At the end of the Civil War, many thousands of people were dead, and the southern U.S. was in ruins. But slavery was over! Finally, all Americans were free! It seems like it should have been a wonderful new beginning.

Instead, it was the beginning of more hard times. Just about everybody in the South was poor. White folks in the South were angry they had lost the war, and angry that black folks were free. They passed new laws to keep black people from getting their rights. These laws, called the "Black Codes," made it so African Americans couldn't own weapons, use the court system to get justice, marry whites, stay out past a certain hour, or run their own businesses. As you can tell, the idea was basically to make black folks slaves again. Needless to say, African Americans were angry, too.

In spring 1866, everyone's anger boiled over into a terrible event in Memphis, Tennessee. On April 29, 1866, a black soldier who had just been released from service refused to move off the sidewalk to make way for a white policeman. After that, white people targeted black veterans and then just black people with violence. They set churches, schools, and houses on fire. They even attacked some white people who were flying Union flags. The white people who made these attacks were hurting their own neighbors. When investigators questioned African Americans after the violence, nearly everyone said they recognized their attackers.

There's a question to ask about this awful event: what should we call it? Some people have named it the Memphis Riot. That gives the idea of lots of people in the street, chaos, and random violence and robbery. Other people suggest another name: the Memphis Massacre. "Massacre" implies one group of people killing another.

From what I've learned, I think we should call this set of events the Memphis Massacre: white people attacking and killing black people. And I think it matters very much how we name historical events. The wrong name can hide what really happened.

Having learned about the Memphis Massacre, I was happy to see that some things have changed in Memphis. Walking down Beale Street, where the violence began in 1866, I saw a mix of blacks and whites gathering to enjoy jazz, blues, and rock and roll. Maybe we're getting a little better at getting along.

Stephanie

Please email me at: stephanie@ustrek.org