On June 7th, 1998, a 49-year-old African-American man was brutally tortured and murdered in one of the most horrific, racially motivated hate crimes the country has ever seen.

The man, James Bird Jr., was dragged to his death after being chained by the ankles to the back of a pickup truck by three white men, John King, Lawrence Brewer, and Sean Barry.

The crime, so inhumane and shocking, would play a major role in the passage of federal hate crimes legislation.

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Now to the story.

James Bird Jr. was born in Beaumont, Texas,

on May 2, 1949.

He was the third of nine children to his parents, Stella May Sharp and James Bird Sr.

Growing up in Jasper, Texas, James' class was the last class to graduate from Jasper's segregated

J.H. High School in 1967, before it was combined with Jasper High School as a part of the city's desegregation plan.

His family was heavily involved in the church.

His mother worked as a Sunday school teacher and his father served as a deacon at the Greater New Bethel Church.

James was also heavily involved by singing and playing the piano as a child.

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