1921-1925
Day #1
1921- The Tulsa Race Massacre
Tulsa, OK was known as “Black Wall Street.” This was the most affluent black city in the country. And, on June 1st, 1921 it was completely decimated- it was looted and burned to the ground by white rioters. The first bombs to ever fall in the USA were dropped on black Americans by white Americans during this massacre- and all sanctioned by local officials and the national guard, which had been called in. The entire 35-block city was burned to the ground. As many as 300 blacks were murdered, over 1,200 structures were burned to the ground including houses, schools, and churches (the equivalent of $32.5 million in lost property, which insurance refused to cover), and over 10,000 blacks were left homeless . Of course, nobody was ever charged with a crime.
The reason for the massacre? On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page. Sarah Page alleged that Dick attacked her, though her claims were later determined to be dubious at best, false at worst. Without a trial, without asking questions, without trying to uncover the truth, whites used their own form of justice on the town and destroyed the entire city.
Sources/Comments:
This project has been eye-opening for me. I have a degree in History Teaching, and I am ashamed to say that I don’t know most of what I am now presenting. This embarrasses me, though I think it most harshly speaks volumes to my Alma Mater, BYU, which did not teach black history in the classes I was required to take in college. This is, in my opinion, a form of systematic racism- refusal to acknowledge and teach the black experience to white students. "...educators said the history of systemic racism in this country and the contributions of Black people have been erased"
For more information on the silencing of black history in the school system, please click HERE.
Most of the information of this massacre has been silenced over the years. How many of you learned about this in high school American History? However, thankfully there is now a lot of information. HERE is a website dedicated to uncovering the truth of this horrible event.
Obviously, there are a million ramifications that came as a result of this. I just so happened to be listening to Planet Money this afternoon, and they talked about one of the ramifications that came as a result of this specific massacre: the stifling of black inventors and scientists across the entire country as blacks learned that whites would never protect blacks, so why would they protect patent laws for blacks? So, inventions from blacks stopped. For more info, listen to this podcast. (side note: How cool that I just so happened to listen to this the day I posted about the massacre!). It is estimated that over 1,000 inventions/patents were lost based on previous filings. Click HERE.
Day 2: The Perry Race Riot
1922
In December 1922, a 21 year old beloved, white school teacher named Ruby Hendry was viciously murdered in a small town known for cotton plantations in Perry, Florida.
The next day, demanding answers, two black men were accused. There was no discussion as to why they were accused. There was zero evidence, no witnesses, and no reason to link them to the crime. Charlie Wright, a 21 year old black man, was arrested first. He was easily kidnapped by a white mob from the jail- with mobsters coming as far away as South Carolina and Georgia- and was tortured for hours all the while claiming his innocence. Finally, after hours of torture, and in an effort to save the lives of any other people also falsely accused, one source claims he did confess (though other sources said he never confessed). He was lynched.
The mob decided he could not have acted alone and arrested Arthurs Young. Again, there was absolutely no evidence or reason to accuse him (other than his skin color, of course). Once again, the mob took him from the jail, tortured him, and lynched him.
The white mob did not stop there. They burned the bodies, then the mob fought over keeping various remains for souvenirs. Then they went after the entire black town- burning houses, schools and churches and murdering many more innocent blacks in the process.
This massacre is significant because there was no evidence against these men. There was not a fair trial, there was no following of laws and order- just mob violence against men who were accused simply because of the color of their skin. Then, the mobs took it further by taking out their vengeance on the entire black community.
Note: The body of Ruby Hendry was found next to the train tracks/station. It is not unreasonable to conclude the murderer was on a train.
Sources/Comments:
I am seeing a disturbing meme going around that says something like, “If you’re innocent, police will leave you alone!” Sadly, the Black community has learned through hundreds of years, that being innocent means very little in the United States justice system. This is simply one of thousands of examples.
Click HERE for source.
Day 3: The Falsely Accused “Peeping Tom” Lynching
1923
On August 24, 1923, a 34-year-old black farmhand named Ben Hart was lynched near Jacksonville, Florida, after being accused of "peeping" into a young white girl’s bedroom window.
According to witnesses, approximately ten unmasked men came to Mr. Hart’s home around 9:30 p.m. claiming to be deputy sheriffs. When the men told Mr. Hart the allegation against him, he professed his innocence and readily agreed to go to the county jail with the men to prove he had done nothing wrong. Mr. Hart did not live to complete the journey.
