White Mob in Opelousas, Louisiana killed nearly 300 Blacks Over The Right To Vote.

[babylonsister]

The logical party
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-logical-party/141340659223219

White Mob in Opelousas, Louisiana killed nearly 300 Blacks Over The Right To Vote.



September 28, 1868, The violence started when three local white men beat up another white person and friend of the black community Emerson Bentley, he was also a school teacher and editor of a local newspaper. Bently was beaten for registering blacks to vote, especially for an upcoming sheriff's election. . False
rumors spread throughout the black community in Opelousas that Bently was murdered. Several local armed African Americans came to the defense of Bentley. Because of a city ordinance passed by outlaw politicians banning blacks only from owing guns, not many had weapons at their disposal. That day, at least two dozen unarmed African Americans were arrested and hung that same night. The following days, local whites went on an animalistic savage rampage against blacks. At least 200 unarmed African Americans were killed in the fields and swamps. 30 to 50 whites were killed when they confronted blacks with arms.

Other tactics used to suppress black voting rights were to allege charges of larceny, robbery and other property offenses against prominent blacks and whites sympathetic to voting rights causes. This was a another tactic used in addition to murder in order to influence an election in their favor. In many instances, the charge of stealing chickens was used to justify the lynching of blacks and whites of the Republican party trying to register blacks to vote. Many emanate black politicians also met with the same fate on trumped up charges of stealing hogs, chickens and cattle. Regularly accusing white republicans of inciting blacks to murder and robbery, White newspapers all over the state including the Opelousas Courier downplayed black casualties and justified attacks against blacks, whites and republican newspapers sympathetic to the black cause and as a result, became greater targets of white racist rage..

[Tigress DEM]

1. Learn from history or repeat it.

Schooling myself up.

[babylonsister]

2. No kidding. I never knew this. nt

[freshwest]

12. I knew a bit from history books and family. But it's still not called terrorism, when it should be.

[former-republican]

3. never give up your guns

As was already said.
Learn from history or repeat it.

Terrible time in our nations history.

[babylonsister]

4. Guns are NOT the lesson here. nt

[former-republican]

5. There are many lessons

[Mojorabbit]

23. Mentioned in the OP

and yes they are part of the lesson.
I had never heard of this before. We do have such terrible historical events in our history.
I wish they taught this in schools. Society cannot avoid making similar mistakes in the future if we are never taught our history.

[babylonsister]

31. Peripherally perhaps, but not the lesson

I was trying to forward. And I agree about my sad lack of knowledge concerning monumental actions such as this. We should have been taught this til it seeped into our psyches, so it'd never happen again.

[jsmirman]

6. This is precisely why voter suppression makes me so angry

I'm an American History major, and my concentration was antebellum American South.

As you might imagine, that means that I also know a fair bit about the war, Reconstruction, and the hideous monstrosity that was "Redemption."

This is also why I've been rattling the cup, begging people to get the hell off their asses and volunteer to register voters and fight back against voter suppression -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021386468: OHIO

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021393854: FLORIDA

PEOPLE DIED FOR THIS

[lonestarnot]

7. Yes they did!

[Cha]

9. That's right and these 21 Century Teabaggers

are not taking away our Right To Vote. Too damn Bad they have nothing to offer so the only they can win is by CHEATING.

[OneGrassRoot]

35. Yes, they did, and thank you for EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING!!!!

You're quite the amazing, brilliant soul.

[jsmirman]

36. Ah, you're way too kind

like you, I'm nothing more than one person who believes that each of us, by doing what we can, can make a difference...

