The Story of Betty Jean Owens

Betty Owens was an African American woman who was coming home from a dance with two men and a woman. Betty and her friends were stopped by four white men that held shotguns to the men's heads and told them to leave the women. When the men left, the women took their chance and ran away from the white men, leaving Betty alone. Betty Owens was raped seven times in the backseat of a car and instead of staying quiet about the crime, Betty told the authorities that eventually got the four white men arrested.

This piece represents how Betty and other women that have been raped are called liars and are not believed. Betty fought for what she wanted even if it hurt her to relive the events. The piece overall symbolizes strength in women and in Betty that she did not think she had. Her 1959 case made history when white men were found guilty of the rape of a black woman.

Resources

10 Groundbreaking Cases You've Never Heard of That Propelled the Civil Rights Movement. (2018, January 5). Retrieved April 22, 2020, from https://historycollection.co/10-groundbreaking-cases-youve-never-heard-propelled-civil-rights-movement/8/

McGuire, D. (2004). "It Was like All of Us Had Been Raped": Sexual Violence, Community Mobilization, and the African American Freedom Struggle. The Journal of American History, 91(3), 906-931.