
becomes very clear that the goal of the prosecuting law-
When Rape was Legal
by Bridget Condie PC’20
Advised by Professor Edward Rugemer
Edited by Grace Blaxill PC'22
and Julianna Gross DC'23
1 Black Women and Sexual Violence: Black Women and Reporting Crimes of Sexual Violence.” National
Organization for Women, now.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Black-Women-and-Sexual-Violence-6.pdf.
ABSTRACT
The Politics of African American Women’s Bodies During the
Reconstruction Era
yersisthevindicationofsuffragerightsofblackmen.The
lawyers go to extreme lengths to prove how far members
of the Klan went to infringe upon black men’s right to
vote,oftenattheexpenseoftherapesurvivors.Theoffen-
sive and even assaulting manner in which examinations
are done, the abrupt questioning, and their lack of legal
interestintherapesleadthereadertooneconclusion:the
legal protection or even well-being of black women is not
their priority. As a result of the lawyers’ behavior, Harriet
Simril and the other raped and sexually assaulted black
women did not find justice. The tragic irony is further
underscored by the fact that these trials and monumen-
tal proceedings were conducted to exemplify how the
country had moved on past the era of slavery and legal
inequality.
According to the National Organization for Women,
for every 15 black women who are raped, only one re-
ports her assault.1
This staggering statistic illustrates the
profound effects the KKK trials are still having on black
women in America. Looking at the various threads that
combine to make a cloth of history, the treatment of Af-
rican American women in these cases and the prosecu-
tion’s ulterior motives created a precedent where black
women are not taken seriously in court, and, as a result,
do not find legal justice. Society’s treatment of rape and
sexualassaultisimperativetoitsownbetterment.Itisim-
portanttolookbackattherootsofthisinjusticetounder-
stand the patterns of the 21st century. It is clear that not
much has changed in terms of the safety of the African
American woman. The only way to fix this problem is to
legitimize the voice of the sexually assaulted woman. It
is imperative to know this history and read these court
cases so that as a whole, society can begin to correct and
fix the faults in our legal system.
D
Senior Thesis Edition