getting lit on fire from the white riots.
Monday, February 29, 2016
What Occurred in Springfield, IL in 1908
One's opinion on what having civil rights means depends on the person. A person can believe that an african american does not deserve the same rights as a white person, many used to believe that, some still do. While here in 2016, racism and segregation are rarely noticed by the common eye, it still exists. While some people today can be racist and talk amongst themselves about a person of another color, it used to be way worse.
Throughout a bulk of the 1900's, african americans were treated as property, or below the whites. Riots broke out, people were protesting, and innocent people were getting killed. President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt had a lot to deal with in the early 1900's. Riots were breaking out, people were getting treated unfairly, and it almost seemed as if the whole country was somewhat segregated. At some point, people have to learn that they are fighting for the wrong reasons, and in the early 1900's, that trend occurred too much. In the Civil Rights Movement of 1908, not many high profile names were mentioned, but a tragic event did indeed occur.
In early August of 1908, a tragedy occurred in Springfield, IL. On August 14, 1908, there had been rumors speculating that a black man had sexually assaulted a white woman a few days before. Granted, this black man had been sent to jail, but, some people were very heated about what had happened. A white mob was determined to get this man out of jail and kill him. The same white mob was also trying to kill a black man Joe James, who lived out of town and was accused of killing a railroad engineer, Clergy Ballard, who also happened to be white.
Later on in the afternoon, a huge mob of white men and white women were standing outside of the Springfield Jail, trying to get the jail to release the black man who was accused of sexually assaulting the white woman. They wanted the black man out so they could kill him. While all of the white people were standing at the front of the jail, begging the jail to let the black man out, the guards snuck the black man out of the back door, into a car, and out of town. The white mob heard about the black prisoner escaping and rioted. They attacked a wealthy white man's restaurant, Harry Loper, who had provided the cops and the prisoners an escape car from the prison. They also set his car on fire which was parked in front of the restaurant.
After the white mob continued to riot, they started destroying bigger things. They started going into black neighborhoods and ruining their private property. They started torching cars, burning down houses, and sometimes, they would run inside the home and take the black family out of the house and kill them. They were going completely crazy in these black neighborhoods.
In the end, Springfield, IL was completely wrecked by the time the rioting was over. Stores were burnt down, houses were ruined, cars were on fire, and most of all people were killed. A year later in 1909, people were still affected by what happened in Springfield. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was formed in New York in attempt to help stop these riots and promote that what happened in Springfield was wrong and can not happen again. Their main message was that the blacks are equal to whites, and that they should not be treated any different. Events like this formed our country, without the riots in Springfield happening, we could today still be in the same position as we were before the riots occurred, in terms of equality.
Throughout a bulk of the 1900's, african americans were treated as property, or below the whites. Riots broke out, people were protesting, and innocent people were getting killed. President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt had a lot to deal with in the early 1900's. Riots were breaking out, people were getting treated unfairly, and it almost seemed as if the whole country was somewhat segregated. At some point, people have to learn that they are fighting for the wrong reasons, and in the early 1900's, that trend occurred too much. In the Civil Rights Movement of 1908, not many high profile names were mentioned, but a tragic event did indeed occur.
In early August of 1908, a tragedy occurred in Springfield, IL. On August 14, 1908, there had been rumors speculating that a black man had sexually assaulted a white woman a few days before. Granted, this black man had been sent to jail, but, some people were very heated about what had happened. A white mob was determined to get this man out of jail and kill him. The same white mob was also trying to kill a black man Joe James, who lived out of town and was accused of killing a railroad engineer, Clergy Ballard, who also happened to be white.
Later on in the afternoon, a huge mob of white men and white women were standing outside of the Springfield Jail, trying to get the jail to release the black man who was accused of sexually assaulting the white woman. They wanted the black man out so they could kill him. While all of the white people were standing at the front of the jail, begging the jail to let the black man out, the guards snuck the black man out of the back door, into a car, and out of town. The white mob heard about the black prisoner escaping and rioted. They attacked a wealthy white man's restaurant, Harry Loper, who had provided the cops and the prisoners an escape car from the prison. They also set his car on fire which was parked in front of the restaurant.
After the white mob continued to riot, they started destroying bigger things. They started going into black neighborhoods and ruining their private property. They started torching cars, burning down houses, and sometimes, they would run inside the home and take the black family out of the house and kill them. They were going completely crazy in these black neighborhoods.
In the end, Springfield, IL was completely wrecked by the time the rioting was over. Stores were burnt down, houses were ruined, cars were on fire, and most of all people were killed. A year later in 1909, people were still affected by what happened in Springfield. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was formed in New York in attempt to help stop these riots and promote that what happened in Springfield was wrong and can not happen again. Their main message was that the blacks are equal to whites, and that they should not be treated any different. Events like this formed our country, without the riots in Springfield happening, we could today still be in the same position as we were before the riots occurred, in terms of equality.
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