Tag: Black History

MLK, Jr For President

It is a Sunday and the 2024 presidential process is about to begin and what better time to learn a bit of forgotten history?

Drop the history lesson.

1968 our election was down to Nixon, Humphrey and Wallace (now there is a choice to die for)….but did you know that there were some on the antiwar side that wanted MLK to run for the presidency?

I had just turned 21 when the election was taking place but unfortunately I could not participate since I was a bit preoccupied in Vietnam trying stay alive.

All that said…..back to 1967….

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never sought public office or held an allegiance to any of the major political parties. “I don’t think the Republican Party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic Party,” he said in a 1958 interview. “They both have their weaknesses. I’m not concerned about telling you what party to vote for. But what I’m saying is this, that we must gain the ballot and use it wisely.”

Yet in 1967 with both the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement in full swing, King briefly considered launching a presidential campaign on a third-party ticket with Dr. Benjamin Spock, the noted pediatrician and the author of the bestseller Dr. Spock’s Baby and Childcare. Spock had risen to fame in the 1940s with his guidance on raising children, but by the 1960s, he was one of the leading antiwar demonstrators in the country.

After seeing Ramparts magazine photos of Vietnam children sprayed with napalm by U.S. military forces, King came to a reckoning about the war. “Never again will I be silent on an issue that is destroying the soul of our nation and destroying thousands of little children in Vietnam,” he said. This new awareness brought King closer to Spock and the antiwar movement and on the precipice of electoral politics.

On April 4, 1967 before 3,000 people at New York’s Riverside Church, King gave his famous “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech, where he called for the U.S. government to take immediate steps to end the Vietnam War. “If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam,” he said.

The speech received a swift rebuke from leaders across the political spectrum. The Pittsburgh Courier, the leading Black weekly newspaper, said that King “does not speak for all Negro America and besides he is tragically misleading them.” President Lyndon B. Johnson felt betrayed by King’s antiwar statements after finding common cause with him over civil rights issues. 

https://www.history.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-dr-spock-presidential-campaign

If I had been one of those that stayed behind I would have worked for King if he had run.  But instead we got 3 candidates that I would not hit a pig in the butt with at anytime.

Sadly he was killed thus ending any chance of a real antiwar person ever holding office.

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An Unknown ‘Hero’ Or A ‘Mad Man”?

It is Black history month and I try to bring some black history that has been missed in your education.

Have you ever heard of David Fagen?

The year is 1899 and the place is the Philippines.

You won’t find this story anywhere else for Black History Month, but you should! By the mid-1900’s, a “Buffalo Soldier” named David Fagen was virtually a household name, particularly in the African American community. Fagen’s story makes myth of the false contention that African Americans offered little resistance to institutionalized racism from the Civil War until the end of WWII.

Was Fagen a hero or “a mad dog”?  The answer is rooted in whether you believe that fighting against U.S. colonialism/imperialism in 1899, in this case the U.S. war of Philippine conquest, is righteous and worthy of giving rise to a true hero, martyr and courageous Buffalo Soldier, who deserted the U.S. side and joined the Philippine Revolutionary Army. The PRA was fighting to establish their own independent republic after the Spanish were kicked out.

In diaries and letters, Black soldiers posted in the Philippines. recounted how racism was endemic in the U.S. military, describing the racist abuses suffered by both African Americans and Filipinos.

Fagen was a native of Tampa, Florida, the youngest of 6 children of former slaves. He grew up where Jim Crow racial segregation laws prevailed. With the specter of lynching, race riots and the chain gang looming over Tampa’s Blacks, Fagen “lived in dread at all times.” Searching for any escape from Jim Crow, Fagen enlisted in 1898, being assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, a unit of so-called Buffalo Soldiers.

