Despite the promise of the Civil War amendments, disturbing reports continue to mount. Violence continues to undermine blacks’ rights.
1866: Rioting whites kill 46 blacks, rape five women, burn 90 homes in Memphis, Tennessee
1876: A white mob attacks black veterans on July 4th in Hamburg, South Carolina
1892: Vigilantes lynch 161 blacks
Yesterday, when blacks were elected to the City Council in Wilmington, North Carolina, whites staged a coup, shooting 20 people.
Even though Congress broke up the Ku Klux Klan, bands of whites still terrorize blacks who want to vote.
Officials have also found ways to stop the black vote. Voters must pay a “poll tax” most blacks can’t afford, or take a “literacy test” that’s used to disqualify them.
After “30 years of national life,” says W. E. B. DuBois, “the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people.”
