WhatWouldKarlDo

September 30 is the anniversary of The Elaine Massacre in 1919. This day marks the beginning of a series of events that would lead to the lynching of hundreds of black men.

It started with a union meeting of black sharecroppers, who hoped to get a fairer price for their cotton. Black farmers got substantially lower amounts for their goods than white farmers. White people were very concerned about this, especially given the recent communist rebellion in the Soviet Union. A car arrived outside during the meeting, and a gunfight ensued with the unions guards. One of the new arrivals, a white railroad policeman, was killed.

When news of this reached the local leaders, they declared it to be an insurrection, and gathered together a posse of hundreds of white men. Additional white men from nearby areas also joined in to fight the black "uprising". The governor requested the aid of the military.

So, the mob freely roamed the countryside killing every black person they encountered for the next day. The military arrived the following day, and joined the violence. But eventually they stopped, and started arresting black people instead. They arrested 285 people and held them and tortured them until their white employers could collect them. The governor praised the actions of the posse and the military. The media claimed that "Vicious blacks" were planning an uprising due to socialist agitators.

A dozen black men were convicted in show trials and sentenced to the electric chair. This scared 65 others to bargain for very long prison terms instead of a trial. The NAACP stepped in, and began litigating for the men. Eventually, they had success in saving their lives and reducing sentences for many of the men.

No white man was ever charged, and the narrative that the black men were evil socialists planning a revolution persisted for the next 80 years, and the black perspective of the events were completely ignored.

Hundreds dead, the media gloating, and the victims put on trial. What could be more American?

September 29 is the anniversary of The Meeker Incident in 1879. In this incident, an Indian Agent and his men were killed by the Ute people. The US then used this incident as an excuse to remove all the Ute people from their ancestral land in Colorado.

The problem arose because of the US policy of annihalating native culture and replacing their traditional style of life with one that matched their own. The Indian agent that they sent was a man named Nathan Meeker, a zealous Christian farmer, who took up the task eagerly. He set up shop on Ute land, and quickly began attempting to convert the tribe to Christianity and to teach them how to farm.

The Utes tolerated him for the most part, and even threw him a bone by half-heartedly doing some farming and listening to his preaching. But Meeker insisted upon total compliance, even going so far as to withhold supplies guaranteed by their treaty. The Ute people petitioned the US regime to please take him back, but to no avail.

Things eventually reached their boiling point when one of Meeker's attempted to plow a field that was used for feeding the tribe's horses. They drove him off with gunfire. Meeker called in the military, and on September 29, the ninth cavalry arrived. The battle was lost fairly quickly, with a loss of 23 Ute warriors, and 17 US soldiers.

When word got back to the village near Meeker's outpost, the Ute decided rid themselves of the hated man forever. They killed him and his men, set fire to his outpost, and kept his family as hostage, which they put to good use by using them to negotiate an end to the violence.

The media reported it as an unprovoked massacre of white people, and the racist governor used it as further evidence that "The Utes must go". The US unilaterally tore up their treaty, and forced the Utes away from their homelands into Utah, where they were given a significantly smaller reservation on worse land.

September 28 is the anniversary of The Opelousas Massacre in 1868. Like most massacres in the US, the violence was caused mostly by racism, but also the desire to suppress their political opponents.

In the summer of 1868, black people in Louisiana had used their newly won power to vote by voting for anti-slavery politicians. In response, the white men began forming vigilante groups that would roam the countryside and harass or lynch black people. The newspapers openly warned people to not vote for Republican candidates.

One newspaper reporter (Emerson Bentley) dared to write the truth about what had been happening in Louisiana. That was enough to kick off a whole new wave of murder. Bentley was beaten and left for dead. The other reporter at his newspaper was lynched and had is body put on display. Anyone with black skin faced summary execution. The newspapers gloated.

In the end, over 200 people lay dead at the hands of the white Americans. Most of them black, some of them sympathisers. Not a single vote was registered for the Republican party, as it had been made clear that doing so would incur the death penalty. No hearings or trials were ever held. American democracy was working as intended. Voter suppression continues to this day in Louisiana.

September 27 is the anniversary of the day that Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was first published in 1962. The book was a scathing report on the damage that pesticides were causing to the environment and collusion between the chemical oligarchs and government officials.

For four years, she had gathered research and data, and had each chapter peer reviewed by scientific experts. It carefully detailed how DDT would slowly work its way through the food chain, poisoning the entire chain. The book gets its title from a fictitious town where we did nothing about DDT, poisoning all the animals. No more birds, no more children.

The chemical companies attacked her accreditation, increased government lobbying, and attempted to reframe the book as calling for an outright ban on pesticides. Monsanto even went so far as to produce a parody booklet that described a desolate world without pesticides.

