On 29 July 1910, the predominantly Black citizens of Slocum, Texas, were massacred in an act of terror designed to preserve economic white supremacy.
Hundreds of armed white racists attacked the town, gunning down Black people as they hid in their homes, work or tried to flee. The victims numbered from at least eight to 25, but many believe the figure to be much higher.
ER Bills explained in The Dissident Voice that after the massacre:
“the personal holdings of many Slocum area Anglo citizens fortuitously increased.
The abandoned African-American properties were absorbed or repurposed as the now majority white population saw fit. The standard southern Anglo-centric world order was restored, and this order has endured, even to the present day.
According to recent demographic statistics, most of the communities around Slocum have an African-American population that ranges between 20-25%. Grapeland’s is 35%, Rusk’s is 30% and Palestine’s and Alto’s is 25%. Slocum’s African-American population is just under 7%.”
The racists stole homes and property of the Black residents, and the town remains overwhelmingly white to this day. None of the perpetrators were punished, and none of the victims compensated.
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