A Century After the Elaine Massacre, Black Farmers in Arkansas Demand Justice

The Elaine Massacre was one incident a longer process of land theft from Black farmers in Arkansas, using instruments ranging from fraudulent records to mob violence. 

The Black Press is a Model for How to Cover Racism in the News

by Olivia Paschal

The mainstream press worked to obscure the nature and extent of racist violence in the early 20th century; Black journalists and Black-owned newspapers did the essential work of preserving the truth and explaining the context of white supremacist terrorism. 

Ida B. Wells Became the Last Hope for 12 Men Convicted of False Charges During Elaine, Ark. Massacre

"Did Wells, an unflinching woman who had traveled the country to investigate the ruthless barbarity of white mobs in other lynchings and massacres, have that much power to save these Black men on death row in Arkansas?"

An Open Letter to Congressman French Hill on the 1919 Elaine Massacre and the Dangers of “Patriotic” History

by Guy Lancaster

Historian Guy Lancaster found a letter of praise from his Congressman tough to take in light of the elected representative's disregard for racial justice.

Look What Has Been Taken From Black Americans

It's difficult to quantify the financial cost to Black Americans of racism and segregation. But the destruction of property and denial of trade by white mobs in Elaine, Arkansas in 1919 was quantified by Ida B. Wells-Barnett; her findings can put the scope of a reparations program into some perspective.