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From Tulsa to Ferguson: Redefining Race Riots and Racialized Violence

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From Tulsa to Ferguson: Redefining Race Riots and Racialized Violence City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Dissertations and Theses City College of New York 2016 From Tulsa to Ferguson: Redefining Race Riots and Racialized Violence Hesley R. Keenan Jr. How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/650 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] From Tulsa to Ferguson: Redefining Race Riots and Racialized Violence Hesley R. Keenan Jr. Adviser: Martin Woessner September 1, 2016 The purpose of this thesis is to reclassify many so-called race riots at the turn of the twentieth century as racial cleansings. Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION: FROM RACE RIOTS TO RACIAL CLEANSINGS ...................... 3 II. FEAR OF SMALL NUMBERS ......................................................................................... 26 III. A THREAT MORE IMAGINED THAN REAL ............................................................. 48 IV. STATE OF LYNCHERDOM ............................................................................................ 86 V. HOW MUCH IS THAT FOOTSTOOL WORTH? ....................................................... 108 VI. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 127 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ 138 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 146 2 I. Introduction: From Race Riots to Racial Cleansings “Even crime has power to reproduce itself and create conditions favorable to its own existence” – Frederick Douglass1 August 9, 2015, marked the one-year anniversary of the death of teen Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson. Within that year, Ferguson, Missouri, experienced a level of racial tension similar to that experienced by many towns and neighborhoods in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Then and now, civil unrest, racism, rioting, murder, migration, major property loss, and the presence of a militia were regular occurrences. However, there is one difference: over a hundred years ago these same elements would have resulted in the racial cleansing of many towns and communities. Racial cleansings at the turn of the century were prevalent in countries around the world, often leading to the removal of an undesired group. This was an indication that “the people of the conquered territories were regarded as dangerous, which in itself is an indicator that they shared a collective identity” (Bell- Fialkoff 1996, 7). In the United States at the turn of the century, racial cleansings became a way to control and maintain the African American population by the use of threats and the growing phenomenon of lynching. Often these events were sparked by African Americans’ desire for autonomy through suffrage, jobs, the acquisition of land, and the desire to reject the subservient racial cues imposed on them throughout the institution of slavery. Since then, Jim Crow, and recently, mass incarceration have been major contributors in disenfranchising African Americans. These historical events, which in 1 Frederick Douglass, in a letter to Ida B. Wells, commended her for her tireless efforts to speak out against the lynching of African Americans in 1892. (I. B. Wells 2008) 3 some ways set the precedent for our current civil unrest, have been mislabeled, often passing under the guise of race riots, when, in actuality, they were really racial cleansings. Especially in light of this country’s still unresolved race problem, it is important to reexamine the racial cleansings of the early twentieth century. Such an investigation may shed light on the persistence of racism into our own time, and help explain why it is so deeply rooted in our nation’s psyche. Racial cleansings have perpetuated long lasting social woes such as a lack of wealth in today’s African American community; pervasive stereotypes of African American inferiority in the realms of education, ambition, and work ethic; and amongst African Americans today, a continued mistrust of the government, including its will to defend the African American community within the United States. A true analysis of racial cleansings might be the first step toward correcting some of these contemporary social ills. Acknowledging these events and providing some form of reparations for the victims and their families will also begin the healing process, putting all parities on the path toward closure. Ferguson may never experience a racial cleansing, but at the height of the violence in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death many were wondering if “there will be race riots in Ferguson,” which suggests that the memory of past racial cleansings is still with us (Lowery 2014). These memories and these concerns, force us to reexamine this event and others throughout history so we can recognize the differences between the race riots and the racial cleansings at the turn of the century, for these cleansings have shaped many of our towns and cities. 4 “Riot or Rebellion?” was the question posed by Jack Schneider, an Assistant Professor of Education at Holy Cross, after nine days of protests and rioting in Ferguson, Missouri in his article “Ferguson: Riot or Rebellion?” (Schneider 2014). The decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on Monday, November 24, 2014 sparked outrage across the country. On August 9, Officer Darren Wilson fatally wounded unarmed eighteen year-old African American Michael Brown after an altercation ensued when Brown and a friend were asked to get out of the street. The failure to indict Officer Wilson increased tensions and further strained relations between the police and the black community in Ferguson. The facts of the case have been unclear since the beginning due to the conflicting accounts of Officer Wilson and Michael Brown’s friend, Dorian Johnson. According to Johnson, Officer Wilson pulled up next to Brown and attempted to grab him when his gun discharged. The two began to run with Officer Wilson in pursuit. Onlookers claim to have seen Wilson shoot Brown numerous times in the back “while on his knees in a posture of surrender” (Altman and Drehle 2014). Officer Wilson’s “version of events is more difficult to ascertain” claiming he was injured in the scuffle leading to the shooting” (Altman and Drehle 2014). The failure to release the details of the incident has created a veil of secrecy, which has led many within the community as well as across the nation to call for a federal investigation. One thing that is clear: many African Americans are frustrated and angry and feel that America does not value black bodies. In 2014 there were several questionable deaths of African Americans at the hands of police throughout the country, and the refusal to indict Officer Wilson after shooting unarmed Michael Brown twelve times was for many the final straw, the most recent instance in a wave of black deaths that year. “We’re ready to die!” was the feeling of one 5 individual during the height of the rioting (Altman and Drehle 2014, 26). As cars were overturned and tear gas flew, the media sensationalized the pockets of rioting throughout the city. News coverage swarmed to these locations projecting visions of burning buildings and standoffs with the police. With much of the focus on the Michael Brown case, many outsiders may have believed that it alone was the catalyst for the strife, but the internal fires of the city’s residents were sparked long before the failure to indict Officer Wilson. For a long time, the residents within many of St. Louis County’s municipalities had felt the police were targeting the “poor and minority citizens for street and traffic stops – partly to generate fines – which has the effect of both bankrupting and criminalizing whole communities” (Board 2014, 2). The continued exploitation and victimization of one of this country’s most underrepresented and underserved groups have many African Americans throughout the United States fed up. The Mayor of Ferguson “insisted that his city is racially harmonious,” but African American men claim, “they aren’t treated fairly,” and “they feel disrespected by police, harassed and singled out” (Altman and Drehle 2014, 24). In a survey by Pew Research Center, 80% of African Americans polled believed “Brown’s death ‘raises important issues about race,’ but among whites, a strong plurality dismissed the race angle as exaggerated” (Altman and Drehle 2014). Contributing to these results is widespread refusal among whites to recognize how the stereotypes of race play a part in the treatment of African Americans in this country. This wide gap in the perception of the case between the two groups proves there is some form of racial divide lingering in Ferguson, and for that matter throughout the country. 6 For years, African American complaints of racism have gone unnoticed, similar to racial cleansings. But hopefully with videos of African Americans being killed at the hands of police through the use of deadly force will lead many skeptics to rethink the claims purported by people of color. No longer should it be easy to claim that these issues are isolated incidents. Cases like Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, and Alton Sterling, just to name
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