Li. LID. a REPORT of the CIRCUMSTANCES
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
! I CTCT fib' I f jr> : Li. LID. A REPORT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS OF THE RACE RIOT ON NOVEMBER 2, 1920 IN OCOEE, FLORIDA LESTER DABBS, JR. A thesis presented to the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts Stetson University July, 19 69 1 '• ; • | t • I I I STETSON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE DIVISION This thesis by Lester J. Dabbs is approved as meeting the research requirements of the Department of Education for the decree of Master of Arts. Professor of Educational Philosophy Professor of Education Accepted for the Graduate Council f/A4z_ Date: August 6 I969 292912 • 1 *• - - TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE C HAPTER I Introduction CHAPTER II Racial Attitudes Nationally, Especially in the Decade of 1910 - 1920 CHAPTER III Description of Ocoee, Florida and its Racial Attitudes in 1920 15 CHAPTER IV The Events of the Election Day Riot and Subsequent Investigations 23 C HAPTERV Assessment of the Effects of the Riot on Ocoee, Florida and the Surrounding Area 36 CHAPTER VI Summary and Conclusion 42 BIBLIOGRAPHY 46 i " | • i- CHAPTER I Introduction With the tremendous social, economic, and political interest being shown in the field of civil rights and the relation among different ethnic, national, and racial groups, it is important that an attempt be made to identify the attitudes, circumstances, and other pertinent information which contribute to traumatic social disorders within society. This thesis has been just such an attempt. If society, through its historians, psychologists, and sociologists, can ascertain what the various danger signals are, then it will be easier to circumvent or prevent a reoccurrence of those circumstances which dissipate the constructive energies of a progressive culture. It is in the best interest of all men everywhere to negate the trends which result in the wasting of man's time, resources, and intellect. The achievement of good relations between different ethnic and racial groups continues to be a problem of great magnitude in our time. Incongruous as this statement sounds in our ever contracting world of technological and scientific progress, its ring of truth can be heard daily in the riots, demonstrations, "non-negotiable demands," and countless court desegregation cases. The most important search of any man in any age is the answer to the recurring question, "Who am I?" The greatest minds of each civilization in - the recorded history of man have grappled with that question. Books of i . I every size and shape have been written and read — each volume trying to lend coherence to man's life, to his relationship to the world about him, and to his relationship with his fellow man. Only when this question has been answered by each individual and each group can society ever hope to achieve even a semblance of the cooperation and harmony which is available to us in this great land. In the present struggle between authoritarianism and democracy, the continued existence of undemocratic practices at home endangers our contacts and dealings with other members of the international community of nations. Prejudice and discrimination are a great threat to the welfare of our country, for they adversely affect national unity. Recurring racial problems siphon off energy and monies that could be directed to the solution of other important economic and social problems. The opposing racial or ethnic groups impoverish themselves and contribute to economic waste. In essence, society pays for prejudices in that human unhappiness results. Intolerance leads to fear among members of the privileged majority as well as in the victims of intolerance. Saenger states that "neurotic hatred of others fails to make the maladjusted person essentially more secure and socially adapted. Prejudice not only severely limits the opportunities of minority people, it makes it harder for them to develop an integrated and well-adjusted personality." Gerhart Saenger, The Social Psychology of Prejudice (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1953, p. 2. i • • The intensity of prejudice and the various levels of prejudice and prejudicial action have been defined by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights: 1. Prejudice which is merely an opinion which is not given outward expression either in word or by positive conduct or hostility or contempt toward members of a particular group, but which consists rather in a negative attitude of avoiding contact with members of that group as much as possible without expressing such dislike. 2. Prejudice which consists of internal opinion but which is expressed outwardly in some relations with the member of a disliked group, such as showing a definitely cold attitude toward them. In this case, there is a mild expression of antipathy, dislike, or devaluation in social relations, in which no legal problem is involved and in which no discriminating act occurs. 3. Prejudice which does not go so far as to deny legal rights to the members of a disliked group, but which leads to some form of social discrimination, as for example, intentionally and manifestly avoiding any social contact with members of the disliked group. 4. Prejudice which leads to discriminatory acts, denying rights to individuals belonging to a group discriminated against. 5. Prejudice which leads not only to discriminatory behavior but goes further and gives rise to propaganda for further discrimination. This propaganda may be confined to certain private circles (for example, trying to convince friends) , or it may develop into public manifestations such as speeches or written incitements to acts of discrimination. 6. Prejudice which leads to acts of violence against the members of a group, committed either by an individual or by a group of individuals , or committed or tolerated by public authorities. Each of those levels of prejudice has been manifested in varying degrees of discrimination not only in the South but on a nationwide scale, 2Ibid., p. 9. i : | , I : The lack of new leaders with ne^r 0«as and the failure of government — local, state, and nation — to cor •& to grips with the racial problem is exemplified in the unrest in urbar. areas and on college campuses today. It is primarily for this reasor. that the researcher became concerned with the problem, for all the levels of prejudice are to be encountered within the social and economic fabric of the communities of his home and his work. The geographical locales of his home and his work are somewhat bigoted cultural areas which must confront the problems concomitant with broad desegregation of public school facilities in the fall of 1969 . The race riot of November, 1920, hangs over the area like an omen of doom which blights everything it touches. It, therefore, becomes imperative that persons in positions of authority and leadership today be able to see with clarity and precision the underlying causes of that event in order to preclude a reoccurrence of such social trauma. Much is to be done, and time is of the essence. It should be noted that the western portion of Orange County in general, and Ocoee, Florida, in particular has a long history of anti-Negro activity as exemplified in the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Other areas of the county have been more successful in breaking down the barriers between the races in the various facets of community living. At present, the Ocoee Junior-Senior High School is the only secondary school in the county without at least token integration, even though the principal and ' the researcher have attended desegregation institutes at Stetson University J ^t—-ygyj"uy~v • - I I I at one time or another. Many adults and students of the community are proud of the fact that the local Klan unit was the third one formed in the state. They are proud of the local resident cited by Congress in its recent hearings, and they are proud of the two area units of the United Klans of America. Although these proud folks are in the minority, though a quite vocal one, coupled with the same memory of the infamous riot of nearly half a century ago, public consensus has the whole area blighted. The researcher, as a resident of the city of Ocoee with a child in its schools, and as a professional educator confronted with the task of • opening a new, broadly desegregated junior high school in the city of • Apopka, had a peculiar and profound interest in determining the facts surrounding the racial incidents of October-November, 1920. Several hoped-for sources of information on the events of the riot failed to materialize. The researcher's contact in the State Archives in Tallahassee, Florida, was unable to provide any helpful information. Orange-Seminole State Senator William Gunter and his staff researched • the Legislative Reference Bureau's records to no avail. The son of the States Attorney in 1920 was unable to furnish any but general information and the Orange County Sheriff stated there are no records available covering so remote an event. He further stated he was a deputy sheriff in 1920 and, in his memory, no such event had taken place. And finally, I I I based on information forwarded to the Justice Department by the researcher, the Associate Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was unable to —_- •• - • - : -..- I I locate any reference to the Ocoee event. We, as Americans, have not as yet come to understand the "strange kind of love" that insists on changing men's lives, a complex love which is critical and often reacted to with hate — a love which turns itself into hate when the one in rebellion does not understand his acts. The non violent civil rights movement in the South, with the late Dr.