A few ministers refused to endorse the Association arguing that “Colored people should open their eyes and not allow themselves to be hoodwinked into every trap that comes along to take from them their hard earnings”. Unfortunately, Rev. Brown’s absence allowed the True Reformers to unknowingly endorse Porter’s scam. Upon his return to Richmond, Brown began to investigate. It turns out that Mr. Porter used the U. S. Grant Monument Association and Old Folks Home as a front to collect money. Once the scheme was revealed another debate occurred to decide what actions to take in response to the trickery. Rev. Brown declared that if a suit was filed he would take the responsibility.
A $25,000 suit was filed against Rev. Brown and other individuals. In 1895, Rev. Brown was found innocence of all the allege charges. During the trial Mitchell was called to testify on the behalf of Mr. Porter, but his testimony aided the defense more so than the plaintiff. Rev. Brown misinterpreted…show more content… Lina was raped by a wealthy white man named Thomas J. Penn. Despite the overwhelming evidence Penn was acquitted of all charges and set free. Thornton Parker, an African American man, attempted to rape a white woman named Mrs. Melton. Because of his race and the fact that he attempted to rape a white woman Parker was sentenced to death. The Planet argued against Parker’s punishment of death. “It is not the severity of the punishment that checks crime, but the certainty of it”. The judicial system was extremely lenient to whites who committed crimes against African Americans. The lenience towards white men allowed them to continuously get away with heinous crimes should as murder and rape. However, African American were treated harshly and unfairly under the law. This use of the law cultivated and fostered the ideology that whites were protected by the law while African Americans were
