Today in History - Sep 30 - The Elaine Massacre
Today in History - Sep 30 - The Elaine Massacre
The Elaine Massacre was by far the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the ...
September 30 is the anniversary of The Elaine Massacre in 1919. This day marks the beginning of a series of events that would lead to the lynching of hundreds of black men.
It started with a union meeting of black sharecroppers, who hoped to get a fairer price for their cotton. Black farmers got substantially lower amounts for their goods than white farmers. White people were very concerned about this, especially given the recent communist rebellion in the Soviet Union. A car arrived outside during the meeting, and a gunfight ensued with the unions guards. One of the new arrivals, a white railroad policeman, was killed.
When news of this reached the local leaders, they declared it to be an insurrection, and gathered together a posse of hundreds of white men. Additional white men from nearby areas also joined in to fight the black "uprising". The governor requested the aid of the military.
So, the mob freely roamed the countryside killing every black person they encountered for the next day. The military arrived the following day, and joined the violence. But eventually they stopped, and started arresting black people instead. They arrested 285 people and held them and tortured them until their white employers could collect them. The governor praised the actions of the posse and the military. The media claimed that "Vicious blacks" were planning an uprising due to socialist agitators.
A dozen black men were convicted in show trials and sentenced to the electric chair. This scared 65 others to bargain for very long prison terms instead of a trial. The NAACP stepped in, and began litigating for the men. Eventually, they had success in saving their lives and reducing sentences for many of the men.
No white man was ever charged, and the narrative that the black men were evil socialists planning a revolution persisted for the next 80 years, and the black perspective of the events were completely ignored.
Hundreds dead, the media gloating, and the victims put on trial. What could be more American?
Honourable Mentions To:
The day in 1965 when the US might very well have participated in an Indonesian false flag operation to trigger an anti-communist purge, killing a million people.
The day in 1962 when James Meredith won the right to enroll in the University of Mississipi, causing white people to riot.