Member-only story
The Charge Towards Lumberton
A stand is made
Lumberton, North Carolina 1953
On a summer day in June, the black citizens of Lumberton were outside enjoying the weather, including 38-year-old James Thomas and his 11-year-old son Patrick Thomas, who were coming out of a small grocery store with 15 brown bags.
Nearby the two was the lone white civilian in town, Timothy Hines, who was around the same age as James dropping some fish at the store. The well-dressed Timothy with his large brown hat on his head made his way to James with a concerned face.
‘‘Mr. Hines?’’
‘’Mr. Thomas.’’
‘‘How do you do? How’s your family?’’
‘‘I do alright. The family is alright too. How’s your boy and the family?’’
‘‘Patrick is good. He’s getting taller every day. He might be a preacher one day.’’
‘‘That’s fanatic.’’
Silence came between the men for a few seconds before Timothy ended it with his next words.
‘‘James, I’m sure you heard the rumblings that’s been going on in my town, Tyler lately. It’s bad, James, really bad. A lot of wild white fellas there talk about turning Lumberton into dust.
