Judge Orders Black Mother To Whip Her Son In The Courthouse Square

Lexington, KY Jun 13, 1904, during the Ante-Bellum era slave owners and plantation overseers made the whipping of slaves a common disciplinary practice. Surprisingly this didn’t carry over into reconstruction, of course during reconstruction they decided to not waste time and effort and just murdered Black people.

However, on this Wednesday in June, a judge decided whipping was the best way to let a 15-year-old boy learn his place in the system. The boy, Simon Searce, had been jailed and convicted of assaulting a White boy by hitting him with a rock. Judge John J Riley might not have been racist, at the time of this sentencing he stated he thought this was the best way to handle juvenile crime, still, there is no record of Riley ever similarly sentencing White juveniles.

Adding to the indignity Riley ordered Searce’s mother to carry out the sentence of 20 lashes. “Aunt” Mandy Searce took her son to the public square accompanied by two policemen, she was given a buggy whip to whip her son with. A crowd that appeared to be made up of all Whites converged on the square to witness the whipping. The boy cried out in pain and begged her to stop but she finished the 20 lashes, knowing that with the large crowd, they both might have been lynched.

Although no Blacks had been allowed to attend court, except Ms. Searce, and none were reported to be in the town square at the time of the whipping the Lexington Herald-Leader tried to give the impression that the Blach community was in full support of further whippings to keep other juveniles on the right side of the law.

 

Sources:

 

Southern Governors Meet And Resolve To Ignore The Supreme Court Degegregation Order

Richmond, VA Jun 10, 1954, in the weeks after the Supreme Court had handed down the Brown vs Board of Education decision ordering an end to racial segregation in all public schools in the United States there was turmoil and anger, especially of course in the Southern states.

In response on June 10, the governors of 15 southern states met collectively in Richmond to attempt to develop a united front to respond to the court’s order. There was virtually no consideration in voluntarily complying and desegregating their schools.

Along with the 15 governors, were the state's Attorney Generals and other legal counsel and staff. The conference was opened by the host Virginia Governor Thomas B. Stanley stated that his commitment to Virginia was to find a legal way to keep segregation and the “Separate but Equal” status in place since reconstruction.

Early in the conference the three border states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky bowed out of any resolution or activity that would defy the court. “Our problem is a little different from these fellows,” said West Virginia Governor William C. Marland. “Our issue is administrative while theirs is philosophical.”

This conference in many ways is one of the seeds of the modern issue of school choice and Nixon’s 1968 Southern Strategy. In fact, Georgia’s infamous governor Herman Talmadge spoke publicly and all but guaranteed that this would cost Eisenhower several states in 1956. “The decision will guarantee that every Southern state will go Democratic,” Talmadge said. “While there are 7 Democrats and only two Republicans on the court it is Earl Warren from California that Mr. Eisenhower appointed Chief Justice and he somehow wrote a decision that he pressured them to all go along with.” This reasoning is part of the reason Talmadge was so strongly connected with segregation and racism in his career. He had already gone so far as to say that it was possible Georgia would close schools rather than comply, the governors of South Carolina and Mississippi agreed with him on this.

This meeting was just the first in an ongoing series where the traditional Southern states confirmed their absolute commitment to segregation. Virginia’s Attorney General, Lindsay Almond Jr. had argued for Separate but Equal but even a loss did not deter him. “I believe much was accomplished,” said Almond “There were no differences between the states as to the difficulties we face, Virginia was a litigate before the court and we will continue to be until this is settled.” Eventually one of Virginia's ways of handling it was to shut down public and private schools from 1959 to 1964.

These high-profile leaders coming together to commit to racist policies in their states and using both their legal power and the political pulpit to create a climate of fear and intimidation both in real physical terms and in economic ways that would harm Black Americans and their children well into the 1970s far beyond the south. 

 Sources: 

The Roanoke Times ● Roanoke, Virginia ● Fri, Jun 11, 1954

The Daily Review ● Clinton Forge, Virginia ● Thur. Jun 10, 1954

False Reports Lead To Brutal Death Of A Black Man In Tennessee

 

Knoxville, TN Jun 10, 1894, rumors can kill, and in James Perry’s case it was a terrible and terrifying death. It was reported that Mr. Perry, a Negro, was a carrier of smallpox and had introduced it to the city of Knoxville. The strange thing is that there was no smallpox outbreak in the town.

