How a horrific incident of racial violence became a powerful catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Watch THE BLINDING OF ISAAC WOODARD, now streaming → pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/blinding-isaac-woodard | American Experience | PBS

On February 12, 1946, Black army sergeant Isaac Woodard was on his way home from serving in WWII when local police violently beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind. Although his name is little-known today, Isaac Woodard’s story changed hearts and minds—and the law of the land. 🎖️ Learn more in THE BLINDING OF ISAAC WOODARD, now streaming online and in the @PBS App → https://youtu.be/80GKeyIqDW0 #BlackHistoryMonth #IsaacWoodardPBS | American Experience | PBS

Presiding over the trial that acquitted the white police chief who blinded Black soldier Isaac Woodard in 1946 shook Judge Waties Waring. He began to seek out civil rights cases to rule on with an eye to taking down segregation nationwide. THE BLINDING OF ISAAC WOODARD premieres Tue Mar 30 at 9/8c → pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/blinding-isaac-woodard | American Experience | PBS

On February 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr.—still in uniform—was pulled off a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, South Carolina, after a brief argument with the driver about using the restroom. Police Chief Lynwood Shull arrested him, beat him with a nightstick, and gouged out his eyes, permanently blinding him. | Deffnotant