Over the course of American history, there have been many terrorist attacks perpetrated by white people on Black communities around the country. It is always about keeping and maintaining white supremacy. It is about terrorizing people and trying to control others.
Today we look at one such terror attack, in the city of Catcher, Arkansas.
On December 28, 1923 a white woman named Effie Latimer was brutally attacked. Before she died, a doctor who tried to treat her claimed that she named the Black man who had attacked her. The newspaper reported this, naming names, and cops arrested the him and two people they said were accomplices. The cops claimed that the three men confessed to the crime, and were put in jail to await trial. So far, all of this is based on things white men said had happened, but with no proof or an investigation.
The next day, on the 29th, over 500 white people stormed the jail and demanded that the prisoners be released to them. They also terrorized the Black community and destroyed their property. Over 1000 Black citizens ended up being driven out of the city. In the midst of this, the police arrested members of the Black community for being out after dark, and shot and killed the father of the man accused of attacking Latimer.
The two alleged accomplices ended up being convicted and were both executed. It may not shock you to know that there was never any evidence that the three men had done anything, nor that they ever actually confessed to doing anything. The word of white men who may or may not have had motivations that were pure or interested in justice were taken as true and the only evidence needed to convict three men. It was enough to justify destroying a community and driving the people out of the town.
Latimer's true attacker was never found, because there was never an investigation. Justice was never served, because it was never really about her. It was an excuse to maintain white supremacy.
Here are more sources to learn about this terror attack:
Encyclopedia of Arkansas page.
This page has some audio links about the attack.
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