James Perry was killed by fear and hate. Fear of the dreaded disease and of it spreading, hate of Black people. Perry was a known regional gambler and occasional railroad worker. He had been in jail in Knoxville from November 1893 until the first week in February. He apparently fell sick when he returned to a cabin on Cherry Creek northeast of the city. This cabin is part of Mr. Perry’s problem because it was close to where the creek entered the Tennessee River, where the town got its water.

Reports quickly spread and soon officials had a doctor go and examine Perry. On February 7^th a doctor and the head of public works visited Perry and while he was sick the doctor believed it was the result of chickenpox combined with syphilis which Perry was known to have.

After the visit, it was reported that the doctor didn’t diagnose Perry with smallpox and was certain that there was no disease to worry about because Perry had been in jail for four months. No one else, prisoner or sheriff’s deputies had gotten sick.

Still, rumors continued to spread even as the public works department started vaccines for anyone who couldn’t afford it and there were no other reported cases of smallpox.

By March 20^th the rumors of an outbreak of Smallpox dissipated since there were no cases in and around Knoxville. However, Perry still seemed to be sick.,

Months passed and June arrived, and Perry had gotten better but it was noticed he seemed to be scarred with areas of his skin looking like he had been burned. For a doctor, this might have been proof of the syphilis diagnosis but to the people of Knoxville, it was proof that the scare they received in winter was real, although there were never any other cases.

On the night of June 10, Perry’s cabin was surrounded and set on fire by a white mob. They also shot the cabin up to make sure Perry could not escape. The cabin burned to the ground and a body was found by the sheriff a few days later when the fire had cooled.

No one came forward to put out the fire and no one was ever charged with killing Perry he was killed by unknown hands. A small press release was sent out to papers all around the county and was published as far north as Buffalo, NY, and as far west as Tulsa, OK and it simply said that "a Negro, James Perry, was killed near police headquarters for introducing Smallpox into Tennessee."

Two Black Men Shot To Death For Walking Home

Orange, TX Jun 5, 1910, it appears that two Black men were shot to death overnight while they were walking home from a festival in the Negro Section last night. Douglas Lemon and Rankin Moore were reported have had a confrontation with three white men after midnight.

Tensions have been high in Orange County since the killing of Deputy Constable Sam Combs by a Black man named Jack White on April 18. Law officers promised the community that if they remained calm there would be swift justice for White, but that had not happened as there were multiple delays in White’s trial.

It seems the resentments of White residents of Orange overflowed last night as shots rang out into the Negro district apparently killing Rankin and then Lemon. Rankin took the bulk of the anger as his body was riddled with bullets. A few hours later Lemon’s body was found.

The investigation has not turned up any clues about who might have shot and killed the two men and fired other warning shots into the Negro section. Although they are continuing to interview people, the sheriff’s office feels there isn’t much hope they will find the shooters.

As always during the Jim Crow era the county coroner listed the deaths as killing by the hands of persons unknown.

 

Racial Memory: The Tulsa Race Massacre - Why Critical Race Theory is important

 

Tulsa, Oklahoma Jun 1, 1921

This is the date and place that are now infamous for Whites destroying the Greenwood neighborhoods. 

Racial tensions were a constant in Tulsa in the early 20th Century. There was a great deal of resentment by the White businessmen of Tulsa who often had to conduct business with the Black businessmen in Greenwood, colloquially known as the “Black Wall Street” because of the prosperity of Black businessmen and merchants.

The simmering resentment was sparked into a riot when a 19-year-old Black man was in an elevator in downtown Tulsa with White 17-year-old Sarah Page who was working as an elevator operator. The Black man, Dick Rowland, was accused of rape after Miss Page had screamed. She tried to convince the police that nothing happened she was just startled when he had touched her shoulder.