[RobertBlue]

49. Well said!

[brush]

8. Hidden history

And there are many, many other instances just like this throughout the history of this country where not only lives were lost but valuable property was destroyed or stolen (Rosewood, Florida, Colifax, La, Whicita, Kan, Knoxville, Tenn., East St. Louis, Mo, Tulsa, OK, NYC draft riots, and on and on. Can anyone say reparations aren't deserved as these crimes went unpunished, there was never compensation for destroyed or stolen property and the murders were justified by racist media then forgotten and certainly never mentioned in history books. The thing to remember though is that there has always been a schism in the white community — those with compassion, a conscience and a willingness to join in the fight for justice, and those with racist hatred. The schism is what drove us to civil war and is still with us today and half of it now resides in the GOP/teabagger party of obstruction. Funny, the Republican Party at that time was the party that fought for justice. Unfortunately it changed over the years, especially in 1964 when President Johnson signed historic civil rights legislation and the Democratic Party's dixiecrats switched to the Republican Party in protest, and the rest is history.

[Scootaloo]

11. And it's hidden to keep white children from feeling "uncomfortable"

"Oh," say the people who comission textbooks, "We don't want the little dears to worry hteir beautiful minds about the darker days of our nation. Just skip from winning the Civil war, forward to World War 2, nobody cares about htat stuff in the middle."

"But," the historian starts to protest. "There's lots of really important things in that period of history!"

"You know, you're right," says the publishing house. So he calls the editor, "oh editor, don't forget to highlight the terms 'scaliwag' and 'carpetbagger,' and be sure to point out that letting blacks into the government was an unmitigated disaster!"

[SunSeeker]

15. I can't believe my 8-year-old was taught about Abraham Lincoln without one mention of slavery.

When I explained the real reason Lincoln is so admired (it's not for the stove pipe hat or the fact that he was the tallest president!), he was flabbergasted. But he was certainly able to handle it.

[Scootaloo]

19. Wait... What?

How is that even possible?

[SunSeeker]

22. History in general is given short shrift in the early grades. Math & reading testing is the focus.

The teachers' performance evaluations and the schools' own ratings are based on math and reading scores, not the children's knowledge of history or geography or music. So all that stuff is touched on very superficially, almost cartoonishly.

[HiPointDem]

24. because in third grade they likely don't teach slavery, just presidents. more socially difficult

concepts left to higher grades.

[Scootaloo]

33. Well, that's where I'm failing to grasp...

'Cause by third grade, I certainly did know about Lincoln, slavery, and the Civil War.

Maybe I can just assume that, being in the South at the time, the subject figures a little more prominently?

[RobertBlue]

50. By third grade I knew about slavery.

And also about the Holocaust, among other wonderful things human beings do to each other.

[former-republican]

20. what grade?

Wasn't the civil war talked about in class ?

[SunSeeker]

21. Oh sure, they mention there was a civil war, but nothing about it being about slavery.

In second grade, Lincoln was described as the President during the Civil War, and how honest he was, and how he kept the country together. But there was no explanation as to what was tearing our country apart. Hopefully that will get mentioned this year. They have yet to do much history so far this year (third grade).

[Starboard Tack]

52. And this is in California?

[obamanut2012]

53. Friends of mine who grew up in CA have told me similar things

That, they learn very little "East Coast" history, except for the Founding Fathers stuff. I am quite sure they learned about slavery and the civil War, but not like we did. They said their history/social studies classes were very California-centric.

[SunSeeker]

54. Yes. nt

[Hutzpa]

10. Here we have it folks

the introduction of Mr Jim Teabagger Crow Jr the son of Mr Jim Crow.

You heard it here first.

[freshwest]

13. +1. I am so tired of this. It's time for this country to grow up, dammit.

[chollybocker]

14. "Justice" written across the hangman's scaffold.

Wow.

Thanks for this post.

[RainDog]

16. k&r n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. There's a REASON many blacks in the South refer to "White Devils"....

Just look at the raw hate they have experienced.

It's just plain evil.

[obamanut2012]

37. I'm from NC, and blacks do not call whites "White Devils"

That sounds more like the "Painted Veil."

[Spitfire of ATJ]

56. Try Georgia.

[Bucky]

55. I was born in NOLA and I've lived in Texas my whole life. No one says "White Devils"

Except maybe Louis Farrakhan. Oh, wait, he's from the North.

