The Democrat you mentioned after the war was also a confederate. That was typical of Democrats who I’ve read also fund the newspapers before the war up North, stoking racist idea against Black Americans through Irish and other immigrant classes who were not citizens and “threatened” because Black Americans did have jobs. The first riot in New York City the Irish immigrants stoked in 1834 was Irish against blacks and was the the one in 1863 in NYC I’ve read about. My understanding is that between those times the Southern white aristocracy, because they as slave owners were the wealthiest group of Americans, continued to fund newspapers up North to deliberate inflame tensions of Northern Democrats through newspapers were like Fox News today.

While not all the news was focused on blacks, they continued to inflame black Americans and fund Irish unions who would band together not to just get higher wages but to keep blacks out of the labor force. The major threat was black Americans escaping from slavery, desperate for jobs after gaining freedom, and thus able to take lower wages than the Irish (and other white immigrants). The problem for these Irish was that white factory owners in places the stockyard slaughterhouses in Omaha and East St. Louis liked the black Americans and often went to the South to recruit them, as they were reliable workers, could be counted on to show up, do a full days labor, and be grateful. The Irish by contrast would take their pay and disappear on a drinking binge for a couple days and not complain.

I did read the Union letter in the 1917 issue of The Crisis that described how the whites instigated this massacre and burned down the black section. It was vividly written and the issue edited by Professor Dubois. The letter drove home the point that northern unions were inherently anti-black and in many cases started these race riots. I still want to read those Northern newspapers before the Civil War and will search the source provided.

Thanks again so much. And yes, we are in a very “reverse racism” time—a stupid phrase that actually means unabashed white supremacist. Fortunately Musk is nuts and hates all workers, and is stoking even white ones. I hope people keep getting riled up. But I do see Black Americans getting more and more openly targeted.