Expansionist USA, intent on developing a global commercial empire, dispatched 6000 African American soldiers, including 2100 of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, to the Philippines islands per President McKinley’s assessment that the racial inferiority of Filipinos justified denying them sovereignty and engaging in a bloody war of conquest. Fagen, now on the battlefield, detested his white commanding officer Lt. Moss, a West Point graduate. Moss and Fagen clashed repeatedly, with Moss eventually fining Fagen more than a month’s pay and sentencing him to 30 days of hard labor. Life was immutably altered when Fagen, after  a few months of battling Filipino rebels, turned his back on the U.S. army and joined Filipino revolutionaries who were actually fighting against American invaders.

Forgotten: an African American Soldier Turned Rebel Leader in the Philippines  

Regardless of what one thinks of his actions he is still a person from history and his life and actions should be studied.

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Black Women In WW2

It is Sunday and what better time to offer up some history?

There have been stories about black units in WW2…..movies and TV shows that celebrate the heroics of these units at the time of war.

But have you ever heard or seen any thing on the black women that served during those dark days?

If not then you are in for a lesson from the Old Professor.

The unit is the 6888th Central Postage Directory Battalion……

In 1927, an unlikely friendship arose between educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune and future First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, based on a shared belief in the power of education. When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933, Bethune served as an advisor on minority issues, and eventually was named Director of Negro Affairs in 1939. Her work with the administration led to the creation of the Black Cabinet, an informal group of advisors who worked on issues facing Black communities across the United States. The Black Cabinet helped the Roosevelt administration draft executive orders that ended the exclusion of Black Americans in the Army during World War II. In 1944, with the support of the First Lady, Bethune pushed for the admittance of Black women in the military, through inclusion in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), a branch of the Army created in 1942. Though there was a backlash against having women in uniform from conservative elements in military leadership, tens of thousands of women were trained in a variety of non-combat specialties that were thought appropriate for women at the time: switchboard operation, baking, mechanics, stenography, postal work, and more.

All were critical to the operation of the Army during wartime. Sending and receiving mail, for example, was a lifeline for soldiers, and the only way to stay connected to the friends and families they left behind. In 1945 alone, more than 3.3 billion pieces of mail went through the military postal service. Around 8 million Americans were stationed in Europe that year. The task of organizing and delivering all that mail was daunting, and a shortage of qualified postal workers led to a massive backlog. Army officers reported that the undelivered mail was hurting morale. Something had to be done, and a unique WAC battalion answered the call.

The task of sifting through this growing stack of letters and packages—some of which had been mailed years before—was given to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion to serve overseas during World War II. The 6888th—nicknamed “Six Triple Eight” and led by Major Charity Adams Earley—was originally expected to sort through 7 million pieces of mail and packages in Birmingham, England, over the course of six months. They did the job in three.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/all-black-women-battalion-wwii-6888th.amp

These women should be celebrated for their service….not pushed aside for the more glamorous units.

I salute all women that served their country with pride and honor.

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Blacks And The Confederacy

Since it is Black History Month I thought I would look into the myth that has been passed around especially down here in the South when the debate around the American Civil War rages.

That myth is that many free blacks and slaves fought for the Confederacy.

First of all this is a myth….it began in the 20th century to try and counter the slavery issue and what it meant to those in the South.

How and where this myth came about is unclear, but it gained prominence in the late 20th century. There exists little evidence of its truth and considerable evidence of its falsehood. The Confederate government forbade the enlistment of Blacks as soldiers. It did draft Blacks, both free and enslaved, to work for the army. These men and women served as laborers, cooks, teamsters, wranglers, and other jobs with the army, usually under guard of white soldiers. Other enslaved people worked in Confederate industries in support of the war effort, including in mines, on the railroads, and in factories. Slave labor had always been a part of the Southern industry, with slave owners sending people to work for pay, which went into the pockets of the owners. Some owners allowed their enslaved people to keep some, or even all, of their earnings.

