Knoxville's Red Summer: The Riot of 1919
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2019
- KNOXVILLE'S RED SUMMER: THE RIOT OF 1919 chronicles the unrest that occurred in Knoxville following the murder of Bertie Lindsey and the attempted lynching of the accused, Maurice Mays.
Knoxville's Red Summer includes rediscovered news reel footage of the city, post-riot from 1919.
This film was made possible through the materials, audio, and partnerships of:
The Beck Cultural Exchange Center
The McClung Collection
The Tennessee Archives of Moving Images and Sound
The Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
The Sherman Grinberg Film Library
I'm almost sure this has happened in every state in this country... and our ancestors were told During the Reconstruction to pull yourself up by your bootstraps but they burned everything that our ancestors worked for and took it away.
This is a identical story to:
-TULSA, Oklahoma
- Wilmington, N. Carolina
- Knoxville, Tenessee
- ROSEWOOD
Elaine, Arkansas
Emitt Till in Mississippi some 40 years later
You can also Ocoee, FL to this list.
@@prettysmart9025 everything wasn't Emmett Till ,You Know.
Detroit, Black Bottom.
I'm going to be using this as part of my home school curriculum for my high school aged son. Thank you for your work on this film. I had never heard of the "Red Summer." I now have some research to do for myself.
We also have a Teacher's Guide, materials and reading list available here: www.blackinappalachia.org/knox-county
Now, this is an example of how it should be. What a beautiful display of sharing knowledge and truth through internet communication and a fine example of possible, positive change for the better.
Look up TULSA MASSACRE 1921 ...add this one to it
My guess would be because at that age kids are very fragile and their minds are fragile also and if this was one of the topics to discuss during slavery or choice I should say that the teachers would teach in their curriculum as far as history goes it wouldn't be a very smart idea so just to go over history bringing up kunta kinte was shocking and very depressing
The African American soldier was so despised that Black troops did not serve under a white commander in WWI ,the Black troops fought with the French who treated the Blacks as equals
What's sad is we don't know about any of this history until we are older because none of it is taught in schools.
Why would you want to traumatize children by teaching this. We’re so stupid!
You have to teach yourself and family our history. Don't depend on the public schools.
I have lived in East Tennessee my whole life. I moved to Knoxville in 2008 and went to knox county public schools until I graduated in 2017. We were taught the history of racism in America, but never talked about racism in Knoxville nor the Clinton school bombing. So sad 💔 the lives lost and impacted deserve to be remembered, and their stories told. Thank you to whoever made this documentary, you are preserving history!
I've lived in Knoxville for over 40 years. I went to 7 different schools in Knox county. Why do they not teach this here. I'm shocked to find this out. It's sad...
Omaha Nebraska 1919 will brown red summer Chicago 1919 masscare red summer
Its shameful, that's why.
It's a coverup.
@@joelhunton8600 it can't be a coverup when there is tons of news articles and written proof of it happening.
@@boogityhoo7452 if you don't dig deep you won't find it. The point made is they're not teaching this history in public schools in Tennessee, why?
My TN state history didn't speak anything of this or any black history in Knoxville, Chatnooga, Nashville, Memphis, Columbia, etc. I encourage y'all to read up on your history for yourself.
U right I went to school in Franklin, never learned this. So much for Williamson county having the best school district
@@tonisno4174 weirdly enough we learned about this in my history class in Minnesota but it was a quick sugar coated review of what happened
I didn't learn about Black Wall Street in school. An elder told me about it.
Many lies is been thrown out now don't accept anything from others
I told my kids the same thing. You have to LOOK HARD for Black History in the libraries cuz public schools don't teach it.
Don’t let them erase their true history in exchange for Fairytales
I am 54 years old and I am just learning of this. My education was so whitewashed but I’m educating myself on real American history.
This comment looks familiar
Absolutely, it’s the only way to get the truth out and stop the division in our country. I never heard about any of this either.
Appreciate it
Me also
That's your parents fault then. It's in the Library. It was in books. I'm white and my parents taught me about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr and they agreed with both of them. I've met Black people who know nothing about Rev King or Malcom X and that is the parents fault. Education begins at home.
