The Kissing Case: Two Black Boys Aged 7 and 9 Imprisoned for Kissing White Girl

In Monroe, North Carolina in October 1958, Hanover Thompson (9) and David 'Fuzzy' Simpson (7) are playing a kissing game with white children when Hanover kisses a white girl. Both Black boys are arrested for 'assault on a female,' handcuffed, jailed, and held without bail. A judge sentences them to reform school until age 21. Their mothers are told they have no rights. Robert F. Williams and the Monroe NAACP launch an international campaign. After protests from Europe and threats to U.S. Cold War image, the boys are released after several months.