Throughout the war, debates in the Confederate congress over the issue of arming enslaved men to serve as combat troops continued. Such ideas were voted down by the Congress until March 1865, less than one month before Lee’s surrender. Even after the Confederates allowed the enlistment of Black troops the concept drew resistance. Robert Toombs, former Secretary of State for the Confederacy, and a general with Lee’s army in early 1865, called the idea of Black troops “…the worst calamity that could befall us…” In June 1865, he wrote an article in the Augusta Chronicle which included a statement that “The day that the Army of Virginia allows a negro regiment to enter their lines as soldiers they will be degraded, ruined and disgraced”. By the time his opinion appeared in the Chronicle the Army of Northern Virginia had been disbanded following its defeat.

More on this myth……

Some black Southerners aided the Confederacy. Most of these were forced to accompany their masters or were forced to toil behind the lines. Black men were not legally allowed to serve as combat soldiers in the Confederate Army–they were cooks, teamsters, and manual laborers. There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war and no documentation whatsoever exists for any black man being paid or pensioned as a Confederate soldier, although some did receive pensions for their work as laborers. Nevertheless, the black servants and the Confederate soldiers formed bonds in the shared crucible of conflict, and many servants later attended regimental reunions with their wartime comrades.

This is not to say that no black man ever fired a gun for the Confederacy. To be specific, in the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,” a collection of military records from both sides which spans more than 50 volumes and more than 50,000 pages, there are a total of seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates. Three of these reports mention black men shooting at Union soldiers, one report mentions capturing a handful of armed black men along with some soldiers, and the other three reports mention seeing unarmed black laborers. There is no record of Union soldiers encountering an all-black line of battle or anything close to it.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/black-confederates-truth-and-legend

All in all the myth was inaccurate….basically it was an attempt to re-write history to try and illustrate some positivity of Blacks in the South.

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MLK And War

February is officially Black History month….and MLK.Jr is black history….we all know this giant for his work in civil rights and voting but few Americans know him for the anti-war activist that he was.

As an anti-war activist myself I was most impressed with his speech against the Vietnam War….

This is the speech that I refer to….read and learn…..

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will be discussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. I also want to say that I consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, and Rabbi Heschel, and some of the distinguished leaders and personalities of our nation. And of course it’s always good to come back to Riverside church. Over the last eight years, I have had the privilege of preaching here almost every year in that period, and it is always a rich and rewarding experience to come to this great church and this great pulpit.

I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join you in this meeting because I’m in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam. The recent statements of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart, and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” And that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation’s history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Sadly his words fell on deaf ears….as anti-war seem to always accomplish.

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The Continuing Black Protests

Black Lives Matter have been protesting for years now trying to bring some notice to the injustice that is still occurring in the US.

For the most part they are non-violent…..I know there is reports of vandalism and looting…..for the most part it is thugs using the protests as cover for their criminality….it is mostly citizens protesting calmly and with purpose.

I need to ask….what has these non-violent protests accomplished?

I know there are bringing a focus on the injustice and inequality in our society….but the conversation around these protest are more about the isolated acts of criminality than the issues that caused the protest to start.

What will it take for this situation to generate a real conversation on the social inequality?

Black Lives Matter has brought about a few “promises” from governmental agencies…..

While it is too early to assess the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, emerging evidence indicates that it has made significant progress. The first significant impact of the protests has been the toppling of Confederate and slavery-related statues around the world — statues that had stood all-too-proudly for centuries. In England, protesters toppled the statue of Edward Colston, a prominent slave trader. In Belgium, protesters set fire to a statue of King Leopold II. In the USA, statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln have been toppled. Airports and schools are also being renamed.

Second, city councillors have vowed to reform police departments. From Minneapolis to New York City, and from Los Angeles to Denver,  mayors have pledged to take money away from the police and reinvest it in community programmes. In Los Angeles, for example,  Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he would redirect US$250 million from the police budget into healthcare, jobs and ‘healing’ programmes for the city’s communities of colour. Democrats in Congress have also unveiled sweeping legislation on police reform, including banning chokeholds and mandating federal police officers to use body and dashboard cameras.

