Black/White Violence

As Sheryl continues to narrate the events of 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia, she explains that a white store owner killed a young African American and that "the town was on the verge of explosion."  Violence between whites and blacks can be seen all the way back to the 1880s and 1890s.  Violence between the two races was used as a form of political intimidation and was especially effective in areas where whites and blacks competed for jobs (lecture 9/8/11).  The most common form of violence that was used in this time period was lynching, in which a white mob gathered to murder someone (usually by hanging) who they believed had committed a crime.  Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, nearly 2,000 black men were lynched in the South (Hist page 322).  A good example of violence against African Americans can be seen in the Major Problems document titled "Lucy McMillan, a Former Slave in South Carolina, Testifies About White Violence, 1871." Lucy McMillan testifies that the Ku Klux Klan came and burned down her house while she and her child were there (Major Problems "Lucy McMillan, a Former Slave in South Carolina, Testifies About White Violence, 1871" document).  The violence between the white store owner and the young African American was not new to the United States.  It was a problem that had been escalating for over one hundred years.

Another example of white/black violence that occurred in American history is the story of Emmett Till in 1955.  The violence that was used against Emmett is argued to be some of the most racist violence in American history.  Emmett Till, a fourteen year-old Chicago African American boy, was beaten and murdered for whistling at a white woman who worked at a grocery store.  The white woman's husband and half-brother were arrested for kidnapping and murder (Hist page 445).  The outrage that was present in the Emmett Till case among both African Americans and whites, is closely mirrored by the responses in this movie's opening scene.  There is no reason given in the film for why the white store owner killed the young African American boy.  The audience is allowed to wonder what reason could be given for the young boy to be killed.  However, what I began to think about was the possibility of whether there was even a reason at all.  In this time period, it seems that there was such hostility between whites and blacks that maybe there was no real justified reason for the young African American boy being killed.  The responses from African Americans in the film made it seem like there was no possible justified reason for the boy to be killed.  

Such white/black violence continued to occur throughout the 1960s and beyond.  In spite of the civil rights victories, violence continued to escalate.  Many homes of civil rights activists and the churches that they were associated with were bombed.  Because the civil rights activists were beginning to fear for their lives, some began carrying weapons to arm themselves (Hist page 456).  In the Major Problems document "Army Veteran Robert Williams Argues 'Self-Defense Prevents Bloodshed,' 1962," Williams argued that African Americans had as much right to self-defense as every other American (Major Problems "Army Veteran Robert Williams Argues 'Self-Defense Prevents Bloodshed,' 1962" document).  In the document, while Robert Williams is driving a car full of African Americans, his car is run into by a white driver pulling out of a restaurant.  The white driver and white mob that was created around the scene started to shout about killing the African Americans and burning them.