Elaine Race Riots and Massacre
Racial conflicts had been happening all over the United States in early autumn of 1919, because of labor conflicts escalating throughout the country at the end of World War I. Black soldiers returned from war, who often exhibited a less submissive attitude. This lead to what we now call the “Red Summer”. Blacks and whites competed for jobs and housing which resulted in rioting in over three dozen cities, Elain being the worst. According to the book, BLOOD IN THEIR EYES: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919 by Grif Stockley, “it is documented that five whites, including a soldier, died at Elaine, but estimates of African American deaths range from 20 to 856. If accurate, these numbers would make it by far the most deadly conflict in the history of the United States.”
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The Elaine massacre, began on September 30–October 1, 1919 at Hoop Spur in the vicinity of Elaine in rural Phillips County, Arkansas.
A group of African American sharecroppers had gathered to discuss better ways to receive payment for their crops from the landowners. They placed armed guards outside the doors to protect those inside. Two white men, a sheriff, W.A Atkins, and a railroad worker, Charles Pratt, showed up at the front of the church and shots were fired. Nobody knows who fired the first shot," says Little Rock lawyer and author Grif Stockley, who grew up in the Delta and wrote the book on the Elaine race riots. But there is plenty of evidence to say whites attacked blacks indiscriminately, he says. "I use the term race massacre.”. According to the "white version," a black man from Winchester, Robert L. Hill, planned an insurrection against whites, established a union among black sharecroppers and incited them to grab land and kill whites. In an unprovoked attack, a white deputy was shot by blacks meeting at a church near
Elaine. A posse quickly formed in Arkansas, by men not only from Arkansas but from Mississippi and Tennessee as well to fight the “Insurrectionist”. Local white leaders wired Governor Charles Brough asking for Federal troops from Camp Pike to help restore order. Five hundred and eighty-three troops were dispatched on the morning of October 2, accompanied by Brough. Martial Law was declared and troops began to roam the streets of Elaine. Two days later, after order was restored, five white and twenty-five blacks lay dead. Several hundred blacks were taken into custody of those twelve were sentenced to death for first degree murder. As a result, sixty-five took plea-bargains and accepted sentences of up to twenty-one years in prison for second-degree murder. Others had their charges dismissed or ultimately were not prosecuted. The leading black attorney of his era in Arkansas, Scipio Africanus Jones, led the NAACP of New York to fight the death sentences handed down in Helena. He began to raise money throughout the black community for the “Elaine Twelve”. The NAACP also the Little Rock law firm of George C. Murphy. They began to appeal the case and ask for a new trial based on errors committed by the trial court. After a long process of re-trials and movements the “Elaine Twelve” had to plead guilty to second-degree murder and a sentence of five years from the date they were first incarcerated. They were finally released on January 14, 1925 and were transported to different counties. Today people in Elaine still struggle with the history of their town. In 2000 there was a conference held to try and resolve the “two sides to every story” aspect but yielded little results and brought no closure to those who live in Elaine and Helena.
The class and regional tension separated African-American leaders of that period. A black prosecutor named Scipio Africanis Jones, tried to set free the twelve black men’s who were imprisoned. After the days of the massacres, a self-proclaimed group of foremost white citizens allotted a report. The committee demanded that Robert Hill, the union organizer, was an external protestor who had deceived native blacks into organizing an insurgency. The Negros were told to stay out of Elaine, by the wicked white men and deceitful leaders of their own race who were abusing them for their personal achievements. The black farmers that were muddled in the original firing had been consulting to work out the facts that involved the massacre of white ranchers and the eliminating the white’s possessions. Thus, the firing and the fatal riots that trailed were esteemed involvements that saved the lives of numerous white citizens, although at the outlay of many black
In this paper, I will detail how the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was not only a civil rights movement on the part of the black people in Tulsa, but also a detailed look into the way that civil rights was handled in a deeply racially divided city as Tulsa, Oklahoma. My research will feature many of the different survivors who were able to speak out about the injustice of the Tulsa Race Riot before they died; many of these people were children at the time. I also have a series of secondary sources from books from the library and some online sources. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 begins before many of the major civil rights movements happen in the United States, but I believe that understanding the steps that black people had to take in order to declare their rights and how riots were used to stop black empowerment are essential to American history.