As so often happens in these cases after Mr. Rowland was arrested a White mob gathered at the courthouse to take Rowland and lynch him. However, this mob was shocked when they met with resistance. 30 Black men armed with guns appeared at the courthouse stopping the lynching. In response, the White mob doubled in size and came back heavily armed.

Violence on a terrible scale consumed the Greenwood District for the next 24 hours businesses were burned and looted, and the district was even bombed by a crop-dusting plane. In the end, 35 square blocks of the Greenwood District lay in ruin. It isn’t known exactly but most historical researchers believe 300 Blacks were killed while another 800 were injured and it is credibly estimated that 1,256 homes were destroyed along with almost every other structure in the Greenwood District.

I first learned of the Tulsa Riot in James W. Loewen’s book “Lies Across America” where the historian wrote about how during Jim Crow atrocities such as this one were swept under the rug, which is very true for Tulsa. No White man was ever charged with any crime. In fact, many of the rioters were under the banner of law as sworn deputies in an emergency.

It wasn’t until 2001 that Oklahoma finally began to look at its own terrible history when the Race Riot Commission was formed to examine the evidence.

The investigation continues even now as alleged mass graves are being searched for and any other documentation gathered.

To see an online collection of everything the commission gathered got to https://tinyurl.com/ymuje54y

Racism & Segregation Defined: Prince Edward County's Lost Classes of 1959 to 1964

May 1, 1959, is when the seeds were planted for a movement that today threatens America’s public schools. On this day the Prince Edward County School District closed their public schools. This was done with the help of the state legislature that had lifted a law mandating all children had to attend schools. 

The closing of the schools lasted for 5 years until the Supreme Court stepped in ruling that what Virginia was trying to do was illegal, especially in light of the Brown v. Board of Education Decision of 1954.

The Brown decision was a cultural earthquake that shattered “Whites Only” education across the South. For more than a decade after full integration had not come to all states, primarily because the states were trl district began sending White students to private schools. Also, the state and county offered tax credits and other indirect ways to make sure these private schools were fully funded and could operate. 

The private school provisions were only made for White students though as these private schools could still practice segregation in opened in demographic areas that were over 97% White.

These actions drew the attention of national politicians, media, and civil rights leaders. The spotlight began getting bright with protests and legal challenges initiated by the NAACP. Then came the documentary/news program “The Lost Class of 1959”. President Kennedy called Congress’ attention to the outlaw school district in his speech to them on Civil Rights in 1963. Robert Kennedy was also bothered by the actions of Prince Edward County saying in a 1963 speech:

“We may observe with much sadness and irony that, outside of Africa, south of the Sahara, where education is still a difficult challenge, the only places on earth known not to provide free public education are Communist China, North Vietnam, Sarawak, Singapore, British Honduras—and Prince Edward County, Virginia.”

The closing of the schools didn’t just damage education for Black children in the county but this last stand for segregation forced some families to make long-term decisions that often led to the separation from the support of extended family. In other cases it meant children leaving home and going to live with foster families. The Quaker American Friends placed 70 children in these foster homes in North Carolina and other states.

Some families just changed counties and several Prince Edward black women, including former public-school teachers, began grassroots schools in their homes and churches. All of this was a great balancing act because of the lawsuits working through the legal system. 

In 1961 a federal court launched the first salvo to wreck this ambition plan when they ruled that no public funds could be used for the White private academies. Still, the county refused to unlock the schools and so the academies continued. This did effect some of the rural White families as well because many could not afford the now-necessary tuition. Racism remained the driving force. This was shown even more in May of 1964 when the Supreme Court ruled in Griffin v. County Board of Prince Edward County that the schools had to reopen. In September, after a five-year hiatus, Prince Edward students returned to public schools.

The county and state refused to fund the schools as they had before This underfunding took years to repair but student strikes and the Civil Rights Act continued to pressure the county and they slowly changed, with the rest of the country. In the mid-1990s the Martha E. Forrester Council of Women, a group that included former Moton teachers and students. Bought the former Moton School and created a museum with a permanent exhibit: “The Moton School Story: Children of Courage,” which was designed to help provide closure and understanding for the students who lived through the school closings. 