I’ve been going to the University of Tennessee for two years now and have never heard about this this is insane.
I’ve lived in Knoxville my whole life. I’ve never heard of this before. Thank you so much for sharing.
Imagine been a veteran of at least two wars, surviving both and returning home just to get mowed down by your own countrymen, the ones you most likely fought side by side with.
Black vietnam veterans met similar circumstances
I can't imagine having to swallow that rage
Horrible.
Born & raised in Knoxville & I'm ashamed to say I never knew of this. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I’m from Boston and I’ve known of this my whole life thanks to my father 🤓
This popped up on my recommendations so I decided to watch it since I was born and raised in Knoxville. Just like most of the comments I read, when I went to Farragut High they never taught this. As a white woman, I cannot believe people hated others just for the color of their skin. Within the last year, I have took it upon myself to teach myself the struggles of blacks in America. I started with Emmett Till and then the 13th Amendment and I have so many more documentaries I plan to watch. This is such a dark time in our history and I pray people can find love in their hearts for each other.
And sad that it’s still going on but worse it seems like
I'm black and attended school on Chicago's South Side. I didn't learn about black massacres or lynching until I researched it as an adult. I have a Masters degree and didn't even learn about it in college. I think we as children aren't taught this history because its too graphic for young children; even teenagers.
It just doesn't end with my people this stuff is with any other people who are not white. You have so much to learn about if your going down that rabbit hole. Have fun with that info you find. Absorb it. Change the world with it. Lately all I've seen is hate. Not all of us are bad people just like everyone else. Alot of people just want to survive.
@@sheilapate7604 we may be related Ms Pate
Look up the documentaries called, "Hidden Colors". (Not the movie, "Hidden Figures"). They get confused sometimes.
Born and raised in Knoxville and I've NEVER heard about this.... SMH.
As a white Appalachainer I subscribed to get a better grasp of my local history,a history that wasn't taught or well known to me. Thanks for the interesting content.
Thank you for wanting to learn more
Imagine being from Knoxville and just hearing this. Damn wake up me talking to myself
I've lived in Knoxville my whole life and never heard this until now. I'm 34.
same here. born and raised in knoxville yet i've never heard of it.
Kept it untold like Black Wallstreet in Tulsa,ok Massacre
Grew up in Knoxville and they never taught us this. I didnt learn about it until a year or so ago. Its shameful.
There are probably thousands of historical events that occurred in Knoxville that you never heard of before
Knoxville , tn?
I was born and raised in Knoxville and have never even heard about this. Wow
You haven't heard it all yet and it would be like a worm under your skin.
Mr Booker is a regular customer at the restaurant I work at. Such an amazing sweet man. Sings karaoke on weekends and still writes for newspapers at 90 plus years. He really is one of a kind and I have nothing but love for the man.
I too am from Knoxville and just learning of this sad, unjust and ultimately tragic event. I witnessed the KKK in Knoxville as a child, not to mention complete segregation, all of which I have never forgotten, of course. This horrible chapter must be taught to our children...as well as to our adults.
I totally agree with you! This needs to be taught in school and Adults.
I live in knoxville and have lived in east TN, Dandridge and the like, for almost all of my life. I've never heard this even mentioned. I even consider myself kind of knowledgeable about stuff like this. I'd read up on Tulsa a few years ago but I've never mentioned heard this even mentioned! Thank you for helping bring this info to light!
I grew up in east TN. We even had a state history class and we were never taught this. Racism is a nasty awful thing.
27yrs ago I lived next to the biggest 2 racist in loudon co and both ended up with a black grandsons. My mother said, “god has a way of straightening people out”.
I live in Clinton TN and I have heard that at least ten times lol I have to agree
You mean a black man created biracial to white kids!
😄😄😄right on right on👍👍
You know whats sad? All through Appalachia and the South, Irish and Scottish immigrants were given free land right off the boat. After the Civil War, it would be 6 Scots/Irish immigrants that started the Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee. Meanwhile black folks couldn't even get a mule and 40 acres.
