The Supreme Court's announcement striking down segregation in public schools on May 17, 1954, came with negative repercussions. Melba Patillo, a twelve year old black girl was on her way back from school, after being released early for safety, and was attacked by "huge" white man and sexually assaulted before she was able to free herself and escape. Patillo was attacked as retaliation for the Supreme Court's decision; rape was a common weapon used to dehumanize and oppress black women in the mid 1900s and as white men raped white women, black men were falsely accused of raping white women. On May 13, 1956, Annette Butler, a sixteen year old black girl, was abducted from her home, at gunpoint, by Ernest Dillon and three white men; who drove