The government reacted immediately with all sorts of character assassination. The Secretary of Agriculture said that she was "Probably a communist", and wondered why "a spinster was so concerned with genetics.". They even released a propaganda film about fire ants in an attempt to market pesticides.

There was just one problem here. She was right. As much as the oligarchs and their official cronies conspired to discredit her, the evidence was plainly obvious for all to see. The book took off, and popular support forced the US regime to start the Environment Protection Agency, which would place limits on capitalist destruction. DDT was banned in the US. Bird populations began to recover.

However, the corrupt regime still tries to discredit her to this day. Even going so far as to compare her to Hitler.

September 26 is the anniversary of the day Reagan Vetoes the Anti-Apartheid Act in 1985. Apartheid was a system of segregation in South Africa that was roughly equivalent to the US' Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow laws were ultimately repealed due to massive protests by the black community.

In the wake of this, a black politician by the name of Ron Dellums attempted to take the struggle outside of the US' borders, and free the people of South Africa, who suffered under the same conditions as the black people of the US. He introduced the first draft of the bill in 1972.

Of course, this didn't go over very well with the white politicians. The US was very friendly with South Africa, and it really didn't help matters that the man leading the resistance to apartheid was Nelson Mandela. Not only was he black, but the US (rightfully) believed him to be a communist. Racism will always be tolerated or encouraged in the US, but communism will never be. As a result, the US had a vested interest in propping up South Africa.

It took 13 years, but Dellums finally got the bill to sanction South Africa to pass through congress in 1985 due to increased public visibility and outcry. Reagan vetoed it immediately. Mostly because of anti-communist sentiments; he didn't really care about apartheid.

In the end, congress overruled his veto, and the sanctions went into place. Reagan's regime didn't enforce the sanctions. In 1989, they made motions that they were actually going to enforce the sanctions. The Soviet Union broke up shortly after. Having no need to prop up South Africa anymore, they actually followed through on their word. With the loss of their biggest supporter, the South African regime collapsed shortly after. Once again proving how much the US regime cares about human rights.

September 25 is the anniversary of the end of the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906. For days now, mobs of white Americans were roaming the streets of Atlanta, burning black homes and businesses, and lynching whoever they could catch.

The problem was that black people had started to receive some of the same rights as white people. They were voting, some of them were even starting to have enough money to live comfortably. This bred resentment in the white populace. In the leadup to the elections that year, the "free press" had been pushing the narrative that black people were dangerous criminals. Eventually they printed the claim that 4 black men assaulted a white woman. Despite no evidence ever being found of the veracity of this claim, it was enough to convince the white populace that the black residents needed to be exterminated.

At least 5000 white men participated in the massacre, but it's thought that the number was over 10,000. They killed every black man, woman, and child that they could get their hands on. They burnt down a not-insignificant portion of the city, and killed at least 25 people. It's commonly thought that the number is over 100, but both sides sought to hide the true number afterward. Black people feared reprisal, and white people feared that people might think they went too far.

Eventually, the damage started to affect white owned businesses and the military had to be called in to stop the mob and arrest the black people who had set up a defensive line.

The immediate aftermath of this saw the black people blamed for the massacre. But eventually the blame also included the newspapers and they were given a slap on the wrist. The murders went unpunished. The governor elected that year saw through his campaign promises and made it harder for black people to vote. The days of terror were swept under the rug and quickly forgotten about. It wasn't until 100 years later that the city of Atlanta even recognised it ever happened at all.

September 24 is the anniversary of The Chicago 8 Trial of 1968. This was a conspiracy trial asserting that these seven men were responsible for inciting violence at an anti-war protest the month before. Of course, they were all leftists.

What actually happened during the protest was that thousands of police showed up and started teargassing and beating the protesters. The police later said in their defence that the protesters should not have broken curfew or resisted arrest. The protesters remained largely peaceful even in the face of this, and there was only one protester killed, although hundreds of more faced injuries.

Despite the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence labelling it as a police riot, and the Attorney General requesting an investigation into the police, eight protesters were chosen to be scapegoated instead. Despite the conspiracy charges, one of them had never even met the others. So the US selected the most biased judge they could find, and began the trial.

The defendents weren't having any of it, and sought to show the world in court, what a mockery the US legal system was. The trail ended with 159 charges of contempt of court for both the defendants and their council, but the jury acquitted them of the conspiracy charges.

All of the contempt charges were later dropped in an appeals court when it was found that the judge was not impartial, and the FBI had attempted to tamper with the jury. They'd succeeded in showing the world that the conspiracy wasn't their doing. It was the US government.

