Which writer was African-American, Patrick White or Ernest J. Gaines?
Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 191230 September 1990) was an Australian writer who is widely regarded as one of the most important English-language novelists of the 20th century. From 1935 to 1987, he published twelve novels, three short-story collections and eight plays.
Betty Jean Owens Betty Jean Owens is an African American woman who was brutally raped by four white men in Tallahassee, Florida in 1959. Her trial was significant in Florida, and the South as a whole, because the white men were given life sentences for their crimes. This severe of a sentencing had not occurred for white men in the South accused of raping black women previous to Owens' case. For example, in the case of Recy Taylor, who was gang raped by six white men in Alabama, the men were never found guilty of any charges and released from jail with minimal fines.