In 1919, in the wake of World War I, black sharecroppers unionized in Arkansas, unleashing a wave of white vigilantism and mass murder that left 237 people dead.

caledoniaseries:

nudityandnerdery:

thatoneirishamerican:

bendaidots:

thatoneirishamerican:

karnythia:

karnythia:

christel-thoughts:

September 30, 1919

“The result was the killing of 237 African Americans.

None of the perpetrators—participants in mass murder—answered for their crimes. No one was charged, no trials were held, at least not of those who had killed blacks.“

The Red Summer of 1919 still is one of the longest seasons of domestic terrorism in the US that goes unremarked for most. 

My grandfather had kin in Elaine Arkansas. He never got to meet them (they died in the riots), but he told me that the stories about what happened is part of why he raised his family in the North. Chicago had race riots that year too, but Elaine is considered one of the worst in history. In part because they literally tortured survivors to get them to testify against each other. 

People do realize that you can’t call some terrorism if it happened before terrorism was a thing, right?

Terrorism was a thing way back before this happened.

Terrorism is a purely late-20th century concept

If you’re going to claim to be interested in history and describe yourself as Irish American, you should at least be accurate about it. The Fenian Brotherhood was running terrorist campaigns against the British in the 1880s.

Scottish & Irish folklorist and historian here. I can confirm terrorism has existed for a very long time.