All facts
We must teach ourselves and families of this history and many more history just like this Never be forgotten or repeat
True
I've been here for 20 years. They don't teach this stuff...and they SHOULD.
Its so much history of my people hidden that they're coming to the surface nowadays. You can deny a lie but you can't deny the truth.
The book “The Red Summer” talks about ALL of the race riots that took place from the east coast to the west coast from 1900 - 1921
Who was the author of this book?
My mother told me this story over and over growing up. It was told ti her by an older relative. As a teen my mother went to research for herself and found that there were still bullet marks in some of the older buildings.
Learned all this from my great great memmaw. She was a mcmillan. Her father was the mayor cousin.
This stuff really needs to be taught in schools. Only today I learned about "lynching postcards" and the ocoee massacre. I'd say america's racist past is sickening, but after seeing people being murdered by police without due process in the current day, our present is sickening too.
👁️👁️
👩🔧
Your textbook's selection of relevant history always depends upon author-
ship. I have books which discuss the
very same incident - but their views on
the very same said incident are often times wildly different.
You can never forget history, HISTORY WILL ALWAYZ repeat its self and be revealed....(HIS-STORY) ....WAKE UP ...PEOPLE!!!!!
Tulsa OK, Rosewood FL, Durham NC, and Knoxville TN. I'm sure there are many more. Starting to see a pattern here. 🤔
Chicago Il-1919!!!
Central Park used to be Seneca Village
Elaine ,Arkansas
Slocum Massacre, Memphis Massacre, Clinton Mississippi, Vicksburg, Mississippi and many more.
What pattern do you think you are starting too see exactly!
Remember that Jesus said;
"and fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Justice waits...but does not sleep.
That's all nonsense, this is a lie that people continually tell themselves. Justice happens in this life and in the here and now. People quote Jesus when they don't want to admit that justice has and never will be done for the people who were destroyed.
@@felixthecat2786 nothing that Jesus said was nonsense. "Vengeance is my own saith the Lord". If you realized the kind of wrath that He is going to pour out on some people you would know that what was said is anything but nonsense
My faith in YAH tells me this. Thank you.
I believe in God too.
The powers that be must pay for all the chaos that they have caused in this world.
I’m a Black Knoxvillian. Western Heights Western Ave, Beaumont Area. We Still Dealing With Aftermath Of This Riot.
Why are people so afraid of the truth? Smh
Amen
Don’t think they are afraid want to keep it covert so they can continue
They never showed this when I was in high school. Good Lord.
Of course not as schools censor what history is taught in the school system!
I am 59 years old and have lived in Knoxville my whole life and I have never heard of this. And the funny thing is that I consider myself as a History buff.
It happened my grandfather told me about it
That's almost as funny as the cartoon artwork depicting what led up to the riots. Example, rioters looking underneath the desk, hoping to find Maurice Mays. lol
Hidden History by design.
( part of the lost Cause propaganda)
I'm 45 year's old and I'm from Tennessee and I have never heard about any of this 😮
Wow
Just like in Tulsa.
The local legend that I grew up with was that the following (Sunday) night, black folks marched downtown protesting martial law. The mostly black protesters we're mowed down with machine guns set up on the roof top of the jail and courthouse. The resultant bloodbath took a full two days to clear bodies by the wagonload. The bodies were dumped in the Tennessee river and National Guardsman went house to house collecting every newspaper in the county for weeks afterward with any mention of the events.
How I come by this story: my grandmother waited tables at the Dipster Dumpster factory Cafeteria in the late 50s and early 60s in Knoxville. She heard all the locals black and white talk about this tragedy, particularly on hot summer days in July and August when tempers and temperature would get up high. It was a cautionary tale for everyone to just stay calm and cool.
Damn autocorrect
Dempster!
As in the Dempster Brothers. The first front loading garbage truck was the patented Dempster Dumpster, so popular that it's become a generic name for any garbage Schiff.
these documentaries really get me upset. It's hard to believe I have to go to RUclips to get educated. I would do what I got to do to learn the truth
Yes, these documentaries are fantastic learning tools. A lot of African American history has been erased. Look at what they are doing to the history books and how long African Americans had to wait to even get two weeks of recognition of African American achievements that was later expanded to a month, whereas whites learned about their history on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis.
