The Memphis Race Riots
After the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau in the same year,
there were significant acts of violence against the newly freedmen. The goal of these massacres and acts of violence were to reestablish the white race as superior and the only race that deserved rights. After legislation made it a law for freed slaves to be treated the same under the law and to be considered citizens just as white people were, the outrage of these white citizens exploded. The Memphis race riot of 1866 lasted for 3 days as the Reconstruction continued to strengthen the tensions between the freed African-Americans and the white citizens. Black communities were burned, robbed, and destroyed by angry white people. Black women were raped, and black men and women were killed, robbed, and injured. Entire communities were ravaged by upset plantation owners and former slave owners who did not agree with the newfound freedom that was given to their former slaves.
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Similarly, there was a race riot in New Orleans in 1866. However, it's also referred to as the New Orleans Massacre, as it was a shooting, rather than a three-day riot. This occurred during a parade in honor of the annual Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which both black and white delegates were to attend. The mayor of New Orleans, Mayor John T. Monroe, led a mob of "ex-Confederates, white supremacists, and members of the New Orleans Police Force," according to passages from James G. Hollandsworth's An Absolute Massacre: The New Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866. In this attack, "238 people were killed and 46 were wounded." This riot was had a very extreme outcome and it shows the significance of the extreme damage that took place over the three-day period of the Memphis Race Riots.
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