Seminar

In 1929 Elizabeth Jones was a plantation owner who owned an enslaved woman Lydia, whom he rented out to other plantation owners. A plantain owner in Chowan County John Mann rented Lydia and when she did something wrong he ordered her to be whipped. She was injured by Mann trying to escape the whipping. Jones brought Mann to court for the damage of his property. Jones won the case and Mann received a 5 dollar fine. Mann tried to appeal the decision at the North Carolina Supreme Court. The judge on the case was Judge Thomas Ruffin, and he stated that with Mann paying Jones for the use of Lydia, Mann was the interim owner. Judge Ruffin felt that the owner even if temporary has complete ownership over the slave, and can do whatever he desire to his property, being Lydia. Mann won the appeal.  

Following the death of John Lewis we watched 'The March" a documentary of the civil rights fight in the 1960's of which he played a major part. The video concentrated on Martain Luther King Jr, the frontman to the civil rights movement who organized peaceful protests and marches and gave some of the most important speeches in American history. The March references the March on Washington, a massive event with over 200,000 people in attendance  people in attendance. The event remains one of the largest protests in American history. The event was organized by the big six including King and Lewis of the civil rights movement. The event is best remembered for Dr. King giving his "I have a dream speech" which he talked about how he wants people to be judged by the content of their character rather than their skin color. The event was a tremendous success even though behind the scenes they was much worry and fear of the event. Many politicians were afraid of the possib...

Sundown towns are white neighborhoods or areas of town that we're segregated where any non white people had to leave by sundown. Often times these rules were enforced by intimidation and violence. These towns became popular during the reconstruction period after the civil war and Jim Crow. Often times these towns solely excluded one particular ethnic group mainly black people. One of the most infamous cases a violence in a sundown town was in Martinsville Indiana in 1968. Carol Jenkins was a 20 year old black girl who was selling encyclopedias door to door after getting laid off from her job. While on her route she was being followed and harassed by a couple of young white guys. After being given sanctuary in to a young white couples house she left to find her friends to head back to Rushville. On her way to the meeting point two other white men got out of their car and jumped her. One man held her hands behind her back while the other stabbed her with a screwdriver in the heart. S...

In 1866 in Memphis Tennessee, riots broke out due to racial tension following the Civil War. The rioting included murders, raping, assaults, and destruction of property. A scuffle broke out the day before between black people and police that led to a man accidentally shooting himself in the leg. The following day a mob of white people stormed into black neighborhoods torching houses, churches, and businesses. Due to an inadequate police response much of the riots were uncontested and uninterrupted. Along with the white people indiscriminately attacking black people many people were seriously hurt or killed during the riots. A total of 48 people were killed, 46 of them being black and 2 being white. Nearly 100 people robbed, 5 black women were raped, 89 black homes were during along with 4 black churches and 12 black schools. It is the worst riot in Memphis history, https://www.memphis.edu/memphis-massacre

We watched Glory the other day and it is about the first all black regiment in the civil war- the Union's 54 Massachusetts Regiment.  It was led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a white officer and the son of a rich Boston family. The movie dealt a lot with race as much of the army did not see the regiment as equals. Due to the devotion and care Shaw trained them into one of the most important regiments of the civil war.  He led the regiment through multiple battles the most famous of which was the assault of Fort Wagner in the Charleston Harbor. The 54th led the charge by way of direct assault suffering major casualties. After being forced into a moat, Shaw died motivating him men to take the fort. The regiment stormed the fort dealing major casualties to the Confederates. The regiment and following regiments were unsuccessful taking the fort.

Gone with the Wind is an iconic movie both from the aspects of storytelling and production. I tell a fictional story with deep historical roots. The movie adjusted for inflation is the highest grossing movie of all time. The movie is about a young southern belle coping with the realities of the civil war and how her life is crumbling around her. The movie is a war drama centering around her life both before, during, and after the war. At first the main character is excited for the Confederacy to fight the Union so they can keep their way of life. Then when the war is turning in favor of the Union and fighting is at her door steps her life falls apart. And once the war is lost she has to deal with the ramifications that war left on her life. The movie was recently removed from streaming platforms and denied time slots of movie channels due to its topic and theme and the current events of today. I do not believe that the movie should be denied viewings because of the historical significa...