Third, corporations such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Reddit and Amazon have promised greater diversity and inclusivity. In fact, Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian recently resigned via a video urging the board to fill his seat with a black candidate. Ohanian also pledged US$1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s Know your Rights Camp in the announcement. On top of this, a new database has been set up to collect video footage that documents police violence at demonstrations across the country.

https://www.merit.unu.edu/black-voices-matter-what-have-the-protests-achieved-and-should-they-always-be-non-violent/

(By the way….I do not agree with this supposition…..what it calls for has not worked in the past and most likely will not again)

These promises are nothing but a pacifying move…..cities are promising reform and yet the killings continue and the cops still walk or get  slap on the wrest for their murder…..and corporations are throwing money at the problems hoping it will put them in a favorable light…..basically the same crap they pulled in the 60s and we all know how that worked out, right?

I sorry to be a downer but I do not see any change in the future because of these protest….any change will be incremental at best…..and that tactic has gotten Blacks where they are today.

If they want to progress then there must be a new way….and that way is for them to work out…..but without another tactic nothing will change.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Feb21

Yesterday, 21Feb, was the 56th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X in NYC…..I shared my thoughts on Malcom’s assassination about 2 years ago…..https://lobotero.com/2019/02/22/the-death-of-malcolm-x/ ……and now a letter has shown new light on the government’s role…..

Family members of Malcolm X say they have new evidence that shows that the NYPD and FBI conspired in the murder of the civil rights activist and one-time Nation of Islam spokesman, the Guardian reports. During a Saturday news conference at the site of the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21 1965, three of Malcolm X’s daughters revealed a deathbed letter attributed to Raymond Wood, a former undercover NYPD officer. In the letter, Wood says that he was pressured to encourage members of Malcolm X’s security detail to commit crimes, which led to their arrests days before the assassination. The result was that there wasn’t door security at the ballroom. The letter alleges that the NYPD and FBI conspired to cover up details of the assassination and disrupt the Civil Rights Movement. “I participated in actions that, in hindsight, were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own Black people,” Wood said in the letter, per Spectrum News.

“My actions on behalf of the New York City Police Department were done under duress and fear,” he wrote. Three Nation of Islam members were convicted in Malcolm X’s murder, per Reuters, which notes that some historians and scholars have said that they believe the wrong people were convicted. A 2020 Netflix documentary, Who Killed Malcolm X?, prompted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to review the case. And following Saturday’s new conference, the DA’s office said that the review is “active and ongoing.” In a statement, per the BBC, the NYPD said it “has provided all available records relevant to that case to the district attorney. The department remains committed to assist with that review in any way.” The FBI hadn’t publicly commented on the case. “Any evidence that provides greater insight into the truth behind that terrible tragedy should be thoroughly investigated,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters.

Back in those days the government had its treacherous fingers in many of the events in the days of protests and demands.

Five years ago I shared with my readers something that Malcolm X predicted….https://lobotero.com/2016/05/19/malcolm-x-predicted-the-progression-of-racism/

Malcolm was far more insightful that Black leaders today….the last 4 or 5 years have proven his prediction.

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Thoughts On Black History

First let me say here that I am taking nothing away from the people that fought for their civil rights…..their sacrifice and accomplishments are above reproach….and by all means their accomplishments should be taught and learned….but realities need to be taught as well.

We need to take a good look at what was accomplished….

The Civil Rights in the 50s and 60s was an amazing thing to behold….people protesting for a better life and the promise of equality.

Finally LBJ stepped up to do the right thing….but what were his motives?

Honestly the protests as the grew stronger and stronger the old white boys got very nervous….their eyes were on their profits and decided that it was time to head off the coming revolution……people like Rockefeller ( don’t forget he was a major donor into Eugenics) and Ford started dumping cash into endowments for such stuff as arts, dance, education etc…..this was trying to bring the racial tensions to a simmer from the boil of the 60s.

