wcaleb’s Twitter Archive

The 1919 Chicago riot began with the murder of Eugene Williams on this day 100 years ago. In the days that followed, white mobs were fueled by racist media accounts that exaggerated incidents and depicted black residents as criminals. #Chi1919
On twitter.com ♻️ 12 Retweets ❤️ 13 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -12 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
The Chicago Riot Commission noted later that "exaggeration in news reports, when popular excitement is at a high pitch, is peculiarly dangerous," and it pointed, for example, to media coverage of Harold Brignadello's death. #Chi1919
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 4 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood 0

…in reply to @wcaleb
Brignadello, a white man, died on July 29. The Chicago Daily News said his "bullet-riddled body" was found outside a house where "a colored woman and 20 other Negroes ... were shooting at all whites who passed the place." That report was false.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 3 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -4 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
In fact, Brignadello died of a single gunshot, fired by a woman, Emma Jackson, who was one of 5 black men and women defending her house from a mob of 150 white men. Jackson was arrested & charged; no arrests of white men were made, though identities were known.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 2 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -14 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
Newspaper reports also said that Jackson's house held a "formidable arsenal ... for Negro rioters," with "several rounds of ammunition," rifles, axes, and knives. In fact, only one gun was found in the house.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 2 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -1 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
As the post-riot Commission noted, racist, exaggerated accounts in newspapers stoked "vengeful animosity, fear, anger, & horror," not only intensifying the riot but doing long-lasting damage to the reputation of black neighborhoods in the city. #Chi1919 books.google.com/books?id=3kErAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA27&ots=h-I3yxQmy8&dq=Brignadello%20chicago%20riot&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=true
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 2 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -17 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
I mention the Brignadello incident briefly in my new book, because the case had a coda. Emma Jackson, though charged with Brignadello's death, was later acquitted by a jury trial, which found that she acted in self-defense.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 2 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -3 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
One of Jackson's lawyers was a man named Arthur H. Simms. Born enslaved in Mississippi, he was one of the first African American graduates of Northwestern's law school. And his mother, Henrietta Wood, won a rare case of restitution for slavery in 1878.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 4 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -2 🙁

…in reply to @wcaleb
I detail Wood's & Simms's story in "Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery & Restitution in America." On the anniversary of the #Chi1919 riots that Simms lived through, I'm reflecting on what they achieved--as well as all they & their descendants continued to endure.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 3 Favorites 2019 Jul 27 Mood -1 🙁