Death of a Bigot

There I was, surfing the net when I got to a story about this guy named William Zantzinger who died three weeks ago and then the name rang a bell. Bob Dylan immortalized him in song [and not in a good way] – “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” The song appeared on Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ album. I hadn’t heard it in quite awhile, so I pulled it out of the CD collection and gave it a spin on the way to work. It chronicles the true story of how Zantzinger, then a 24-year old white tobacco farmer who was well-connected, caused the death of Hattie Carroll, a 51-year old black waitress/barmaid and mother of 11 at a charity ball at Baltimore’s Emerson Hotel in 1963. According to a UPI article appearing in the New York Times, Zantzinger drunkenly assaulted a bellboy, a waitress [saying “hey black girl, bring me a drink”], and then Hattie Carroll. After he demanded a drink from Hattie Carroll, she said “just a minute, sir,” to which he replied “when I order a drink I want it now. After Ms Carroll said “I’m hurrying as fast as I can,” Zantzinger replied “I don’t have to take that kind of stuff off a nigger” and struck her with a cane. Soon afterwards, Ms Carroll told co-workers “I feel deathly ill, that man has upset me so.” She collapsed, was taken to the hospital, and died eight hours later.

Zantzinger was originally charged with murder. But since he was a wealthy farmer in then-segregated Maryland, his family was able to afford the best legal representation that money could buy. Ms Carroll’s autopsy showed she had hardened arteries, an enlarged heart, and high blood pressure. The autopsy listed a brain hemorrhage as the cause of death. Zantzinger’s lawyers noted that since the cane didn’t leave a mark on her head, he didn’t murder her, so his charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. At trial, a three-judge panel found Zantzinger guilty of manslaughter. They sentenced him to six months in the county jail and a $625 fine. The judges even allowed him to delay serving his sentence two weeks late so that he could harvest his tobacco crop. The sentence provoked public outrage and inspired Bob Dylan to write a song.

Dylan begins his song with answers to all the journalistic questions [who/what/where/when/how] - William Zantzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll/With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger/At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'. He describes Zantzinger as one who Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres/With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him/And high office relations in the politics of Maryland. Of Hattie Carroll, she was a maid of the kitchen. She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children/Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage/And never sat once at the head of the table/And didn't even talk to the people at the table/Who just cleaned up all the food from the table/And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level/Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane who never done nothing to William Zanzinger. The judges didn’t escape Dylan’s disdain - In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel/To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level/And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded/And that even the nobles get properly handled/Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em/And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,/Stared at the person who killed for no reason/Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'. And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished/And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,/William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence./Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears/Bury the rag deep in your face/For now's the time for your tears.

Zantzinger served his sentence, and his notoriety followed him the rest of his life. In 1991 he was convicted of a scam where he charged poor black workers rent on run-down properties he didn’t own [they didn’t have running water or sewer connections]. He lost these properties because he owed back taxes on them, but that didn’t stop him from taking his “tenants” to court for back rent he said they “owed” him. Unlike his previous conviction, he had to serve his time when the judge told him to serve. Nice guy…NOT!

It must have galled William Zantzinger that a black man was elected President of the United States. What a pity this bigot didn’t stick around to see Barack Obama become president.