Shortly after midnight the next day, Ben Hart’s handcuffed and bullet-riddled body was found in a ditch about three miles from the city. He had been shot six times, and witnesses later reported seeing him earlier that night -- fleeing on foot while several white men shot at him with firearms, and several vehicles full of more white men followed behind.
Police investigating Ben Hart’s murder soon determined he was at his home twelve miles away when the alleged peeping incident occurred. No charges were ever filed against the men who murdered him.
Personal Note: This man was innocent. At 34 years old, it is likely he was a father. I tried to find proof, but it turns out black history is not recorded nearly as well as white’s, and it proved more difficult than my ancestry.com skills allowed, to find a census record or anything of that sort to confirm or deny my suspicions. Regardless, here is my point: It is Father’s Day. How many black fathers have been taken from their families, either through slavery, lynchings, false accusations, excessive jail times (in Aurora, Blacks are given 2 1/2 times longer jail times than whites facing the same charges), innocent men kidnapped in the middle of the night, stolen from their families? My heart breaks for the thousands of families destroyed by racism, both in the past and that unfortunately still happen today. And all the children who had to grow up without their fathers, simply because of the color of their skin.
Sources/Comments:
Equal Justice Initiative (one of my favorite resources for understanding social justice issues)
Day 4: Lynching of 15-year-old boy
1924
Samuel Smith was 15-years-old when he and his uncle Eugene were driving home late one night. Their car broke down. The records are murky, but it appears they went to a white man’s garage to possibly obtain (steal? borrow? I’m not sure on this, the reports are inconclusive) some spark plugs. The white man, Ike Eastwood, awoke from his house and shot at Samuel’s uncle. Samuel had a gun and shot back, hitting Ike in a non life-threatening way. Ike continued to shoot, and hit Samuel, who ended up in the hospital.
So far, I think we can agree that perhaps some charges should be filed against Samuel Smith. However, the local sheriff was quoted as saying that he “considered that Eastwood’s wound was not serious and that the Negro’s would probably prove fatal” and said that he was not seeking for further action at that time.
As Samuel was in the hospital recovering from his injuries, a white mob came into his room, removed the chains by which he was attached to the bed, forced him into a car and drove him several miles away, forced him outside where he was stripped, hanged, and “riddled with bullets.” The lynching was watched by dozens of on-lookers, with at least 30 cars of bystanders hollering and shooting bullets at the hanging body.
Here is where it takes an interesting twist.
To their credit, there was actually huge outcry from many whites. They did not believe a 15-year-old boy should be lynched without a fair trial. The mayor of Nashville and prominent white citizens wrote letters petitioning the Sheriff and Governor to press charges against the lynchings, demanding justice be done to the lynchers (is “lynchers” a word?). A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of the lynchers.
An article in The Leaf-Chronicle noted, "Such open defiance and violation of law cannot escape detection unless public opinion in that community approves it. Somebody knows who did it and somebody will tell unless somebody is afraid or unwilling to tell."
Remember, there were dozens of witnesses- surely it was obvious who the perpetrators were. A Grand Jury investigation began. But, alas, the murderers were never brought to justice and no charges were ever filed. In the end, the silence of the majority kept the guilty from ever being punished for their murder.
Sources/Comments:
There is some confusion about this case. It is possible Samuel Smith was never at the garage, that it was another man who was with Eugene in the garage, and the mob simply attacked Samuel Smith because he was an easy target. I had a hard time finding reports that didn’t contradict each other.
Day 5: James Jordan Lynching
1925
In May, a white woman was attacked in her home. James Jordan was accused and sent to jail.
The Richmond News Leader reported that “Jordan, trembling and begging for mercy, was dragged out into the street. The mob, still unmasked, paraded with him down the principal street.” He was taken to a vacant lot said to be “a few feet from the railway depot.”
Mr. Jordan “was strung up to the tree. Members of the mob fired at him as long as they pleased, and then set the body afire.”
“A train had just pulled into the station and a part of the lynching episode was visible from windows,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. His body fell to the ground after flames burned through the rope. A coroner’s jury met the next day to view the charred corpse, only to learn it had been stolen overnight and dumped in Windsor, about 25 miles away.
On May 27, 1925, The Waverly Dispatch ran an unapologetic editorial complaining about “an enormous amount of unfavorable publicity for Sussex County and the town of Waverly in particular (due to the lynching), although it is likely that the same thing would have taken place in any other town or county in Virginia under similar provocation and circumstances.” It continued: “Now that the lynching has taken place and cannot be recalled, it should, and perhaps will, serve as an object lesson to the colored men of the ‘black belt.’”
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