Abe Lincoln is Dead, and You are not Free:
The Memphis Riot of 1866 and Its Roots in the Social Upheaval of the Reconstruction
Nathin J. Birkrem
Abstract On 1 May 1866 in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an altercation between black Union soldiers and Memphis police officers started a chain reaction that eventually brought about what has come to be known as the Memphis Riots of 1866. The group of amicably intoxicated soldiers reacted negatively when told by a small group of officers to break up their party, and although no one was seriously injured, the situation quickly escalated to the point where shots were fired on both sides (Carden 2). This incident, however, was not the cause of the Memphis Riots. Instead, I will argue that …show more content…
Kevin R. Hardwick elucidates, “When black men acted as provost guards in Memphis and other southern cities, they enforced a new order that, from the standpoint of many white Southerners, represented the world turned upside down. Thus, black soldiers were at deeply threatening to those whites committed to the old order” (n.p.). Consequently, inspired by the fear of the rapid changes of the new order, armed with firearms and torches, and more or less condoned by the local civil government, whites of various ethnicities and economic backgrounds banded together and began a systematic program of rape, pillage, and arson directed exclusively at the black community. Although to be sure there was some physical, forceful resistance to the riot on the part of the black community, in general the white rioters continued unimpeded as they tore through the regions of Memphis traditionally associated with the black community. Given the unsettling similarities between the events of the Memphis Riots and the more recent near rioting in Ferguson, Missouri this past summer, the question of understanding the Memphis Riots takes on a considerable deal of urgency beyond that of a conventional exercise in historical studies. Presumably, the analysis of the …show more content…
However, people at the top enjoy the position of privilege that such a regime of oppression and exploitation entails, and will often do whatever it takes to retain that position of privilege when faced with the threat of social equalization. Bracketing the moral imperatives behind it, the passage of laws of emancipation consisted in essence of the forceful application of Northern culture norms to Southern legal institutions. As a general rule, whenever the law of the land goes contrary to the cultural norms and expectations of the land, riots and rebellions are sure to follow shortly thereafter, and the Memphis Riots of 1866 were no exception to this principle. The lack of consent to emancipatory legislation on the part of the white citizenry of Memphis played a major role in generating the culture of resentment and hatred that eventually exploded on an unassuming May afternoon to generate three days’ worth of rioting and mayhem. The Memphis Riots were neither unique nor unprecedented in their scope and their nature, and the dynamics of racism that underlay the events of the Memphis Riots, while they have changed their shape and their appearance, have not disappeared from the American psyche in any significant or permanent manner. As a result, despite happening nearly one hundred fifty years ago, the Riots
The Memphis Riot of 1866 and Its Roots in the Social Upheaval of the Reconstruction
Nathin J. Birkrem
Abstract On 1 May 1866 in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an altercation between black Union soldiers and Memphis police officers started a chain reaction that eventually brought about what has come to be known as the Memphis Riots of 1866. The group of amicably intoxicated soldiers reacted negatively when told by a small group of officers to break up their party, and although no one was seriously injured, the situation quickly escalated to the point where shots were fired on both sides (Carden 2). This incident, however, was not the cause of the Memphis Riots. Instead, I will argue that …show more content…
Kevin R. Hardwick elucidates, “When black men acted as provost guards in Memphis and other southern cities, they enforced a new order that, from the standpoint of many white Southerners, represented the world turned upside down. Thus, black soldiers were at deeply threatening to those whites committed to the old order” (n.p.). Consequently, inspired by the fear of the rapid changes of the new order, armed with firearms and torches, and more or less condoned by the local civil government, whites of various ethnicities and economic backgrounds banded together and began a systematic program of rape, pillage, and arson directed exclusively at the black community. Although to be sure there was some physical, forceful resistance to the riot on the part of the black community, in general the white rioters continued unimpeded as they tore through the regions of Memphis traditionally associated with the black community. Given the unsettling similarities between the events of the Memphis Riots and the more recent near rioting in Ferguson, Missouri this past summer, the question of understanding the Memphis Riots takes on a considerable deal of urgency beyond that of a conventional exercise in historical studies. Presumably, the analysis of the …show more content…
However, people at the top enjoy the position of privilege that such a regime of oppression and exploitation entails, and will often do whatever it takes to retain that position of privilege when faced with the threat of social equalization. Bracketing the moral imperatives behind it, the passage of laws of emancipation consisted in essence of the forceful application of Northern culture norms to Southern legal institutions. As a general rule, whenever the law of the land goes contrary to the cultural norms and expectations of the land, riots and rebellions are sure to follow shortly thereafter, and the Memphis Riots of 1866 were no exception to this principle. The lack of consent to emancipatory legislation on the part of the white citizenry of Memphis played a major role in generating the culture of resentment and hatred that eventually exploded on an unassuming May afternoon to generate three days’ worth of rioting and mayhem. The Memphis Riots were neither unique nor unprecedented in their scope and their nature, and the dynamics of racism that underlay the events of the Memphis Riots, while they have changed their shape and their appearance, have not disappeared from the American psyche in any significant or permanent manner. As a result, despite happening nearly one hundred fifty years ago, the Riots