She said she felt no hatred toward the Messersmiths. I'm just angry that they felt like they did, and that they killed her without cause. I was happy and sad all at the same time. Though appearances can deceive, Newberry Street today appears to be a peaceful urban neighborhood. The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad tracks seem to be only a bump in the road, not a racial divide.
Interracial couples sit on tidy porches with young children.
Boys and girls, black and white, race their scooters to the West End Newsstand, the same corner store where the Newberry Street Boys, the gang blamed for Allen's killing, hung out four decades ago. We could see the black smoke and flames from here. We were afraid our neighborhood would be destroyed. The town remains divided over the indictments. Phillips, who remembers that the National Guard took over the street that week, said he feared the community might explode once again if the Messersmiths were acquitted.