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American History
Related: About this forumOn this day, December 8, 1915, a white mob raped and lynched Cordelia Stevenson near Columbus, Mississippi.
On this day Dec 08, 1915
White Mob Rapes and Lynches Cordelia Stevenson Near Columbus, Mississippi
On December 8, 1915, a white mob in New Hope near Columbus, Mississippi, raped and lynched a Black woman named Cordelia Stevenson and left her body hanging for days near a railroad track to terrorize Black residents.
Several months earlier, the barn of a white man named Gabe Frank burned down, and the town quickly focused suspicion on Black community members, including Mrs. Stevensons son. The deep racial hostility that permeated Southern society during this time period often served to focus suspicion on Black communities after a crime was discovered or alleged, whether evidence supported that suspicion or not. Though Mrs. Stevenson insisted that her son had moved out of town months before the barn burned, and though no evidence tied him to the fire, local authorities seized Mrs. Stevenson and her husband, Arch, for questioning.
The local police ultimately concluded the Stevensons son had not been involved in the barn fire and released them both. Soon after, on December 8, a white mob gathered outside the Stevenson home, forced their way into the house while the couple slept, and kidnapped Mrs. Stevenson. The mob raped and lynched her, then left Mrs. Stevensons naked, brutalized body hanging by the railroad track for two days, where she was visible to thousands of people traveling by train.
No one was ever held responsible for her death.
{snip}
White Mob Rapes and Lynches Cordelia Stevenson Near Columbus, Mississippi
On December 8, 1915, a white mob in New Hope near Columbus, Mississippi, raped and lynched a Black woman named Cordelia Stevenson and left her body hanging for days near a railroad track to terrorize Black residents.
Several months earlier, the barn of a white man named Gabe Frank burned down, and the town quickly focused suspicion on Black community members, including Mrs. Stevensons son. The deep racial hostility that permeated Southern society during this time period often served to focus suspicion on Black communities after a crime was discovered or alleged, whether evidence supported that suspicion or not. Though Mrs. Stevenson insisted that her son had moved out of town months before the barn burned, and though no evidence tied him to the fire, local authorities seized Mrs. Stevenson and her husband, Arch, for questioning.
The local police ultimately concluded the Stevensons son had not been involved in the barn fire and released them both. Soon after, on December 8, a white mob gathered outside the Stevenson home, forced their way into the house while the couple slept, and kidnapped Mrs. Stevenson. The mob raped and lynched her, then left Mrs. Stevensons naked, brutalized body hanging by the railroad track for two days, where she was visible to thousands of people traveling by train.
No one was ever held responsible for her death.
{snip}
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On this day, December 8, 1915, a white mob raped and lynched Cordelia Stevenson near Columbus, Mississippi. (Original Post)
mahatmakanejeeves
Dec 8
OP
Mississippi, God Damn! And probably too many stories like that in the South...
electric_blue68
Dec 16
#3
hlthe2b
(112,624 posts)1. MAGATs want the nation (and world) to forget. We cannot let them.
LuvLoogie
(8,471 posts)2. People like to say, "This isn't America."
But it is.
And people get mad when you try to change that fact and elevate justice over profit.
electric_blue68
(25,615 posts)3. Mississippi, God Damn! And probably too many stories like that in the South...
The North had/has racism, too, but yikes the horrors Black people faced in The South.
And probably may face still in deepest backwaters in Mississippi, Alabama, maybe Georgia, etc.