Unfortunately, the ideas of using public funds and tax credits and other tricks to pay for private schools mostly used by White students were explored and altered and today there is a national movement that emulates the Prince Edward County model but in a way that passes laws and many states and school districts have altered their laws to permit these private schools recreating some level of segregation and class separation. trying tricks like the Prince Edward County School District.

Sources:

https://www.searchablemuseum.com/students-on-strike

https://legaltimelines.org/accessible-timeline/students-rights/

https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/septemberoctober/feature/massive-resistance-in-small-town

A Love Letter Is a Black Boy’s Death Sentance

 

On January 2, 1944, Willie James Howard was taken from his home by three White men because he dared to give a Christmas Card to a White girl he worked with.

Willie James Howard was a delivery boy at the Van Priest Dime Store in Live Oak, Florida. At Christmas 1943 he gave a card to everyone he worked with, including Cynthia Goff a White girl, inside the card he had given her Willie expressed hope for Black and White people to share the world peacefully. Willie was a friendly and polite 15-year-old and was his parent’s only child. I had a crush on 17-year-old Cynthia. Cynthia for her part was embarrassed and upset to receive the card and so Willie wrote a short letter to apologize

Willie wrote these few lines to the girl: 

“Dear friend, Just a few lines to let you hear from me I am well and hope you are the same. This is what I said on that Christmas card. From W.J.H. with L.  I hope you will understand what I mean.  That is what I said now please don’t get angry with me because you can never tell what may get in somebody I did  not put it in there myself God did I can’t help what he does can I.  I know you don’t think much of our kind of people but we don’t hate you all we want to be your all friends but you want let us please don’t let anybody see this. I hope I haven’t made you mad if I did tell me about it an I will forget about it.  I wish this was a northern state. I guess you call me fresh.  Write an tell me what you think of me good or bad.

Sincerely yours, with L from Y.K.W.

To Cynthia Goff

I love your name.

I love your voice.

For a S.H. you are my choice.”

At some point, although it isn’t clear if she gave it to him or if he found it, Cynthia’s father read the letter and became enraged. The idea that a Black boy dared to write a White girl, the daughter of a former state representative galled him.

On the night of January 2nd Philip Goff and two other White men went to Willie’s home and demanded to see him. Willie’s mother knew because of the history of the South that if Willie went with these men she would never see him again; she begged and pleaded and apologized for Willie to Goff but he wouldn’t relent and they drug Willie from his home, they also kidnapped his father from where he worked. They bound both father and son and parked on an embankment of the Suwanee River. 

There they told Willie to either jump or be shot. The frightened young man decided to risk the possible escape by jumping into the river, unfortunately, he was not able to free himself and drowned. His father tragically watched. The father was given a moment to speak to his son before the murderers committed their heinous act. Willie’s father apologized to his son; “Willie, I cannot do anything for you now.  I’m glad I have belonged to the Church and prayed for you.”

Willie’s body was pulled from the river the next day by the Suwanee County Sheriff. The White men told the story that they had picked up Williw and his father and expected the father to discipline him while they watched, they tried to say they did not harm the boy and tried to save him when his father would not. 

The murder was typical business in the South for White men who felt disrespected by Black men and if it hadn’t been for a local Black lawyer Elbert C. Robinson who contacted the NAACP who sent Thurgood Marshall to investigate.

The NAACP wrote to Florida Governor Spessard Holland and with that influence, he assigned a special investigator, David Lanier to quietly make a report and advise on what the state should do.

Lanier interviewed the sheriff and Mr. and Mrs. Howard regarding Willie’s death. The Howards had fled Live Oak and moved to Orlando immediately following their son’s murder. 

Lanier determined the three White men had murdered Willie and the state prosecutor brought a grand jury. However, the prosecutor failed to introduce Lulu Howard’s statement and only asked James Howard if Willie had delivered his letter to Cynthia. The grand jury brought no indictment and despite the NAACP’s involvement nothing ever happened to Willie James Howard’s murderers.

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/terror/lula2.html

https://dunnhistory.com/the-lynching-of-willie-james-howard-1944/