Racism is an American Tradition We Must Actively Fight Against
On the day following the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, the day celebrated as the official end of slavery, White nationalists will rally in Tulsa, OK, as if to commemorate the anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre. While watching us protest, shout “Black Lives Matter!”, and demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and many others; Donald Trump will rile a group of people who look all too similar to the mob that slaughtered more than three hundred Black men, women, and children and burned Greenwood to the ground. He is mocking us.
But Trump’s actions, while predictably reprehensible, are only the latest in a long line of hate and mayhem cast on Black bodies by the United States. Only four years ago, White people elected a White nationalist to the presidency because they were enraged by the prosperity of a Black president, spitting in the face of each of us who wanted this country to change for the better. Now, White nationalists rally to plan for their next round of retribution against everyone who has taken to the streets to mourn the deaths of our brothers and sisters and proclaim the value of Black lives.
Their behavior reflects the long tradition of racism in this country. It is insidious. It is violent. And it will take every opportunity to tear us down the moment we stop fighting against it. Racism is so internalized in the United States that it has become automatic: always self-correcting to ensure Black people who have the audacity to dream of a life free from persecution are quickly put in our place. The officers who killed Breonna Taylor were simply following the law when they broke into her home and shot her to death. It was common for Minneapolis police officers to hold their knee on someone’s neck, so Derek Chauvin was just doing as he’d been trained when he killed George Floyd. And if the police aren’t fast enough, our country will protect enraged White men who take matters into their own hands, as it did for Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers, Gregory and Travis McMichael, who were only arrested after we saw the video of his murder and demanded justice. This keeps happening and will not stop until we unlearn racism and dismantle the systems that have and continue to subjugate Black lives and defend White rage.
In order to unlearn racism, we must first recognize the history of sin on which the United States was built. And though there are many more instances of the crimes carried out by racism throughout our history, I am highlighting Wilmington, Tulsa, and Rosewood to remind us of what happened when White people were so enraged by Black ambition that they resorted to massacre, maim, and burn everything Black people dared to own.
1898 — Wilmington, North Carolina
The late 19th century saw a rise in Black political representation and Black prosperity in North Carolina. Black people in the state’s Republican party joined forces with the Populist party to defeat Democrats (in this case: White supremacists) and, after winning races across the state, including the governor’s seat, the combined party got to work outlining laws and policies that would benefit Black and working-class White communities. But Democrats (White supremacists) were not going to accept Black prosperity in their state, so they “stoked White anger and resentment” (Ranjani Chakraborty) to draw power away from Black officials in the combined Populist and Republican party.
“…this is a white man’s country, and white men must control and govern it.” — excerpt from the Democratic Party Handbook of 1898
Honing in on Wilmington, Democrats began a propaganda campaign to inspire fear between Blacks and Whites in the city, and began to sever ties between Black Republicans and White Populists. Not unlike the impetus behind other race riots throughout American history, the protection of White women became a key pillar in the fight against Black political power in Wilmington. Rebecca Felton, a writer from Georgia, commented, “…if it needs lynching to protect woman’s dearest possession from the ravening human beasts-then I say lynch; a thousand times a week if necessary.” Her defense prompted prominent Black business owner Alexander Manly to call out White hypocrisy, highlighting a White woman’s desire to be with Black men in private while lynching them during the day.
Enraged by Alex Manly’s rebuke of Rebecca Felton, White Democrats doubled down on their propaganda against Blacks in North Carolina, eventually leading them to win the majority of races across the state in 1898 and take control of the Wilmington government. As their first order of business, Democrats created the “White Declaration of Independence,” outlining how they would disenfranchise and steal economic power from Black people in Wilmington. They also demanded that Alex Manly leave Wilmington, giving a mob of White men cause to march down to The Daily Recorder, Manly’s newspaper, and burn it to the ground. Alex Manly escaped before the mob reached him, but because they weren’t satisfied with burning a building, the mob turned on citizens of Wilmington and began murdering anyone they could find. At least 60 Black men, women, and children were killed that day.
1921 — Tulsa, Oklahoma
Following the Civil War, Black people in Tulsa built their own community on Greenwood Avenue, what would come to be known as the Greenwood District or “Black Wall Street”. They ensured every dollar made in Greenwood went back into the community, allowing them to build restaurants, groceries, law offices, doctors’ offices, and other community staples so they could be self-sustaining. They had, against all odds, achieved what we consider to be the American Dream.
