On 1 January 1923, the Rosewood Massacre occurred in central Florida, destroying a predominantly Black neighbourhood, fuelled by a false allegation.
A white woman by the name of Fannie Taylor claimed to have been assaulted by an unknown Black man. White racists from the neighbouring town gathered around to go to Rosewood to find the alleged attacker on the belief that the residents of this town were sheltering him. When encroaching on Rosewood, they came across Sam Carter, who allegedly told the racist mob where the “attacker” could be. They tortured Carter and shot him a gratuitous amount of times before hanging him when they could not locate him. This attack was only the beginning of the racists’ attack on the residents of Rosewood.
When the white mob approached the house of Sarah and Sylvester Carrier, two residents of Rosewood, they attacked them both, leading to the death of both Carriers and two members of the white mob, as the Carriers both defended themselves in their last moments.
The next day, a much larger racist white mob burned every house and church in Rosewood, killing James Carrier, Mingo Williams, and Lexie Gordon in the process. The massacre happened over seven days. The official death toll during the Rosewood pogrom was eight, but it the real toll is assumed to be more around 27. The exact death toll is unknown, as authorities at the time were uninterested in identifying all of the victims.
During the Rosewood massacre, every Black resident who was able to leave dispersed across the country, being forced to flee to places places like swamps and railways to escape. Families separated, and generations were split apart.
Rosewood massacre - WCH | Stories
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