Kids Back Jail Term For Being Kissed By A White Girl

Two little black kids were tortured and imprisoned over being voluntary kissed on a cheek by a white girl.

In 1958, two African American boys were playing with friends in the White section of their North Carolina town. It was an innocent time in their lives. James Hanover Thompson was 9 and David Simpson was 7 years old at the time.

While playing, a friend suggested that one of the little white girls they were playing with give the two boys a kiss- and she did. James told NPR.org, “The little girl gave me a peck on the check and then she kissed David on the check. So, we didn’t think anything of it. We were just little kids.”

What happened next will blow your mind. The little girl went home and casually mentioned the kiss to her parents, who became furious and called the police.

The two young boys were eventually detained and charged with rape and later molestation.

The night they were hauled off to jail, they were badly beaten by police officers; and the officers made sure only to hit the boys upon their bodies. James stated, “They didn’t beat us to the face, where nobody could see it; they just punched us all in the stomach and back and legs. We was hollering and screaming. We thought they was gonna kill us.”

The two boys weren't allowed to see their mothers for weeks, but their case soon caught the attention of the media and an international committee was formed in Europe to defend the children. In the interim, the boys were sentenced to reform school until their 21st birthdays.

The boys were eventually pardoned by the Governor after spending three months in detention. They never received an apology.

Their lives and the lives of their families were subsequently ruined. James’s mother was a nervous wreck while her son was locked up. Her daughter Brenda recalls, “She didn't sleep. She would be up walking the floors and praying.”

There is no word on the outcome of the youngest victim, David Simpson.