LibGuides: Black Lives Matter: Historical Context

The Past is Present

Putting current events into a historical context is important - these instances of brutality against the black community are not new. It has been an ingrained, systemic issue in America since the first slave was brought here. These events and individuals are often glossed over or not covered at all in history classes. To understand what is going on now we have to know how we got here.

The Tulsa Massacre - Zinn Education Project
The Tulsa Massacre was a brutal, horrific incident in American history. Starting on May 31, 1921 three hundred black men, women and children were murdered and 40 blocks of the Greenwood District (known as Black Wall Street) were burned.
1985 Philadelphia Bombing - The Guardian
In May of 1985, the police dropped a bomb made of C4 onto a home containing black liberation movement members named Move. It killed 11 of the members, including 5 children. The police commissioner then made the call to allow the fires to burn, destroying 61 homes in the predominantly black neighborhood.
Emmett Till - History.com
Emmett Till was a 14 year old child who was brutally murdered by white adult men in Mississippi in 1955. These men were then found not guilty by a jury of their white peers. Emmett Till would have been 79 years old had he not been brutally killed - this is a not a distant, far away history.
The Elaine, AR Massacre - Smithsonian Magazine
On September 30, 1919, over 200 black men, women, and children were murdered because of unfounded fears and hatred. Twelve of the surviving black men were then tried for murder and sentenced to death for the five white men who were killed in the incident. Educate yourself on this dark chapter on Arkansas history and how this massacre propelled early civil rights cases into the Supreme Court.
Little Rock Nine
“September 25, 1957, became a historic day in the Nation when nine courageous children risked their lives to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Confronted by a hostile crowd and escorted by the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne, they shouldered the burden of integrating a then segregated public school system.”
Interstate 630 - CALS
Learn why the protests spilling onto Interstate 630 are historically and culturally significant from a resource from a fellow library, Central Arkansas Library System. Spoiler alert: it’s because it destroyed predominantly black business and homes, and further segregated Little Rock.
The Roots of Little Rock’s Segregated Neighborhoods - Arkansas Times
This article by the Arkansas Times goes over the history of how Little Rock got to be segregated. It also touches on Interstate 630 and how it serves to further segregate the city to this day.