The Memphis Race Riot of 1866 was one of the most horrific and terrifying events that Memphis, Tennessee has ever seen in the city’s history. You may be wondering what could have caused something so tragic and terrible to happen to such a small town, but there is only one answer; hatred. Hatred is one of the many things that fueled the fire to start the biggest race riot to ever take place in Memphis, Tennessee. Hatred is the one thing that all of those people had to feel to be so cruel to another human being without a care in the world. But that hatred had to start from somewhere and that somewhere was on a street on May 1, 1866. The day before the riots started, April 30, 1866, rumors had been spread among the white community that African Americans were planning some type …show more content…
organized revenge against the whites. Although trouble was to be expected when a majority of African American Union troops were kicked out of the army that same day. Those former soldiers had to remain in the city for several days while they awaited their discharge pay, which is why they were to be in the city during the events that were to take place. These men however, passed their time by walking around drinking and celebrating; later in the afternoon, a fight broke out between three of the African-American soldiers and four policemen. After a physical collision and some taunting done on both sides, a police officer hit one of the soldiers in the head with a firearm and exerted enough force to break the firearm. After the fight was over and both groups went their separate ways, word spread across the town about the incident (“Memphis Riots of 1866” 2015). That brings us to the following day, May 1, 1866. Lanum (2007) goes on to describe how the riot broke out late that afternoon. It all began when a white police officer attempted to arrest a black ex-soldier. It is estimated that around fifty blacks showed up to stop the arrest and attempted to stop the police officer from jailing the ex-soldier. Gilbreth (2006) states that the majority of the black men that had gathered to stop the arrest on South Street in South Memphis, were more or less intoxicated. Three or four of the men that had gathered were very loud and hostile, therefor causing two out of the six policemen that had showed up, to arrest two of the African American men. The other officers stayed back to try and keep the crowd back and try to keep them calm but when several of the African American men started to try and rescue their fallen comrades, the police fell back and a fight broke out between the two groups. Around this time, police started to fire upon innocent African Americans who were just standing around when the whole altercation began. The African American soldiers with whom the police had problems with the night before, had returned and they were angrier than ever. The police were soon reinforced and commenced firing on the colored women, men, and children that were around, wounding and killing several of them. Shortly after these events took place the City Recorder, John C. Creighton, arrived and delivered a speech that received three hearty cheers from the crowd that was gathered. He urged the white citizens of the city to arm themselves and kill every African American in sight; they were to hunt them down and drive them out of the city for good. During that night, the African Americans that once lived in the city, were hunted down by police, firemen, and the other white citizens of the city. Gilbreth (2006) goes on to discuss how the African Americans were shot, assaulted, robbed, and in many circumstances they had their households searched under the pretense of looking for concealed weapons. Many of the African Americans also had their homes set on fire with little to no regard from the white citizens of the town. The mob of white citizens did continue to grow bigger and bigger throughout the night, and then they finally went out and were on a rampage. These citizens attacked not only homes, but schools and churches as well. They tried to burn down as many building that belonged in the African American community, as possible. They also showed no mercy when it came to the women and children, they were angry and seeking revenge and nothing was going to stop them from driving these people out of their city, not even a small child and their mother. Records show that some mob members locked the African Americans in their homes and refused to let them leave while they torched their homes and burned it down, with them inside (“Lanum” 2007). The riots did not end that night, they continued over onto the following day, May 2, 1866. According to Gilbreth (2006) everything that Wednesday morning was perfectly quiet in the districts that were having the disturbances from the previous day. Although one thing was noticeable, there were very few African Americans on the streets and if they were on the streets, they were not armed and the only emotion they expressed was fear. But around 11 A.M. a group of police and citizens reappeared just like the night before, right there in South Memphis, and continued to wreak havoc amongst the African American community. African American women and men were gunned down in the streets, along with some children who were there to witness these violent crimes. The white citizens continued these vicious attacks all throughout the entire day and into the night. General George Stoneman, who was the commander of federal occupation troops in Memphis, went on to say, “…the blacks had little to do with the riot except be killed and abused.” (“Memphis Riots of 1866” 2015). There were many different types of citizens that participated in the violent crimes.
