Mississippi history and in the local public schools. reconstruction in america, not just in mississippi, is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated historical eras. and the people who wrote about it afterwards, north and south, wrote about it mainly from a white supremacy point of view, whether they were from ohio, michigan, alabama or mississippi. there was lots of violence throughout american reconstruction against african americans. it s a terrible time in our history from that perspective. it s a great time, again, of experimentation with providing the rights of citizenship and political equality to african americans. unfortunately, through the lens of white supremacy, that was too much for a lot of white people to take during that time. are there any other markers in mississippi that acknowledge white violence against african americans? the only marker of which i m
so this is a group of white democrats killing the black republicans? correct. it was the plan of the white democrats to keep african americans from voting. the violence served as a pretext for the return of white rule, and the end of reconstruction in mississippi. do you feel like people know that this marker exists? no, i don t. just given where it is behind this old mill, i feel like it has the potential to look hidden, and that was my fear with placing it here. i would definitely prefer it to be in a more prominent location, because this event is by far the most important event that ever took place in the city. the clinton riot has always been one of these contested events. for years and years and years, it s been told that it was caused by african americans, that they were gonna take back the city, at the cost of women. for essentially 140 years, the history was told incorrectly. and the violence was blamed on the black members of the clinton community. my name is james
Aware that exists, that depicts the talks about white violence against black people during reconstruction is the clinton riot marker. in mississippi? in mississippi. my name is missy jones. my title is a visiting a of history at mississippi college. almost 15 years now, if i think back. what is this? this is johnson milling company. it s been here for ages. but right behind it is the location of the old train depot, and the thought was that we would put the marker for the clinton riot here because of the importance of the train. the clinton riots began on september 4th, 1875, and the direct behind me tells a virgin of those events.
It s a history. there s a big movement to remove confederate history. well, it s part of history. you know, where and when is enough? do you feel like slavery was something that was in the past, let s move on? or do you feel like slavery still has an effect today? it s over. and it is part of history, it s part of the past. i don t know any person that owns a slave, or has been a slave. to this day. i think we re gonna make it a major issue, as long as we keep rubbing it in from the standpoint of the minority saying, well, we were slaves and mistreated. i understand that. what the hell you want me to do about it? i m sorry. i wasn t there. i m 50 years old. i wasn t there. and what do you say to historically black universities that say, we re not gonna fly this flag because it s a symbol of slavery? do you think about their point of view? it is a state flag of
General department of african studies here at howard university. and what connection do you have to the history of the civil war and reconstruction? well, in addition to the direct history, my ancestors have been brought here from north carolina and alabama. no civil war veterans in my direct family, but we were enslaved in alabama. so obviously, coming out of a civil war, my family, share croppers, coming in the era of jim crow, great migration moving throughout the south. you know, i m a living part of that stream of history. and as a professor here at howard university, and particularly in africa american studies, which is the steady and area i work in, i devoted a great part of my work to understanding the implications of the civil war and reconstruction, in terms of contemporary american life.