How Quick Some Are To Forget…

The last two weeks have been extremely disappointing here in America.  Two weeks back to back, 2 unarmed Black males who died at the hands of the police; their killers are free to go.  Last week was Mike Brown, this week was Eric Garner.  The grand juries in their respective cities (Ferguson & NYC) choosing to not indict the officers who took these 2 Black males’ lives is a tragedy which further serves as proof that America has a severe problem with racism & White supremacy.  But racism & White supremacy is not what I want to talk about in this article.  I want to talk about the reactions to last week’s riots down in Ferguson, MO.  A lot of people allowed their inner most deepest feelings to spill out as they watch Ferguson, MO go up in flames last week.  Honestly, I was not shocked at all.  I was not shocked to discover that people like Lori Wallach Boxer & countless others chose to describe the people in Ferguson as “fucking zoo animals” etc…

I was not surprised the least bit.

Here’s what did surprise me…somewhat

I saw this picture pop up on FB and I decided to repost it.  The caption up under the picture said the following word for word:

Prior to the 1960s, rioting (or race riots), consisted of whites burning down and destroying black communities simply because they didn’t want them there. Mostly in major northern, western and Midwestern cities, where the population of black citizens grew tremendously due to the great migration. Blacks fled from Jim Crow south to seek refuge and to find jobs and homes. The competition was fierce, thousands and thousands of blacks flooded the cities resulting in “white flight”.
White people were angry that blacks were taking over jobs and building their own communities. Even white soldiers that have been stationed away from home were furious when they came back to this “change”.
This is how race riots started. Whites were not too happy about desegregation in their cities. With subliminal attempts to keep their city segregated, blacks were not allowed in the “white” part of town. Black homes and communities were destroyed and burned down by angry white mobs and countless deaths occured.
Here are ONLY just a few examples of race riots that took place in our country:

1921: May 30- June 1. Tulsa, OK. Black Wall Street Massacre
1922. May 6, June 9 Kirven, Texas
1923: January 1. Rosewood, FL Rosewood Massacre
1930: October 12-15 Sainte Genevieve, MO
1931: March Scottsboro, AL
1935: March 19 Harlem, NY Harlem Riot of 1935
1943: May Mobile, AL
1943: June Los Angeles, CA Zoot Suit Riot
1943: June 15-16 Beaumont, TX Beaumont Race Riot of 1943
1943: June 20 Detroit, MI Detroit Race Riot
1943:August1 Harlem,NY Harlem Riot of 1943
1949: August-September Peekskill, NY
1951: July 11-12 Cicero County, IL Cicero Race Riot
1958: Maxton, NC Battle of Hayes Pond
1959: February Pearl River County, MS
1960: April Biloxi Beach, MS
1962: October Oxford, MS Uni of Mississippi
1963: September 30. Oxford, MS Ole Miss Riot
1963: July 11Cambridge, MD Cambridge riot of 1963
1963: May 13 Birmingham, AL Bombings
1964: July Brooklyn, NY
1964: July 18 Harlem, NY Harlem Riot of 1964
1964: July 24-26 Rochester, NY Rochester riot
1964: August Jersey City, NJ
1964: August Paterson, NJ
1964: August Elizabeth, NJ
1964: August Chicago, IL
1964: August 28 Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia 1964 race riot
1965: March 7 Selma, AL Bloody Sunday
1965: July Springfield, MA
1965: August 11-17 Los Angeles, CA Watts Riot

… only to name a few….
(Image: Race Riot in Detroit, 1943)

Less than 100 years ago there have been at least 31 race riots in America.  All of them started by the dominant society under the guise of White supremacy.  I have a friend who tried to identify a few instances of Black Americans starting riots & it damn near became laughable.  This is the reality about Black Americans starting riots:  Black society has NEVER started a riot for the sake of starting a riot.  Black Americans only riot in response to actions caused by the system of White supremacy that we all currently live up under.

I decided to post this here to serve as a reminder that White supremacists are quick to point & wag their finger at what a bunch of pissed off Black folks decided to do in Ferguson in response to the injustice rendered for Mike Brown, but they tend to forget about their extremely violent history here in America less than 100 years ago whose sole mission was to terrorize Black society…all fueled purely off of White supremacy.

Go research the stuff yourself.