Lives were lost based on claims that were never found to be completely accurate. The author’s speak about how Hoke Smith, who was running for President at the time, used his power and raised tensions among Whites and Blacks. His power was superior and he was able to use it to sway and impact the newspapers into releasing certain stories. Smith wanted Blacks to stay stagnant and didn’t want them becoming too smart or powerful. Hoke created and initiated Jim Crow laws that were known to support and encourage the separation and exclusion of Blacks. He did this by ensuring literacy tests that were meant to discourage Blacks from prospering and gaining rights. The author’s said “The eventual winner, race-baiting Hoke Smith, might have conspired with ruffians who masqueraded as blacks and assaulted white girls, while Atlanta editors published unsubstantiated accounts of black beasts raping white women.” “739:52”. Editors and writers didn’t bother to investigate or confirm if these allegations were true. Since this was the early 1900’s most people were for the idea of Blacks being inferior to Whites and Whites being superior. They also didn’t care to hear whether of not Blacks were right or
Through 1917-1923 there was a huge reign of terror against African Americans, where white mobs would show an abundant amount of violence and torture towards blacks (Rosewood Report, 1993, pg3). From Chicago to Tulsa, to Omaha, East St. Louis, and many communities in between, and finally to Rosewood, white mobs would come and burn down the black communities (Rosewood Report, 1993 pg3). During the second decade of the twentieth century, African Americans began to leave the South in record numbers to escape the oppressions of segregation. For many years, white Floridians had seriously discussed sending local blacks to a foreign country or to a western region of the United States. Many white had such a low opinion of blacks that they were prepared to treat them in the most inhumane fashion whenever they felt themselves threatened by the minority (Rosewood Report, 1993, pg5).Napoleon Broward, who was the governor, proposed that Congress purchased territory, either forgiven or domestic, and transport blacks to such regions where they could live separate lives and govern themselves (Rosewood Report, 1993, pg4). Racial hostilities in the North were enhanced by immigration of black southerners and the expansion black neighborhoods into white residential areas (Rosewood Report, 1993, pg7).
The first acts of violence occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, which led to the death and injuries of a few men, all of whom were black. The United States continued on with these race riots as desperation for the whites to keep their title as the dominant race. The most violent of these race riots occurred in Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and Elaine, Arkansas.
On August 1, 1943, Harlem ?Boiled over,? according to NAACP leader Walter White (NY Times, 17). The start of the event was attributed to one, ?Private Robert Bandy, the 26-year-old Negro soldier?who is charged with attacking a white policeman who was arresting a Negro woman in a Harlem hotel? (New York Times, 17). Rumors soon spread that police officers had killed a black soldier who was trying to protect his mother. This caused a momentous outburst of rioting destroying much of Harlem. The statistics of the riot vary depending on the source, but around 500 persons were injured, five dead, 400-500 arrested, and property damage estimated at 500,000 to a million dollars. ...
“Children are not blind to race. Instead, like all of us, they notice differences” and the character of Ellen Foster is no exception to the rule (Olson). Ellen Foster is the story of a strong willed and highly opinionated and pragmatic child named Ellen, growing up in the midst of poverty and abuse in the rural south. Her life is filled with tragedy from the death and possible suicide of her mother to the abuse she endures at the hands of her alcoholic father and his friends. Despite her hardships as such an early age, she never gives up hope for a better life. In addition to her struggles with poverty she is surrounded by a culture of racism in a society that is post Jim Crow
Shirley Chisholm was a crucial figure in Black politics, and the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She defeated civil rights leader James Farmer on November 5, 1968, and served 7 terms in the House of Representatives till 1982. Also, she was the first woman and person of color to run for President. Chisholm is a model of independence and honesty and has championed several issues including civil rights, aid for the poor, and women 's rights.
The Chicago riot was the most serious of the multiple that happened during the Progressive Era. The riot started on July 27th after a seventeen year old African American, Eugene Williams, did not know what he was doing and obliviously crossed the boundary of a city beach. Consequently, a white man on the beach began stoning him. Williams, exhausted, could not get himself out of the water and eventually drowned. The police officer at the scene refused to listen to eyewitness accounts and restrained from arresting the white man. With this in mind, African Americans attacked the police officer. As word spread of the violence, and the accounts distorted themselves, almost all areas in the city, black and white neighborhoods, became informed. By Monday morning, everyone went to work and went about their business as usual, but on their way home, African Americans were pulled from trolleys and beaten, stabbed, and shot by white “ruffians”. Whites raided the black neighborhoods and shot people from their cars randomly, as well as threw rocks at their windows. In retaliation, African Americans mounted sniper ambushes and physically fought back. Despite the call to the Illinois militia to help the Chicago police on the fourth day, the rioting did not subside until the sixth day. Even then, thirty eight
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