The achievement of the hometown lawyer generated pride among blacks in this Old South city. Chisolm's father was a maintenance man at Savannah State University, the local black college. Chisolm left Savannah for Duke University, where he attended law school.
He returned home to a city where many black residents continue live in dire conditions amid charming, tourist-friendly historic squares. According to the 2000 census, 34% of black children in the Savannah metropolitan area live in poverty.
"It gave hope to all the other young African Americans who have ambitions and want to move up the ladder," Jackson said.
Even as he pressures Chisolm to intervene in the Davis case, Jackson, like the Rev. Brown, admits that the new D.A. is "between a rock and a hard place."
In the interview, Chisolm spoke generally about the death penalty, saying he supports it because it is Georgia law. He said he sought it twice as an assistant D.A., with both cases ending in life sentences.
Chisolm said he wouldn't speak about the Davis case until all appeals were exhausted. And yet he did offer one comment: He noted that Officer MacPhail died coming to the aid of an African American.
"He put his life at risk to try to save the life of a black man," he said. "And that's a story in and of itself in terms of race, and where Savannah is in terms of race relations."
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richard.fausset@latimes.com
