Why Knoxville author Reed Massengill's 'Portrait of a Racist' remains relevant

It has been more than 60 years since civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi. And it has been 30 years since Evers' killer, Byron De La Beckwith, was convicted after a third trial.

That conviction was secured in part by the testimony of Knoxville native Reed Massengill, the author of the biography "Portrait of a Racist" about Beckwith, Massengill's uncle by marriage.

Evers was honored earlier this month as one of 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and Massengill believes now is the perfect time to release a new edition of his book. The reissue feels serendipitous to Massengill, who noted Evers' award was far too long in coming.

"Although I've written about Beckwith, I want to pivot some of that attention back to Medgar Evers and his contributions and his legacy," Massengill said. "I don't want him to be overlooked in the conversation."

Who was Byron de la Beckwith and how did Massengill end up writing 'Portrait of a Racist?'

Byron De La Beckwith, who was born in 1920, had been married to Massengill's aunt, Mary Louise "Willie" Williams. But as Massengill notes in the beginning of his biography, Williams' family never spoke of Beckwith, who was suspected of murdering Evers in 1963.

Beckwith's first two trials in 1964 ? both times by all-male, all-white juries ? ended in mistrials. Delmar Dennis, who acted as a key witness for the prosecution at the 1994 trial, said Beckwith boasted of his role in the death of Medgar Evers at several Ku Klux Klan rallies and similar gatherings in the years after those trials. Beckwith was finally convicted after the third trial in 1994.

Prior to his re-arrest, Beckwith had reached out to Massengill, in the mid-1980s, with the idea that his nephew would write a sympathetic account.

"I had been curious about him since I was a kid, but he came to me," Massengill said. "I got a letter from (him). ... I don't think I would have ended up with the book I did if I had approached him. I owed our interaction almost entirely to this curiosity he had about me as the writer in the family. He was constantly giving me stuff that drew me in even more; his letters invariably provided me with details that led to further research."

One of the items Beckwith sent was the FBI file that had been amassed on his activities since Evers' assassination, Massengill said, adding of his uncle's "complex" personality, "He was definitely a narcissist."

Massengill was interviewed by Knox News in December 1992, shortly after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Beckwith would stand trial for the third time, while Massengill was in the process of writing "Portrait of a Racist." Massengill told reporter Don Williams he had just returned from a jailhouse interview with his uncle.

"Massengill is breaking the family taboo," Williams wrote. "He is airing out the family secret, literally writing the final chapter to a book scheduled to be published by St. Martin's Press in August."

What happened after 'Portrait of a Racist' was published?

The publication of the biography in January 1994 resulted in Massengill being subpoenaed to testify against Beckwith because of the letters his uncle wrote him.

"I feared something might happen to me to keep me from testifying," Massengill said, recalling that a planned hit list with his name on it showed up in his post office box. On another occasion, his windshield was smashed. "It was creepy and scary."

Eventually, Massengill said, he left Knoxville and moved back to his former home ? New York City ? where he felt "a lot less vulnerable." (Massengill moved back to Knoxville in the early 2000s.)

The publisher of "Portrait of a Racist," St. Martin's Press, tried several times to arrange a book signing in Jackson, but two attempts were canceled due to bomb threats, Massengill said. Finally, with extra security, one did take place.

At that book signing, Beckwith's son showed up in what Massengill described as a "funny run-in."

"He got in my face," Massengill said, adding that his cousin claimed he was printing lies and defaming the family but said he hadn't even read the book. "I literally walked to the cash register and paid for the book and gave it to my cousin ... and then he asked me if I was going to sign it."

What prompted a new edition of Massengill's book about Byron de la Beckwith?

Massengill said an "odd series of events" precipitated the decision to work on a new edition of "Portrait of a Racist."

A fellow board member at Knox Heritage took a trip to Jackson five years ago and toured Medgar Evers' home. When she mentioned Massengill's book to the woman standing next to her on the infamous driveway, a man standing nearby chimed in.

"He was the acquisitions editor for the University of Georgia Press," Massengill said, explaining the chance meeting led to a conversation between the two men about a new edition before COVID-19 put a stop to the potential collaboration.

Fast-forward a few years, to when Massengill was working on a book for the University of Tennessee Press about film director Clarence Brown. Another chance meeting, this time with Scott Danforth, the now-retired director of UT Press, brought the new edition back to life.

"He said, we need to do that book," Massengill recalled. "We did think it was time to look at this again. ... I don't know what kind of reception the new book will get. It's a very different world in some ways, but not in others. It will be interesting to see if the book will be embraced at all."

Massengill will do a book signing at Union Ave Books at 3 p.m. July 13, as well as a brown bag lunch at noon Sept. 18 at the East Tennessee History Center. Still in the works is an appearance in Mississippi, possibly in conjunction with the sketch artist who was present every day of Beckwith's last trial.

The new edition includes an afterword that recounts Massengill’s participation as a witness and his introduction of new evidence in the third trial. It also chronicles Beckwith’s last years of declining health behind bars, examines the deep scholarship on Evers and civil rights that has arisen since this book’s original appearance, and reflects on the catastrophic persistence of Beckwith’s ideology ? Christian nationalism and white supremacy ? in the current political climate.

"It's more than I could take on, to tie all the loose ends (together), to things like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and religious nationalism," Massengill said. "But my point in attempting that is to show that we choose to believe that the world has changed for the better, but the evidence is clearly being presented, day in and day out, that times have not changed as much as we think."

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville author's biography of Medgar Evers killer remains relevant