The Thibodaux Massacre
Subtitle: racial violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike
By: John DeSantis ; foreword by Burnell Tolbert
Publisher: History Press; The History Press
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 171
ISBN-13: 9781467136891
Subjects: Homicide; Violence against; Strikes and lockouts; Agricultural laborers; Corrupt practices; Race relations; Sugarcane industry; Massacres; Social conditions; African American agricultural laborers; African Americans; Hate crimes; History
Description: On November 23, 1887, white vigilantes gunned down unarmed black laborers and their families during a spree lasting more than two hours. The violence erupted due to strikes on Louisiana sugar cane plantations. Fear, rumor and white supremacist ideals clashed with an unprecedented labor action to create an epic tragedy. A future member of the U.S. House of Representatives was among the leaders of a mob that routed black men from houses and forced them to a stretch of railroad track, ordering them to run for their lives before gunning them down. According to a witness, the guns firing in the black neighborhoods sounded like a battle. Author and award-winning reporter John DeSantis uses correspondence, interviews and federal records to detail this harrowing true story.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Pt. I. Sugar, slaves and Civil war. Bittersweet beginning; title: Civil War and occupation; title: Unreconstructed rebels; title: pt. II. Birth of a movement. Trouble in town and fields; title: Seeds of revolt; title: Battle lines; title: pt. III. A page torn from history. Violence and threats; title: A deadly ball; title: Massacre; title: Aftermath.