Terror Against African Americans

Through 1917-1923 there was a huge reign of terror against African Americans, where white mobs would show an violent amount of violence and torture towards blacks. From Chicago to Tulsa, to Omaha, East St. Louis, and many communities in between, and finally to Rosewood, white mobs would come and burn down the black communities. During the second decade of the twentieth century, African Americans began to leave the South in record numbers to escape the oppressions of segregation. For many years, white Floridians had seriously discussed sending local blacks to a foreign country or to a western region of the United States. Many white had such a low opinion of blacks that they were prepared to treat them in the most inhumane fashion whenever they felt themselves threatened by the minority. Napoleon Broward, who was the governor, proposed that Congress purchased territory, either forgiven or domestic, and transport blacks to such regions where they could live separate lives and govern themselves. Racial hostilities in the North were enhanced by immigration of black southerners and the expansion black neighborhoods into white residential areas.

In the historical events of the Rosewood massacre, a woman claimed rape by a black man, yet her story is still not confirmed nor proven. The result was the lynching of a black person, the retaliation from the black community, and the destruction of Rosewood and the death of six black and two white individuals. The movie illustrates a high level of carnage in the town, and the use of KKK, which is not accurate according to historical facts. It demonstrates the producers attempt to create the element of dramatization, and the emotional effect of the movie.In truth, there is a lot of fabrication of the story; however, the producer applies some elements of the true story that occurred in Rosewood. Based on the movie, the main aim was to provide a movie that is emotionally moving which affects racial affiliation in terms black or white people. Some of the scenes focus on the emotional reaction, and the depiction of the movie focus on the concept of outside looking in.

The three main characters are not from the town, which coincides with a lack of having a witness to narrate the events in Rosewood at the time of the massacre. Using individuals from outside the town provides a new dimension to the story, because their presence in the town allows the audience to get an idea of what occurred, but it is not an accurate illustration of the events. Far more deaths are shown on screen than the eight which have been documented. No known eyewitness said he saw women lynched, as shown, nor has any rumored "mass grave" been found. The county sheriff leads the massacre mob to Rosewood. The real leader was a self-appointed vigilante named Poly Wilkerson. Rosewood is shown as somewhat richer, and the nearby mill-town of Sumner as poorer, than they actually were. It shows Fanny Taylor being beaten by a white lover, then claiming a Black man had done it. What actually happened simply isn't known. Some have said as many as 500 were killed. But the entire population of Rosewood was about 150. Survivors scattered all over the state and lost track with each other. No-one tried to trace them for 60 years, when St. Petersburg Times reporter Gary Moore started investigating. Moore ultimately concluded that even counting "indirect" deaths, probably fewer than twelve and certainly less than 20 died. He apparently spoke to more witnesses than anyone else, but his research has not been independently reviewed.

Many hope that Rosewood's new prominence will lead to publication of his book. The men who attacked Rosewood apparently considered themselves a righteous, even legally constituted posse. Yet as far as we know, lawmen took no direct part in the fate of Rosewood, to attack or defend. Virtually everyone in Rosewood's story believed they were doing the right--or at least, a righteous thing, however violent. That includes not only whites who interpreted the beating of Fanny Taylor as a rape, but also the descendants, reporters, researchers, lawyers, politicians and producers (this one included) who emphasize what they think most important about the story, and downplay the rest. Thus "the whole truth" has never been--and probably cannot ever be told. One thing that didn't hold up was the often-told tale of Sylvester Carrier's survival. Langley claims to have heard his retreating laughter in the woods as she hid upstairs, and Arnett Doctor has always asserted that Sylvester survived into the 1960s, that he was spirited away from the carnage at the Carrier house in a coffin by black Masons. But the evidence turned up by the state indicated that Sylvester was dead on the first floor of the house when the mob finally took it.Most important, the study did lay a portion of the blame for the violence squarely on the state. Five days into the disturbance, before the town had been burned to the ground, Gov. Cary Hardee had considered calling out the Florida National Guard. Instead, he accepted the local sheriff's word that everything was under control.

Although the film does not match the report one hundred percent, I have still learned many things about the massacre in Rosewood. I have learned that blacks in Rosewood were very hardworking and determined people and would not give up no matter how weak they felt. I have also learned that even though most of the whites in Rosewood were against the blacks there were still a few of them who tried to help them any way they could