Police and firefighter made up thirty-four percent of the attackers, small business owners made up twenty-eight percent, clerks made up to ten percent, artisans made up ten percent as well, and the last six percent of the attackers were city officials. (“Memphis Riots of 1866” 2015). There was also regular citizens who joined in and helped attack and tried to drive the African American community out of the city. Lovett (2009) went on to say that there were also a few white Irish Memphians who joined in the riots to drive out the black community because they felt like they deserved to leave because ever since the slaves were freed in 1863, the Irish Memphians felt like the black community was taking too many of their jobs and putting them out work. Therefor giving the Irish Memphians a reason to join in on one of the most horrific events that was to take place in Memphis, Tennessee. Lovett (2009) then explains that some of the citizens who were rioting wanted revenge for the Union Occupation. Some rioters were still bothered by the fact that they were former slaves who free and now demanding equal
rights. The riot lasted until and including May 4, 1866, but the attacks were not consecutively, most of the attacks happened after sunset.
Emmett Till Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy visiting Money,Mississippi from Chicago, Illinois in 1955. He whistled, flirted, and touched a white woman who was working at a store where Emmett Till was purchasing bubble gum. A day later Till was abducted at gunpoint from his great uncle’s house. 3 days after that Till’s body was found, unrecognizable other than a ring he had on. He was unprepared for the intense segregation of Mississippi.
LGBTQIA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual. The LGBTQIA topic is still an issue in society. There are people who are still against it. Some people in society still see this topic as a negative thing. The Stonewall riots was an important event for the LGBTQIA community. Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started. The transgender community is an important part of the LGBTQIA community. Same sex marriage was an important event that happened and impacted people of the community. The LGBTQIA community has many influential people like Laverne cox and Caitlyn Jenner. The L and G stands for lesbian and gay which means you are attracted to the same sex. The B stands for bisexual which means you are
Crazy neon lights, crowded walkways, the sweet aroma of Memphis barbeque, and the sound of soft blues and rock n roll is a taste of what Memphis’s Beale Street is made of. Memphis Tennessee is a home for exciting things to do within the surrounding metropolitan area. But first, what specifically brings civilians to Memphis? Memphis is a prime destination for tourist and residents of Memphis because of the great time, inexpensive attractions to visit, but most importantly Beale Street. Beale is a famous street located in downtown Memphis that is connected by three co-joining streets. Memphis’s Beale Street is one popular destination spot in downtown Memphis. On these streets are many tasty places to eat, local shops to visit,
Mrs. Wright made the narrator get the groceries, even with the chance of being beaten up. She stated, “Go now! If you come back into this house without those groceries, I’ll whip you!” I believe that she was wrong to do this because although it did teach him to stand up for himself, it got the message across through violence. Children should not learn that violence is the answer to get their way, which I believe this lesson taught the narrator. This experience also made the narrator extremely frightened both in the home environment and the outside environment. The narrator exclaims, “[Mrs. Wright] slammed the door and I heard the key turn in the lock. I shook with fright. I was alone upon
If I were to ask you what you knew about W.E.B. Du Bois and the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, what would your answer be? You might state the obvious and say that there was a race war in Atlanta that affected many people including Du Bois but do you know the depth of the matter? The 1900’s was a powerful and intriguing time period in history that included events from the assassination of William McKinley to the infamous World Wars. While events such as these took the nation by storm there were other affairs that were rattling the people of America, specifically those in the South, that became known as the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. The Atlanta Race riot began on September 22 and ended on September 24, 1906. American history students should read this
On July 27, 1919, a young black man named Eugene Williams swam past an invisible line of segregation at a popular public beach on Lake Michigan, Chicago. He was stoned by several white bystanders, knocked unconscious and drowned, and his death set off one of the bloodiest riots in Chicago’s history (Shogun 96). The Chicago race riot was not the result of the incident alone. Several factors, including the economic, social and political differences between blacks and whites, the post-war atmosphere and the psychology of race relations in 1919, combined to make Chicago a prime target for this event. Although the riot was a catalyst for several short-term solutions to the racial tensions, it did little to improve race relations in the long run. It was many years before the nation truly addressed the underlying conflicts that sparked the riot of 1919. This observation is reflected in many of author James Baldwin’s essays in which he emphasizes that positive change can only occur when both races recognize the Negro as an equal among men politically, economically and socially.