U right and now a law has been passed to prevent teaching any of this.
Agree...I'm on RUclips doing my history lesson
The law will not stop Me from teaching my youth whats real
If you like reading, I recommend a book called "Sun Down Towns". That book will make you even angrier because everything in that book actually happened!!!
I find it difficult to believe that Knoxville did not have racial issues before this incident. Federick Douglass wrote in The Life and Times of Federick Douglass that in 1859 a black man was met by a mob because they thought the man was him. "As showing their feelings towards me, I may state that a colored man appeared about this time in Knoxville, Tenn., and was beset by a furious crowd with knives and bludgeons because he was supposed to be Fred. Douglas." (Douglas, p.234)
This video does not say there were no racial issues in 1919. That is a complete misreading of the commentary. What it does is picks up shortly around before Red Summer and describes the general sentiments of what Knoxville was like, BUT had you paid attention, it quickly makes clear tensions were there from the start.
Never knew humanity could be so cruel hundred years later the cruilty is still there
Don't u mean white humanity?
I'm not from Knoxville, but I went to high school there, and never heard a word of this in Knoxville history. I still spend time in the south, while definitely better, racism is still alive today. Mostly in the less educated population I think. My opinion only here but the number of innocent black people, mostly men, found guilty due to lies, with no true evidence, and usually sent to death or occasionally life in prison is absolutely sickening to me. We can pretend it never happened, but the tragedy for that part of the human race persecuted lives in history forever.
Definitely very sad. Theres an older gentlemen from Alabama who robbed a gas station of 9 bucks back in the 40s or 50s that was given life amd still has no ability to appeal or anything. Pretty damn sad so many lifes were just tossed away because of a mans skin color yet after times are suppose to be changed their sentences are not looked at and updated to be what it would be in updated times.
I'm 47 years old and this is the first time I've ever heard about any of this. Wow!
Believe or not that racism is still going on😓 I lived in Knoxville over 32years as Asian and it stick it down to bottom line is you know what!🤦♀️ and I recently find out that "Sundown Town" is exist😬 yet no matter where you are, what you do, believe in The Lord and Trust in God! That's all you can do!🛐🇺🇲🛐
Never heard of this because the history is not taught in a lot of places. Thank for the great documentary!
I live in Knoxville and go to UTK and had no idea about any of this
How does this make you feel after knowing now ?
Again I turned my attention to all the acts of oppression that go on under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and there was no one to comfort them. And their oppressors had the power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I congratulated the dead who had already died rather than the living who were still alive. 3 And better off than both of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the distressing deeds that are done under the sun. SOLOMON
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
I'm in NZ, the last colony? We got the same problem. Bless whoever got me access to this.
I didn't know this even happened. Learned something today! Much Love!!!
Still ..... Nothing Changes but The WEATHER. !!!! 😳
Thank you for sharing this documentary. 😔☮
I always thought this was a MASSACRE not a riot
@Terri Quinn You thought r right, Sister
Indeed Sis
So much for truth and justice ⚖️.
Maurice Mayes’s name should be cleared.
Indeed, it should. Where's the presidential pardon for that?
Absolutely
"Blacks knew there place and stayed in it."
For some people, this is the same mindset in 2021.
Init, our place is ALL OVER THR GLOBE.
Our place is we’re ever we want it to be, our place is we’re god almighty said it is!
The world belongs to to EVERYONE which in turn belongs to our father.
I’m still stuck on LEGAL LYNCHINGS. 🙁😒
My god, I've lived in Knoxville all my life and am with the TN Nat. Guard, and have NEVER ever heard of this. I'm shocked and appalled to be honest. The hotel I stayed at before MEPS to enter the Guard is right where the machine gunners set up.
100 years later here we are.
Spanish bird flu and economic turmoil to boot. No world war today though. Not yet anyway.