On Monday, May 30, 1921, a 19-year-old Black shoeshiner named Dick Rowland entered an elevator operated by Sarah Paige, a young White woman. It is unknown what exactly happened in the elevator, but at some point the two interacted, Paige screamed assault, and Rowland ran from the elevator (based on police reports and character testimony, it is agreed that Rowland did not assault Paige). From here the story unfolds as one would expect: Rowland is found and arrested, prominent Black business owners from Greenwood advocate for his freedom, and White men from Tulsa want him killed. But when the White men confronted the Black businessmen and a White man was injured after his gun accidentally fired, the mob turned violent against the Black men and began their crusade against Black Wall Street.
The next two days were nothing less than a slaughter. A White mob broke into Greenwood, massacring Black men, women, and children and burning down everything that had been built over the last 60 years. Some firsthand accounts recall planes flying overhead, dropping bombs on stores and leveling the 35-block district. It is estimated that at least 300 people were killed.
“If you don’t see it for what it really is, it can happen all over again.” — Cynthia Brown
1923 — Rosewood, Florida
Like Greenwood, the story of the Rosewood Massacre begins with Fannie Taylor, a married White woman in Sumner, FL, accusing Jesse Hunter, a Black man, of assaulting her in her home. No one knows who actually assaulted Fannie Taylor, but we do know that upon hearing about the assault, a mob of White men invaded Rosewood to find and kill the Black man who harmed her. On their way they lynched a Black man they assumed to have knowledge about the assault and, after facing some opposition from Black men in Rosewood, proceeded to burn down homes and kill any Black residents they came in contact with. More than 40 Black men, women, and children were killed at Rosewood.
“What did it look like?”
“A big blaze, just burning down. Just burning up the whole thing. Burning up my grandmama’s house, churches and everything. They burned up everything we had. All our clothes and everything. They burned it up.”
“Why did they burn everything?”
“They was mad.”
(Ed Bradley in conversation with Rosewood survivor Minnie Lee Langley)
To flee the violence, some of the women and children of Rosewood were sent into the woods and eventually escaped by train. One account of their experience refers to these women as refugees. Yes, a group of United States citizens were made refugees because White men couldn’t control their rage.
“The presence of Black people was not the trigger for White rage. It is the presence of Black people with ambition. The presence of Black people with drive. The presence of Black people with aspirations. The presence of Black people who achieve. It is the presence of Black people who refuse to accept their subjugation. The presence of Black people who demand their rights. That’s the trigger for White rage. And this society has therefore punished Black resilience and Black resolve.” — Carol Anderson
No one had to give an order for these men to slaughter innocent people. No law was passed and no president stood at a podium to denounce the actions of progressive politicians. These White men were mad that Black people dared to be more than chattel slaves. They were mad that it only took Black people 30 years of freedom to build their wealth and create a thriving community. For their entire lives the White men had been fed a lie: you may be poor, you may have to work hard and have nothing to show for it at the end of the day, but you will always be better than the nigger picking cotton. Imagine how broken their world was when Black people suddenly had their own businesses, power, and wealth. For years a rage built in White men as they saw their Black counterparts thrive, and then, as if a spark was ignited, they broke and their rage was released on the Black community, burning us to the ground.
That reflex is what we are fighting against when we yell “No Justice, No Peace!” in cities across the world. And while understanding American history is one step in unlearning racism, we must continue to demand an end to the perpetual violence committed on Black bodies and the defense of that violence in our laws and institutions. No one was arrested in Wilmington, or Tulsa, or Rosewood because the law turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by White rage. Breonna Taylor’s murderers still have not been brought to justice in Louisville, Kentucky because the law does not permit the Mayor to fire them, and if they were fired, they would likely be reinstated. Florida’s “stand your ground” law and Georgia’s “citizen’s arrest” statue allow murderers like George Zimmerman and the McMichaels to justify killing innocent Black men. Racism is an American tradition baked within the ethos of the United States, and dismantling it will require all of us who recognize this history to stand together, change laws, and fight back.
#NoJusticeNoPeace
Additional Resources:
- “13TH”
- “8:46 — Dave Chapelle”
- Antiracism resources from Good Good Good
- “Between the World and Me” (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
- “Find Your Legislator”
- “Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Riots” (PBS)
- “How to be an Antiracist” (Ibram X. Kendi)
- “Jan. 5, 1923 — Rosewood, Fla., Destroyed by White Mob” (Voices of the Civil Rights Movement)
- “Rosewood Massacre Survivors and Eye-witness Testimonies (1983)” (60 Minutes)
- “The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921” (Emory University)
- VOTE411
- “When white supremacists overthrew a government” (Vox)
- “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide” (Emory University)