September 23 is the anniversary of The McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950. It gave the totalitarian government overwhelming power to oppress its political opponents. Specifically designed to allow the government to crack down on the communist party, it authorised the government to spy on its own citizens and detain them without cause. (Amusingly enough, it also made it a felony to make steps to making a totalitarian government. The congressmen involved saw no jail time). This was too much even for the mass murderer Harry Truman, who was president at the time. He had this to say about the bill:

It would put the Government of the United States in the thought control business

It would give Government officials vast powers to harass all of our citizens in the exercise of their right of free speech.

Congress passed it anyway. It was later amended due to protests from the ethnic Japanese survivors of the WW2 concentration camps in the US, to have the bit about rounding up communists and putting them in concentration camps. Having been through that quite recently, they didn't want a repeat. It took 21 years to win that argument. The rest of the law was repealed in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

This whole law illustrates that justice in the USA is neither blind nor fair. Whilst accusing their enemies of arbitrarily locking up political opponents and silencing opposition, they are passing laws that explicitly allow them to do just that. Only being repealed because of loud outcry from the people who they'd previously done it to.

This day also saw Emitt Till's murderers go free in 1955. (mentioned briefly on the day of the murder) Further demonstrating that the US's vaunted human rights are only for some humans.

"We wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't stopped to drink pop."

You're only free if you're a white coloniser.

September 22 is the anniversary of The Massacre of Fort Fauntleroy in 1861. US soldiers responded to an accusation of cheating in a horse race with bullets and artillery.

According to their treaty rights, the Navajo were at the fort to collect their monthly food rations. The event became a bit of a celebration, and games and gambling were common. The main event was a horse race between the Navajo and the soldiers. Many bets were placed, and the race began.

It quickly became clear that something was wrong with the Navajo horse, and investigation revealed that the horse's bridle had been cut. The soldiers refused a rematch or to return the wagers. The Navajo started protesting outside the fort. The soldiers began shooting, and didn't stop.

One of the soldiers later said:

“I saw a soldier murdering two little children and a woman. I hallooed immediately for him to stop. He looked up but did not obey my order. I ran as quick as I could, but could not get there soon enough to prevent him from killing the two innocent children and wounding severely the squaw.”

They murdered dozens of men, women, and children, and wounded many more. The soldiers had a brief hearing, where the military grew very concerned that the soldiers were gambling with government property. But decided not to prosecute.

September 21 is the anniversary of the passing of The Lodge–Fish Resolution in 1922, which endorsed carving up Palestine in order to create the state of Israel. Although the state of Israel wouldn't be created for a couple more decades, the seeds were sown.

After the end of the first World War, the Ottoman Empire was carved up, creating the modern map of the middle east. Palestine remained under British rule, and they made The Balfour Declaration, which promised "A Jewish National Home in Palestine". The Lodge-Fish Resolution announced official US support of the plan.

The following decades would see a massive influx of Jewish settlers in Palestine. Eventually, this would result in the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the creation of Israel.

Of course we all know what happened next. Israel and the Arab world have known nothing but conflict ever since. The US continues propping up the state of Israel to this day, amid a forever war of people fighting to reclaim their homes. As you would expect of a nation that coined the term "Manifest Destiny".

September 20 is the anniversary of the day of The Jena 6 Protests in 2007. Nearly 20,000 people marched on Jena, Louisiana in protest of excessive charges against 6 black kids who had beaten up a racist white kid.

The quasi-segregated school had recently seen an incident where a black student had sat under a tree that was ordinarily used by white students. The next day, three nooses were hung from the tree. The students responsible were merely given a suspension, as the superintendent said:

"Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody".

After a series of other racist events, the Jena 6 gave one of the ringleaders a concussion and a pretty good beating. He was able to attend the school dance later in the day however.

In response, the kids were charged with a number of very serious charges, up to and including an attempted murder charge that would carry a 50 year sentence without possibility of parole. With an all-white jury. In comparison, some white students had burnt down part of the school the week before (which may have been racially motivated), and received 10 year prison sentences.

On today's date, thousands of people marched to Jena and demanded justice. After another year and a half of court shennanigans which even saw a judge removed, retrials and appeals, the charges were eventually reduced to simple battery for 5 of them. The 6th was Mychal Bell, who got 18 months in a juvenile hall. He later attempted suicide.

September 19 is the anniversary of the height of The Ellenton Massacre in 1876. Trouble had started a few days earlier. A white woman reported being attacked by two black men. A white mob was formed shortly after, and had been growing for days. By the 19th, fueled further by anger over black voting rights, the mob had grown to over 500 white men.

They marauded through black communities for days, until the military showed up on the 19th to put a stop to it. As many as a hundred black people laid dead, and one white man. The fact that we don't know the exact numbers of black deaths speaks volumes about the incident.

As is customary in the United States, no white man saw prison time.