How America's Legacy Of Racial Terror Still Affects Black Wealth

Author

Kat C.
January 28, 2025

"The decades after the civil war saw Black Americans slowly gain more economic and political power in some parts of the country. Some bought land, started businesses and built schools. But in many places where Black Americans succeeded, white Americans sought to destroy that success. While some of the stories may have been scrubbed from the records and textbooks throughout history, survivors and their descendants are speaking out, shedding light on the violent events that took place in their communities and exposing the lingering social and economic damage caused by some of the worst racial violence in American history."

Source: How America's Legacy Of Racial Terror Still Affects Black Wealth, uploaded Feb. 16, 2022 to the Forbes channel on YouTube.

If you're short on time, skip to 22:06. But really, you should watch the whole thing.

Chapter list:

0:00 Intro
0:50 The civil war and reconstruction
4:09 Red Summer
5:20 Elaine Massacre (Arkansas)
13:56 Tulsa Massacre (Oklahoma)
22:06 Effects of Tulsa and Elaine massacres 
26:36 Lingering effects today
28:48 Reparations and justice

Under the video, Forbes offers a list of massacres and other assaults on Black communities from 1863-1943:

  • 1863: Detroit, Michigan

  • 1863: New York City, New York

  • 1866: Memphis, Tennessee

  • 1866: New Orleans, Louisiana

  • 1866: Pine Bluff, Arkansas

  • 1868: Opelousas, Louisiana

  • 1868: St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana

  • 1868: Camila, Georgia

  • 1869: Jackson County, Florida

  • 1896: Polk County, Arkansas

  • 1870: Tuskegee, Alabama

  • 1870: Eutaw, Alabama

  • 1871: Meridian, Mississippi

  • 1873: Colfax, Louisiana

  • 1874: Coushatta, Louisiana

  • 1874: Vicksburg, Mississippi

  • 1874: Eufaula, Alabama

  • 1876: Hamburg, South Carolina

  • 1876: Ellenton, South Carolina

  • 1875: Clinton, Mississippi

  • 1887: Thibodaux, Louisiana

  • 1898: Wilmington, North Carolina

  • 1901: Pierce City, Missouri

  • 1906: Atlanta, Georgia

  • 1908: Springfield, Illinois

  • 1910: El Dorado, Arkansas

  • 1910: Slocum, Texas

  • 1917: Chester, Pennsylvania

  • 1917: East St. Louis, Illinois

  • 1919: Charleston, South Carolina

  • 1919: Chicago, Illinois

  • 1919: Corbin, Kentucky

  • 1919: Elaine, Arkansas

  • 1919: Washington D.C.

  • 1919: Longview, Texas

  • 1919: Omaha, Nebraska

  • 1919: Knoxville, Tennessee

  • 1919: Ellisville, Mississippi

  • 1919: Wilmington, Delaware

  • 1919: Laurens County, Georgia

  • 1919: Jenkins, Georgia

  • 1919: Baltimore, Maryland

  • 1920: Ocoee, Florida

  • 1921: Tulsa, Oklahoma

  • 1922: Perry, Florida

  • 1923: Rosewood, Florida

  • 1927: Little Rock, Arkansas

  • 1943: Beaumont, Texas

This list is not complete, Forbes says. "Further, [it] does not include the thousands of lynchings or lesser known attacks committed by white mobs and hate groups."

The rash of massacres and assaults in 1919 is known as "The Red Summer."

For a map of the race riots, see “Where the ‘Red Summer’ riots of 1919 took place,” an Associated Press map.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back when I first posted this, I was focused on the long-term effects of The Red Summer. As a result, I overlooked the significance of the Elaine Race Massacre — which, as far as I know, has received far less coverage than the Tulsa Massacre.

I’ll be including the Tulsa Massacre in a separate project, which is still under construction.