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On this day, February 25, 1946, the Columbia Race Riot of 1946 broke out.
Thu Feb 25, 2021: On this day, February 25, 1946, the Columbia Race Riot of 1946 broke out.
Hat tip, commenter purple square, in a reply to this story in the Washington Post:
He drove a truck in World War II, but he wasn’t allowed to drive a streetcar in D.C.
purple square 12 hours ago
Thank you. This is an excellent article.
Just fyi, next week there's an event to remember the Columbia Race Riot of 1946, a major racial event following World War II. Thurgood Marshall organized the defense for those charged.
https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/story/news/2021/02/20/community-group-remember-columbia-race-riot-1946/6758368002/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-columbia-race-riot-1946/
Columbia Race Riot of 1946
Thank you. This is an excellent article.
Just fyi, next week there's an event to remember the Columbia Race Riot of 1946, a major racial event following World War II. Thurgood Marshall organized the defense for those charged.
https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/story/news/2021/02/20/community-group-remember-columbia-race-riot-1946/6758368002/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-columbia-race-riot-1946/
Columbia Race Riot of 1946
Columbia race riot of 1946
On February 25, 1946, a civil disturbance, dubbed "the Columbia Race Riot," broke out in the county seat. It was covered by the national press as the first "major racial confrontation" following World War II.
In a fight instigated by William "Billy" Fleming, a white repair apprentice, James Stephenson, a black Navy veteran, fought back and wounded him. Stephenson had been on the boxing team and refused to accept being hit. Stephenson had accompanied his mother to the repair store, which had mistakenly sold a radio which she had left for repair to John Calhoun Fleming, Billy's father. A white mob gathered during the altercation. The senior Fleming convinced the sheriff to charge both Stephensons with attempted murder.
Rumors were rife that the Stephensons would be lynched. As whites gathered in the square talking about the incident, blacks armed themselves and planned to defend their business district, which they referred to as "the Bottom". It started about one block south of the square. Later that evening whites drove around the area, shooting randomly into it; they referred to the neighborhood as "Mink Slide." Armed black men turned out some street lights and shot out others, patrolling the area for defense. Four policemen who entered the area were wounded and retreated, increasing white rage.
Worried that the small police force could not control the mob, the mayor called in the State Guard and the sheriff called in the state Highway Patrol that night. The Guard resisted Patrol requests to arm the white mob. In an uncoordinated effort, the Highway Patrol entered the district early the next morning before a planned time; they provoked more violence and destroyed numerous businesses. Eventually through the next day, they and the State Guard rounded up more than 100 blacks as suspects in the police shootings. No whites were charged at that point. Two black men were killed and a third wounded, in what the police said was an escape attempt while the Highway Patrol was trying to take them from the jail to the sheriff's office. The State Guard was withdrawn on March 3.
Twenty-five black men were eventually charged with attempted murder of the four policemen. Another six were charged with lesser crimes, as were four white men. The main attorney defending Stephenson and other men in the case was Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP. He worked with Z. Alexander Looby, who was based in Nashville but associated with the national legal team, and Maurice Weaver, a white civil rights lawyer from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Marshall asked for a change of venue, hoping to get the trial moved to Nashville or another major city. The judge agreed to move the trial only to nearby Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Local residents there were unhappy to be involved in the controversial case. Marshall and his team achieved acquittal from an all-white jury for all but two men. The prosecution dropped their charges against these men, as they believed the convictions would be overturned on appeal. The Stephensons were never tried, nor were four whites charged with murder, nor were several blacks. Of two black men tried for murder, only Loyd Kennedy was convicted in his trial of 1947.
The NAACP continued a publicity campaign about these events, which were also covered by national media. The case gained much attention on the issue of civil rights for African Americans in the United States. The NAACP and other organizations put pressure on President Harry S. Truman to take action to improve the situation. He appointed a President's Committee on Civil Rights, which issued its report in October 1947. In 1948 Truman directed integration of the Armed Services by Executive Order 9981, as a result of the report and his consultation with black leaders. Marshall was later appointed as the first black United States Supreme Court justice.
{snip}
On February 25, 1946, a civil disturbance, dubbed "the Columbia Race Riot," broke out in the county seat. It was covered by the national press as the first "major racial confrontation" following World War II.
In a fight instigated by William "Billy" Fleming, a white repair apprentice, James Stephenson, a black Navy veteran, fought back and wounded him. Stephenson had been on the boxing team and refused to accept being hit. Stephenson had accompanied his mother to the repair store, which had mistakenly sold a radio which she had left for repair to John Calhoun Fleming, Billy's father. A white mob gathered during the altercation. The senior Fleming convinced the sheriff to charge both Stephensons with attempted murder.
Rumors were rife that the Stephensons would be lynched. As whites gathered in the square talking about the incident, blacks armed themselves and planned to defend their business district, which they referred to as "the Bottom". It started about one block south of the square. Later that evening whites drove around the area, shooting randomly into it; they referred to the neighborhood as "Mink Slide." Armed black men turned out some street lights and shot out others, patrolling the area for defense. Four policemen who entered the area were wounded and retreated, increasing white rage.
Worried that the small police force could not control the mob, the mayor called in the State Guard and the sheriff called in the state Highway Patrol that night. The Guard resisted Patrol requests to arm the white mob. In an uncoordinated effort, the Highway Patrol entered the district early the next morning before a planned time; they provoked more violence and destroyed numerous businesses. Eventually through the next day, they and the State Guard rounded up more than 100 blacks as suspects in the police shootings. No whites were charged at that point. Two black men were killed and a third wounded, in what the police said was an escape attempt while the Highway Patrol was trying to take them from the jail to the sheriff's office. The State Guard was withdrawn on March 3.
Twenty-five black men were eventually charged with attempted murder of the four policemen. Another six were charged with lesser crimes, as were four white men. The main attorney defending Stephenson and other men in the case was Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP. He worked with Z. Alexander Looby, who was based in Nashville but associated with the national legal team, and Maurice Weaver, a white civil rights lawyer from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Marshall asked for a change of venue, hoping to get the trial moved to Nashville or another major city. The judge agreed to move the trial only to nearby Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Local residents there were unhappy to be involved in the controversial case. Marshall and his team achieved acquittal from an all-white jury for all but two men. The prosecution dropped their charges against these men, as they believed the convictions would be overturned on appeal. The Stephensons were never tried, nor were four whites charged with murder, nor were several blacks. Of two black men tried for murder, only Loyd Kennedy was convicted in his trial of 1947.
The NAACP continued a publicity campaign about these events, which were also covered by national media. The case gained much attention on the issue of civil rights for African Americans in the United States. The NAACP and other organizations put pressure on President Harry S. Truman to take action to improve the situation. He appointed a President's Committee on Civil Rights, which issued its report in October 1947. In 1948 Truman directed integration of the Armed Services by Executive Order 9981, as a result of the report and his consultation with black leaders. Marshall was later appointed as the first black United States Supreme Court justice.
{snip}