The Walk bridge in Chattanooga Honor of a Man Hung on that bridge from a Woman that lied and said she was Rape by A innocent Man and the Hanging was live for the City to see
I feel the same way the history books didn’t teach our history now in my 40’s I’m having to dig into the history of my people so I can teach my children
Thank you Uncle Shannon Sharpe for putting me on this because I've NEVER heard of it ✊🏾
What did Shannon say bout this
Knoxville city leadership has a rich history of turning a blind eye to reality.
I can only shake my head and shed tears at how our people are treated! I hope I am alive when our redeemer comes back to put things back in order.
Hes on the way beloved
Amen
I have lived in Knoxville my entire life (45yrs) and knew anything about this. His name should be cleared, this is just so sad.
Me either, it’s really crazy. More people need to know this.
THOSE BLACK MEN WHO STOOD TOUGH AND FOUGHT HAVE MY UP MOST RESPECT
*utmost respect.
Wow, never heard about this ever. To make matters worse, I was just in Knoxville over the weekend. This is crazy.
I’m from Knoxville Tennessee never heard about this
Read. There were several cities done like this. We always made a way but they didn't like the fact that we were smarter than they portrayed us
Gary Ind.
Dam! Another massacre! Am I to assume there was a massacre in all 48 states?
Yes
Just about!!!
Absolutely
Damn near
Multiple in some, actually.
Wait that’s not better-
iv heard this story from Old Timers many times. This was FAR more complete. Thank you so much for putting this together.
Crazy, have lived in Knoxville 22 years and never once heard this story mentioned in school
Of course not, why do you think
This is powerful. thank you.....
So much history they don’t teach they just want to act like it never happened i’m 44 years old and i’m educating myself to teach my children and grandchildren this may not be my history but it is my black brother and sisters history and it’s american history
I've lived in Knoxville TN for almost a decade and never heard of this as a veteran that has done 4 tours I can tell you if this happened in another country we would have invaded them for crimes against humanity
Good ole Murikkkan hypocrisy at work....
As a veteran immigrant who came here in 01 this is one of the first story I learned in school from a white professor. It’s quite pathetic people who live there didn’t.
Exactly.
I live in Oak Ridge and my son goes to Clinton High school and on the wall as you walk in the main entrance is a timeline and it tells about this and the bombing of the school as well..He was taught about this but I wasn't..
They didn’t teach you this in school but I heard lots of stories from older people or from older families
This is sad today to hear just as back then...God bless them in peace and let's truly end racism.
There was a destruction of black economies after the birth of a nation came out in 1901. July 21 2021 will mark 100 year anniversary of Tulsa. Smh. There is a reason it was not taught
You forgot Rosewood and many other towns of that time that suffered the same.
NOT JULY. The Tulsa Massacre was committed at the end of MAY and beginning of JUNE, 1921. #TulsaMassacre1921 #MayJune1921 #MassacresUSA #USA
Mays was NOT guilty and his name should be cleared. The acting governor of Tennessee should apologize at the very least & clear Mays from any wrong doing. This is appalling & outrageous to think this has never happened.
Eff apologies..time for monetary reparations.
If they apologize then they would have to admit that it happened.
Sadly That’s not going to happen.
I am a white, American Indian, with English, Irish, and Scottish roots. Therefore, I am a mutt. I so enjoyed watching you all. I love Chad. He's so intellectual. You two asked lots of great questions. I will subscribe. Keep up the good work. Pray that God remove the scales from the eyes of the people.
The less we are recognized as human the less there is guilt in their actions and behavior. You can't cry ignorant but for so long. Eventually all darkness is brought to the light. Take note to the brightness in the days as all truths are made aware through/from the darkness.
I went to the Beck Cultural Center here in Knoxville and learned about it at Summer Camp when I was a child! Sad thing is it could easily happen again!
Give it to the 'few' black men that held their ground in the face of 'mighty' ruthless mobs.
If you go to court looking for Justice, thats what you’ll find just us, think about that.
Ronnie, quoting the great Richard Pryor.
The idea is to erase this from history, and make it appear that the African American plight just began around the Civil Rights era.
