Race Massacres, Riots and their History

 

African Americans have been the subject of race riots dating back to the days of slavery. Sometimes slaves would have to choose between running away and killing their slave owners. Running away and getting caught could cause torturous acts such as getting whipped, losing food privileges, and being forced into isolation. Some slaves were brave enough to kill their slave masters and run away to get more slaves to kill their masters and so on and so forth. The majority of the time, these slaves were caught and would be punished for their crimes. Punishment for a slave included castration, lynching, burning, being skinned, having their body parts cut apart and shown off to the community and tortured. There are 87 known riots involving a racial issue that has occurred since 1829. In these riots, either African Americans were murdered by white people, African Americans were protesting injustices that had occurred due to the wrongful death or beating of one or many African Americans, or the murder or death of an African American activist. 

  After the Civil War, African Americans had the freedom to do what White Americans had the rights to do such as vote, buy property, and become educated. Southern white Americans were not in favor of these new laws and they in return would attempt to do something about it. White Americans created a group called the Ku Klux Klan who would have a major hand in inciting numerous race riots and lynching more than 400 African American men, women and children. Many riots from 1870 to 1960 were bloody, shameful to America and the very cause of the ruining of race progression. White Americans tried to intimidate Black Americans and when Black Americans tried to stand up for their American rights, they would pay the price. We will be reviewing some of the not well-known race riots that Americans sought to cover up. 

New Orleans Race Riot of 1866:

In 1866, Reconstruction laws that President Andrew Johnson put in place were being ignored by southern states such as Louisiana. Black codes, laws that made it difficult for African Americans to vote and buy property, were being placed into law by New Orleans government officials and as a result, Black Americans were marching to the court house to delegate with one another. The mayor of New Orleans gathered ex-Confederates, police officers and white supremacists to stop these Black men from delegating. The white men attacked the Black men as they were about to be at the Mechanics Institute. The mob would leave then come back to inflict more damage on the black delegates. While some ran away and were followed to be killed, others surrendered and were killed for surrendering. White Americans were offended that Black Americans were gaining the American rights and liberties that they were promised when slavery ended that they sought to murder as many Black people that they possibly could. White Americans all over the United States were getting used to not having slavery all over the country and that threatened them. Not because Black Americans were a danger to White Americans, but because White Americans thought that Black Americans were not deserving of the same treatment that they were getting.

 

Philadelphia Race Riot of 1918:

After an African American woman moved into town, white people began gathering at her home. This caused tension between the townspeople and the owner of the house. Because of this, she would shoot her gun accidentally hitting one of the men standing outside her home. This would cause days long rioting after event with African Americans and White Americans clashing over random issues. Only one African American was killed and during the fourth day of the rioting. The riots only lasted four days and in that four days, only three White Americans were arrested while 60 Black Americans were arrested. This shows the racist treatment that Black Americans received when compared to White Americans. Philadelphia would see numerous race riots in its history after slavery ended and it is a sad sight to see that even today, it is still happening.

Harlem Race Riots 1964:

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was historic. This law dismissed laws that discriminated people based on race, gender and nationality. This came after President John F Kennedy was assassinated and the new President, Lyndon B Johnson, signed the legislation into law because of all the violence that was going on across America. A couple of weeks after this legislation was signed, the Harlem Race Riots began. The riots began when a young African American teenager was shot and killed by a police officer who happened to be off duty. 15-year-old James Powell was killed by Thomas Gilligan. Peaceful protests happened around Harlem for about two days until people went to the police station that Gilligan worked at to demand his resignation. Items were thrown at the police and soon began the six day long riots. This riot was significant because not only did these riots happen in New York, but they also happened in Philadelphia, two cities in New Jersey and Chicago. This was one of the rare instances that rioting happened in more than one city. This would happen more in the 2000s than the Civil Rights era but it is still important to recognize.

Charleston Massacre 2015:

In 2015, a man entered a church in Charleston, South Carolina and murdered nine African American church goers. This sparked national outrage across the country because it had been a long time since a white person murdered multiple African Americans at one time. It was not shocking to Black Americans that this happened but it does not mean that African Americans were not hurting from it. President Barack Obama, the first African American President, gave the eulogy at one of the victims funeral. The murderer, Dylann Roof, went on to say the reason that he murdered the Charleston Nine was because he wanted to start a race war. He was a white supremacist that wanted nothing but war between each of the races. White supremacists are looking for a way to make sure that African Americans can no longer succeed in America and some are willing to do whatever it takes to get to a point of White America. One of the plus sides that came out of this tragedy is the calling of the removal of confederate statues within southern communities. 

Race riots will always be remembered to historians as a checkered past within the United States history. African Americans always had reasons to be scared or nervous around White Americans and because of the few who were lied on or stood up in the face of racism, their deaths sparked outrage that lasted for hours, days and sometimes even weeks. The most recent race riots came because of the death of George Floyd in 2020. His death sparked outrage across the country in almost every major city. It was the largest mass protest in American history. Race riots back in Reconstruction and Jim Crow era was White Americans way of scaring African Americans into oblivion. The Civil Rights era race riots were not only about White Americans trying to scare Black Americans, but this time, Black Americans were fighting back from the injustices that were happening to them. Nowadays, Black and White Americans are standing up for one cause and that cause is to make sure that African Americans have equal treatment that White Americans have. Though there are still white supremacists out there that are out to hurt and harm African Americans, more White Americans are on Black people's side than ever before.

https://www.blackpast.org/special-features/racial-violence-united-states-1660/

 We are here to rewrite the narrative that racism is dead. It is not. We will reconstruct the facts.