The history of racism in the South is bad enough. You don't have to make shit up to sell the point.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

58. It's not made up. They might not say it now but back in the day.

[MysticLynx]

18. Oh my

When I first saw the topic I was oh no, here it starts - glad this is the past and not the present, and thank you for the reminder of how far we have come and how far we have to go yet.

[ck4829]

25. And the rightwing nuts have the NERVE to talk about 'white genocide'

[slackmaster]

28. The only time I've ever seen that expresson was in regard to South Africa

Where there has never been an actual genocide of white people.

[ck4829]

29. Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021431662

[slackmaster]

32. Ah, it's something you saw on teevee

Yet another reason not to watch it.

[CreekDog]

39. is this whole issue funny to you? blacks getting killed for trying to exercise their rights?

is this all a big joke to you?

is this image below funny?



when you see a white mob pictured in the image in the OP and make a joke about it in response, is that because when you see some of the horrors in our history, your first reaction is to think it's funny?

do you have an ounce of the bravery of the people pictured in this image or the people shown in the image in the OP? if you were face to face with them right now, would you be laughing and joking?

[CreekDog]

38. glad it's a big joke to you --discussing this moment in history

would you prefer the poster to NOT post about this historic event?

[obamanut2012]

40. Agreed -- I don't get how mass racial lynchings and other killings are funny

[slackmaster]

42. The subject line of the OP looked like a current news story, rathern than a commemoration

Of a 144th anniversary of a tragic historic event.

I believe that was intentional, and I don't appreciate bait-and-switch tactics.

[CreekDog]

43. no it appeared to be historical

and in the context of voting rights issues this year, posts about the history of voting rights are completely expected in this context.

but how you could make a giant joke of a picture that shows a violent mob and perhaps men being killed is completely over the top.

[slackmaster]

44. Once again because you are being obtuse here, my sarcasm was directed at the wording of the subject

Not at the content of the post.

[CreekDog]

45. The title is of an historic event

then follows a photo and a description of said event.

then follows your sarcasm and attempt at humor.

i think in fact you are the one missing something.

[CreekDog]

46. you had to have been looking at the OP, the photo and the story below when you replied

with your sarcastic (your word not mine) joke.

i'm not too good with time and a place but even i know what's wrong with that.

[porphyrian]

27. . n/t

[malaise]

30. They won't try this again

They've been exposed very early this time around

[Bucky]

59. Right. Even our bigots aren't as racist or violent. They just suppress votes instead.

Oh, and also lock up a ridiculous percentage of black men in our society and use casual isolated examples of violence, with cops exhonerated or wrist-slapped, to send the message to stay in line. It's far more subtle. But it's still around and it's still wrong.

[Catherine Vincent]

34. How tragic! This hits close to home.

My father was born in Opelousas and one of them was probably related to my father's family. But then aren't we all related.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

41. And yet there are those who claim gun control does not have racist roots

This is not a singularity. There were many other examples in that time frame, though fewer people died in them.

[CreekDog]

47. However, guns would not have protected the lives of blacks in the South during Reconstruction

with guns, some might have been able to defend themselves in some limited circumstances.

but an outnumbered and overpowered minority in a region that largely resented their presence was not simply going to recognize their rights simply because they had firearms.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

48. I was pointing out racist gun control laws...which some disclaim

As for armed self defense, it worked in some areas and continued through the civil rights movement, namely the Deacons for Defense.

An armed minority could have made it costly enough for a majority to minimize the lynching...ala the Deacons for Defense.

[Hoyt]

51. Powerful photo. Makes me as angry as the Gretna, Louisiana Police turning back those fleeing Katrina

in 2005.

[Bucky]

57. You don't have to go back that far: Tulsa 1921 (almost a Kosovo-type ethnic cleansing)

http://www.mc.cc.md.us/Departments/hpolscrv/VdeLaOliva.html







Not to mention the Camp Logan Riot in Houston in 1917.