Civil rights activist on lonely quest for justice

Six decades after lynching, witnesses still silenced by fear

Saturday, July 22, 2006; Posted: 4:33 p.m. EDT (20:33 GMT)

MONROE, Georgia (AP) -- The dirt road that led to Moore's Ford bridge is paved now, and the creaky wooden bridge has been replaced with a sleek concrete span. But the black letters "KKK" sprayed on the new bridge's face offer an eerie reminder of the terrible events that happened here 60 years ago.

Bobby Howard brushes back a leafy tree branch, revealing a half-dozen more racist scribblings. He sniffs his disgust, but he is not surprised. He has long forsaken his personal safety to fight the culture of fear that has suppressed the truth of what took place on the bridge. He still hopes that truth may come out -- in a courtroom.