LBJ then rammed through face saving policies as voter rights….and his War on Poverty….

And the peasants danced.

These measure calmed down the situation for now Blacks had a chance to live the ‘American Dream’….(how has that worked out for them?)

What have Blacks gotten since the death of MLK, Jr?

In some ways, we’ve barely budged as a people. Poverty is still too common in the U.S. In 1968, 25 million Americans — roughly 13 percent of the population — lived below poverty level. In 2016, 43.1 million – or more than 12.7% – did.

Today’s Black poverty rate of 21% is almost three times that of whites. Compared to the 1968 rate of 32%, there’s not been a huge improvement.

Financial security, too, still differs dramatically by race. In 2018 black households earned $57.30 for every $100 in income earned by white families. And for every $100 in white family wealth, black families held just $5.04.

Another troubling aspect about black social progress – or the lack thereof – is how many black families are headed by single women. In the 1960s, unmarried women were the main breadwinners for 20% of households. In recent years, the percentage has risen as high as 72%.

https://theconversation.com/black-americans-mostly-left-behind-by-progress-since-dr-kings-death-89956

Blacks were left behind in the 60s and they are still being left at the bottom of society…..that “American Dream” is still just out of reach for many people of color.

So what have the protests of the 50s and 60s actually accomplished for the Black community?

There is still voter suppression, racial injustice, and debilitating poverty…..again I ask what did the movements of the past actually accomplish?

We should celebrate black history…but it needs to be celebrated every day not some month set aside for observation.

We need to rethink the “Black Policy”….

Last summer, millions of Americans took to the streets across the country to protest the violence Black Americans have suffered at the hands of police. It sparked what has been called the largest civil rights movement of our time — one that saw worldwide demonstrations, new demands placed on lawmakers, and white people and non-Black people of color pledging to speak up against injustice, to no longer turn the other way. It felt like the United States might finally be ready to do the work to be less racist.

But after the protests petered out and the anti-racism books were read, many also wondered: Now what?

How do we make up for the 400 years of racism and inequities that Black people have endured in this country? How do we start to fix the systemic problems that have deliberately disadvantaged Black Americans when it comes to acquiring wealth, quality education, and clean air to breathe? This series hopes to start that conversation — and to lay the groundwork for the federal government to take action.

For Rethinking Policy for Black America, a series rolling out over the month of February, Vox talked to policy wonks, lawmakers, researchers, activists, and the communities impacted by these injustices to lay out some of the best policy plans that address inequities in housing, health, economics, education, policing, and the environment. Some are familiar; some are ambitious; not all can be packaged up and sent to Congress for approval today. But they are a beginning, and if enacted, they would help create a truly anti-racist future in America.

https://www.vox.com/22277011/rethinking-policy-for-black-america

Maybe Malcolm X should have been heeded…..https://lobotero.com/2016/05/19/malcolm-x-predicted-the-progression-of-racism/

It seems that Black leaders today are looking for immediate solutions to long running systemic problems…..and in doing so have accomplished very little.

Just some thoughts.

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Kamala Is Not The First

We get lots of news that is wrong…..and then these sources back step to make it seem like we are just not understanding what they are putting down.

One such wrong information is that Kamala Harris is the first black woman in our history to be on a ticket as the VP candidate….this is not true……the year is 1952 and the Progressive Party pick a black woman to share the ticket with Vincent Hallinan…..

Harris may well be the first Indian-Black woman to run as the VP candidate…..but not the first black woman….not the first woman…..

Charlotta Bass strode onto a stage in Chicago and gave a speech as the first Black female candidate for Vice President.

As a candidate for the nation’s second highest office under the Progressive Party ticket in 1952, she addressed convention attendees on March 30 that year.
“I stand before you with great pride,” she said. “This is a historic moment in American political life. Historic for myself, for my people, for all women. For the first time in the history of this nation a political party has chosen a Negro woman for the second highest office in the land.”
While Kamala Harris became the first Indian-American and first Black woman this week to run for Vice President on a major party ticket, Bass came before her decades ago in that long-shot bid.
 
