Racial Divide and Mystery: Eric McKinnis' Unresolved Death

Alex Kotlowitz’s gut-wrenching, non-fiction work entitled The Other Side of the River: A story of two towns, a death and America’s Dilemma focuses on the aftermath of one tragic circumstance: Eric McKinnis’ death. On May 22, 1991, the body of a battered teenage boy was found in the river that separates Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. It was no secret that these two towns previously had a wedge between them in regards to racial segregation; Benton Harbor was a poor city that consisted of 92% African-Americans, while St. Joseph’s make-up was 95% Caucasian -- predominately wealthy. St. Joseph was not a place known for murder, although what really shook these polar opposite communities was that Eric’s brutal death turned into a cold case --

ultimately creating an atmosphere of “pent up mistrust and anger on both sides of the river” (Kotlowitz 29). Kotlowitz embarked on a journey to thoroughly investigate Eric’s death in a feeble attempt to bring closure to this case and to decipher where “truth becomes myth; myth becomes truth,” yet to no avail.
Eric’s death was -- at first glance -- thought to be a drowning or perhaps a suicide; however, with a closer look his death was ruled a homicide.

This conclusion became the great debate for those working Eric’s case, for some strongly believed that his death was accidental while others declared his death was intentional and horrific. Rumors began to fly in reference to Eric’s untimely death, thus creating a scenario where each side of the river blamed the other. Benton Harbor residents viewed this as an “act of racism” due to the nature of his death, as well as the authorities just “sitting” on the case (Kotlowitz 65). Eric’s friends and family grew outraged as time went on and their questions remained unanswered. Eric’s mother, Ruth, wanted answers: reasonable answers. Eric’s friends wanted revenge, for they viewed “the neighbors across the way were the enemy” (Kotlowitz 40). The longer that Eric’s case remained unsolved and untouched, his classmates began to wreak havoc upon St. Joseph’s white population; in return, the white population stood their ground and a war was waged. Over a year after Eric’s death, more questions were asked than answered, resulting in the masses believing that the police “[were] covering something up” (Kotlowitz 188). The world pondered whether Eric died because he: was black, dated white girls, was a prankster always joking around and pushing people’s buttons, or was simply just in the wrong place at the wrong

time.
Cases like Eric’s are, unfortunately, evident in today’s modern society. Eight months ago in Jasper, Texas a black male was found (eighteen days after he went missing) with his throat slit and one ear extracted. Authorities ruled his untimely death as an “accidental drug overdose” ("Black Man in Jasper, Texas Found With Cut Throat And Missing Ear - Ruled 'Accidental Overdose` " 3). Eric’s death was not quite as violent as Alfred’s, yet the two cases remained unsolved while society viewed the explanations of their deaths as absurd; both communities demanded logical answers to their unanswered questions. Both young men dated white women and lived in “racially tense” environments ("Black Man in Jasper, Texas Found With Cut Throat And Missing Ear - Ruled 'Accidental Overdose` " 6). Due to the nature of the murders, people believed the murderer(s) to be white; in Eric’s case he was caught stealing from residents of St. Joseph and in Alfred’s case one ear was missing -- much like the clan did in the days of lynching.
After reading over 300 pages that transcended five years of interviews of over 200 people on the gruesome details of Eric’s death and the lengthy list of suspects, I am genuinely enthused to be finished with this saddening piece of work. For starters, non-fiction is not my favorite to begin with, yet the issue truly lies in that this storyline has ZERO closure; I need closure and this book fails in that regard. Other than that, this book has opened my eyes to some problems of the world (present and past) where I realize that at times: “race blinds their neighbors to the obvious...[and] because of race even the obvious is never what it seems” (Kotlowitz 307).