The American Church Was Deeply Divided, Wielding the Same Bible as Both a Weapon of Oppression and a Tool of Liberation The American pulpit was profoundly divided. Ministers across the…
Tag: Racial violence
Sundown Towns: America’s Hidden History of Racial Exclusion
When most people think of segregation, the Jim Crow South comes to mind. Yet across the United States, thousands of all-white communities—known as sundown towns—operated under the rule that African Americans…
Red Summer and The Massacre Of Elaine, Arkansas
In 1919, several interrelated factors intensified racial tensions in the United States. During Reconstruction, African Americans gained significant political and legal rights, such as voting and holding public office. However,…
The race riots of East St. Louis and Springfield. A stark reminder of the violence and racial division that persisted then and now in America.
The East St. Louis race riot of 1917 stands as one of the darkest moments of racial violence in American history. What began as economic and racial tension soon spiraled…
Home Ownership, The American Dream – A Racial Nightmare
Levittown, one of post-World War II America’s most iconic suburban developments, symbolizes opportunity and exclusion. Created by William Levitt and his company, Levitt & Sons, Levittown represented the promise of…
Ben Chester White, Gunned Down By The KKK
Ben Chester White (January 5, 1899 – June 10, 1966) was an African-American caretaker in Natchez, Mississippi. White had spent his entire life as a caretaker on the Carter family…
Civil Rights Act of 1871: Combating the Ku Klux Klan
The Civil Rights Act of 1871, enacted by the United States Congress during the turbulent Reconstruction Era, is a landmark in American legislative history. Its passage was prompted by a…
Booker T. Spicely, A Victim of Jim Crow Violence
In 1944, Booker T. Spicely, a Black Army private stationed at Camp Butner, clashed with a white bus driver, Herman Council, over seating segregation. The confrontation ended when Council shot…
Who Was Rubin Stacy
During the turbulent and tragic history of racism and injustice in the United States, the lynching of Rubin Stacy stands out as a shameful chapter in our history. This horrid…
Remembering Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells, a remarkable figure in American history, was born during slavery in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Wells’ parents and one brother succumbed to yellow fever. After these…