In a nod to her minimal chances of winning, Bass’ campaign slogan was, “Win or lose, we win by raising the issues.” Her party lost to Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, but her campaign decades ago helped open doors for minority candidates today, according to experts.
 
Just because Bass was on a alternative party ticket does not diminish the fact that she is the FIRST Black woman on a political ticket mas VP candidate.
 
Learn about this historic figure…..http://blackhistorynow.com/charlotta-bass/
 
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Juneteenth–2020

Closing Thought–19Jun20

Donald the Orange has decided to once again hold his rallies…the only way he can control the message in public…..he will return to the propaganda trail in Tulsa…..

President Trump is planning to hold his first rally of the coronavirus era on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And he says he’s planning more events in Florida, Texas, and Arizona as well. Trump made the announcement as he met with a handful of African American supporters Wednesday afternoon for a roundtable discussion, the AP reports. Trump’s signature rallies often draw tens of thousands of people but have been on hiatus since March 2 because of the coronavirus pandemic. “A beautiful new venue, brand new. We’re looking forward to it,” Trump said during a White House event. “They’ve done a great job with COVID, as you know, the state of Oklahoma.” The rally will take place on Juneteenth, the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US.

Sorry but a bad choice….unless you want to reinforce the racist accusations against the campaign…..

I have written several post explaining the importance of 19 June or Juneteenth…..https://lobotero.com/2017/06/19/juneteenth-our-other-independence-day/  or  https://lobotero.com/2018/06/19/closing-thought-19jun18/ and more  https://lobotero.com/2019/06/19/the-other-independence-day/

Trump will do something…..Out of respect? 

“Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents,” he wrote Friday night in a series of tweets. He noted that the “big deal” rally is now scheduled for next Saturday, June 20, and claimed that ticket requests have been “in excess of 200,000.” The Hill notes that his switch regarding the rally, which will be his first one in over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, is a “rare instance of [him] giving in to criticism,” though Trump had insisted earlier that the choosing of June 19 as the original date wasn’t intentional.

Out of respect is just another lie for the slobbering supporters.

Trump was not finished embarrassing his ass…..he then asserts that no one every heard of Juneteenth……until he brought it to the news…..

“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump said, a reference to his decision to postpone a campaign rally from June 19 to June 20. He said a black Secret Service agent told him about the day’s significance: a celebration of the end of slavery. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.” Trump was surprised when informed his own White House has previously marked the occasion. Sen. Kamala Harris was among those ridiculing Trump’s assertion, notes USA Today.

But in case you are on of those people that never heard of the day and  would like more info and history on why this is a terrible idea……to hold a racist rally on this day that is……https://theblackwallsttimes.com/category/history

And before Tulsa there was a riot in East St. Louis about 4 years earlier……

In East St. Louis, as in other cities across the nation, white people resented every effort of African Americans to improve their social and economic conditions during the 20th century. In this instance, white residents erupted in violence in response to Black migrants coming into the city in droves — mostly from the South. During World War I, the labor market significantly expanded to meet the needs of military production. With a growing demand for industrial workers in the North, Black Southerners flocked to places like East St. Louis. In response, white business owners worked to block new migrants from gaining economic or political power.

Even though Black workers held the most menial jobs and received lower wages than their peers, white people in East St. Louis still viewed them as a threat. And they were determined to keep Black people “in their place” through acts of violence and intimidation. In May 1917, a group of white workers filed formal complaints against Black migrants in the city, blaming African Americans for taking “their” jobs in local factories.

https://theintercept.com/2020/06/10/east-st-louis-race-riot-1917-protests/

As the lives of Afro-Americans were starting to improve the rest of society was not handling it well and riots broke out trying to put blacks back in the “place”.

And that brings us to today…and not much has really changed.

Sorry but a change in date will not make things better for this president……

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