On 29 December 1923, the Catcher racist riots began in Arkansas. Following an assault and murder of a white woman named Effie Latimer the previous day, angry white residents gathered and began attacking Black people, smashing Black people's gravestones, and digging up and burning their bodies. The mob of over 500 white racists was joined by police in the rioting, and the following day a special deputy sheriff shot and killed a 65-year-old Black man, Mr. Rucks. Some Black residents tried to defend themselves, but after the governor sent National Guard troops to the area to join the assault, they were forced to surrender. Eleven African Americans were subsequently jailed for "night riding" – essentially participating in a mob attack of which they were in reality the victims. Two more Black men, Charles Rucks and "Son" Bettis, were subsequently convicted of Latimer's murder and executed, despite there being no actual evidence of their guilt, and a third, John Henry Clay was sentenced to a life of hard labour, during which he died in 1928. Court paperwork reveals that during the unrest “anonymous notices were posted in public places and sent to certain individuals among the negro race, advising them to remove from the County of Crawford.” The entire Black population of the town was forced to flee due to the violence.
Catcher racist riot - WCH | Stories
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