It is published allover the place
I did a study of Leo Frank, lynched in 1915, and a murder in my own family of that era. I found that my grandparents, 1900-1980, probably sought to keep it from igniting the passions of teenagers. When I was older, we had some very frank discussions. I feel confident that my Dad wanted me to know all that he could tell, but I had to first show the maturity to deal with the knowledge.
You must not do historical research. You don't make a film and put it on RUclips if your trying to hide it
We are seen in the "his story" books as only Slaves and Civil Rights workers. Each topic is relegated to 1 and 1/2 pages here in Georgia.
Also to make it seem like we were only slaves and thugs, never that we had our own towns, businesses, successful marriages
To think I just watched a story about how the Georgia educational system is being told that it is forbidden to teach any of this history in public schools.
School teachers are not the only teachers. We must sit our kids down, and teach them the truth. This applies to whites also, who want this country to come together. Teach the truth, not whitewashed history.
I’m not surprised
Third video I've seen in which the black man gets in trouble over white women!
What a sickening part of our History. How disgusting the way the world thought, acted and treated other human beings. Shameful.
My grandma was born Nov.8th 1919
My grandfather was born in 1919. His name was Nokomis
Lillian Gish's performance in D. W. Griffith's Birth Of A Nation was probably still fresh in their minds.
Woodrow Wilson endorsed the film.
He chose to have “The Birth of Nation” played in the White House knowing that it would the first film ever screened in the White House.
What was fresh in your mind is that they were 32 cities in that year alone experiencing racial aggression .
Called The red Summer
I was just in Market Square this weekend…that’s crazy that everything still basically looks the same down there
Because it really wasn’t that long ago
Thank you for these videos!!! My high school history class was NOT enough, it lacked the events that make Black American history. In my search for more information I came across Carol Anderson author of White Rage. But, for me I found her 2012 Emory Black History videos. 2012... I was IN high school that year and I never knew. Black history needs to be taught MORE comprehensively #blacklivesmatter its 2020!
My mother was a sharecropper in Georgia as a child. She worked in cotton fields for a year to buy a pair of shoes to walk 5 miles a day to school. Same school that allowed her to play on varsity basketball team . No busing. She cared less about the statues. She raised 8 kids 2 sons served in military 8 graduated from highschool 3 with college degrees.Al were productive citizens. Not one statue kept us from surviving in this hostile hateful world. Grace of God Ms. Ruth. Thanks for your response though. #Breonna Lives# ⚖
@ Let's see how you like it your whole town gets burned down everytime you build it up what are you talking about.
Before RUclips, you had to hear this particular story from an elder black person, same with the Devil's Punchbowl. I heard about it when I was younger but no where near this level of detail. Oral historical tradition is part of our culture and if it wasn't, would this doc even been made?
I’ve never heard of Devil’s Punchbowl. I’m going to research that.
Yes, I have heard of Devil's Punch Bowl down in Mississippi.
I never heard of it... This my first hearing it.
The ancestors of many got history wrong, all the way back to the Egyptians. They only reported their wins!
But we can keep working towards getting it right. Good job
Hi All, this riot had been spread from word of mouth for years. Marshall law was declared. No pictures were taken. It was so bad my grand parents spoke of it for little. The Knoxville news sentinel ran a multi page article in the eighties. Before that you had to find really old person to tell you of it. Military was called. Bunch of people died. The man that was lynched was said to be innocent. I'm sixty. Sorry that's all I know. Thanks vince
Thanks Vince ♥️
Hi Vince. Thank you for sharing. Just on thing...we have to stop calling these terrorist acts riots. They were hate filled massacres.
Be safe.
Martial law, not marshall
Oh wow. 😮😮😮
At the Knoxville police department, they teach this as local history. When I went through the academy, I almost didn’t believe it. I thought it may have been fluffed up to add to some kind of equality training. Sure enough I found out this actually happened. It’s crazy to think this was just 100 years ago.
I never heard if this ever until now. You know it was more than 100 black people.
But he was half white. I just don’t understand. I’m from The Northeast. We are not taught any of this. I only know what I research myself. I was researching Emmett Till and ended up here. It all makes me feel physically sick. If more people actually knew these things they would understand where black people are coming from.
By American law part Indian or part black meant you were Indian and black