Part 2: Chapter 11 Summary and Analysis

Following Emmet Till's death, Mrs. Burke and the Guild increase their efforts to organize whites in the area. As the popularity of the Guild grows, the blacks in the area start to hear about happenings that they never knew were going on. One of the most talked about subjects is how many white men have black mistresses. A sting operation is even staged to catch the sheriff in bed with his black lover. Even more outrageous is the fact that black men are taking white lovers. This news spreads like wildfire and black men are accused of wrongdoing simply for looking in the direction of a white woman.

One of Anne's classmates, Jerry, is beaten up by the sheriff for supposedly making obscene phone calls to a white operator. Shortly after this incident something more terrible occurs. In the...