The Newark riots of 1967 were very extreme and terrible time in Newark, New Jersey, one of the worst in U.S. history. The riots were between African-Americans and white residents, police officers and the National Guard. The riots were not unexpected. The tension between the city grew tremendously during the 1960's, due to lack of employment for Blacks, inadequate housing, police brutality and political exclusion of blacks from government.
On February 8th, 1968, shots were fired on a crowd of civil rights protesters and that day became known as one of the saddest days in South Carolina history. Many problems occurred in South Carolina, mostly between blacks and whites over issues about civil rights and segregation. These issues in South Carolina lasted many years and led to many events, protests, and even massacres that all resulted in sometimes very horrible outcomes but also bringing South Carolina one step further to getting rid of segregation. One horrible event that took place in the late 60’s was the Orangeburg Massacre that resulted in a few deaths and some injuries but also furthered integration in Orangeburg. In 1968, due to the conflict between civil rights protestors
Mayor Loeb, the racist mayor of Memphis, refused to acknowledge the union that would help black workers (Honey, p. 6). Memphis black workers were forced to live and work squalor conditions. Underpaid black workers were systematically forced into bad jobs with the lowest of wages because the sanitation job was below the white man (At the River I Stand). The sanitation job was reserved for blacks and only hired black people. Black sanitation workers were discriminately forced to work in the field of sanitation because it was one of the few jobs that were open to black workers (At the River I Stand).
The Tulsa race riot changed the course of American history by actively expressing African American views on white supremacy. Certainly I feel with the available facts in this research paper, that the whites were the aggressors for the events leading up to the Tulsa race riot and the start of the Tulsa race riot. African Americans were simply there to stand up against the white supremacy and to provide the African Americans Tulsa their freedom and equal justice.
The rioters were mostly working class men since the draft focused on them while allowing the wealthy to pay $300 to exclude themselves from serving the Union. Soon the violence spilled over into anger against the free negroes on the streets, resulting in hangings. An orphanage for negro children was targeted, as were many other buildings.25
At the time, Selma was populated by 15,100 Negroes and 14,400 whites, a probable place to start such a cause. The protests began when Martin Luther King Jr., and a couple of other people, registered in a white hotel. James Baldwin was there. However, when more blacks tried to register, they were arrested by the county sheriff. This resulted in marches and protests. One of the first riots involved around 400 demonstrators who were dispersed by state troopers. During the protest, one man, Jim Lee Jackson, was shot and killed, presumably by a state trooper. (“Central Point” 23).
Millions of people all over the US were watching TV on a Sunday night when the television program was interrupted by African Americans being beat by clubs and tear gas being thrown. Six hundred people were attacked by police and state troopers and they were dressed in riot uniforms. ABC was showing a movie and then it was stopped and showed African Americans being hurt. Most people have never heard of Selma, Alabama but after March 7 no one would forget. ("National park service")
In a society of a violent system it was hard for young blacks to take charge in an non-violent organization, it seemed to be a hypocrisy. And the idea of tolerance was wearing thin for the whole generation. Later on in the year, around August, the first of many large-scale riots began to break out. The first one was in Los Angeles, California and lasted for a little over three weeks. This single riot killed 39 people during its wrath of burning block after block.
American Civil Rights Movement By Eric Eckhart The American Civil Rights movement was a movement in which African Americans were once slaves and over many generations fought in nonviolent means such as protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and many other forms of civil disobedience in order to receive equal rights as whites in society. The American civil rights movement never really had either a starting or a stopping date in history. However, these African American citizens had remarkable courage to never stop, until these un-just laws were changed and they received what they had been fighting for all along, their inalienable rights as human beings and to be equal to all other human beings. Up until this very day there are still racial issues where some people feel supreme over other people due to race.