Central City in New Orleans in Orleans Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
Mass Lynching in New Orleans ⎯⎯⎯ Racial Violence in America
Community Remembrance Project
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2020
1. Mass Lynching in New Orleans/Racial Violence in America Marker
Inscription.
Mass Lynching in New Orleans
July 24 to 27, 1900, White mobs unleashed a campaign of racial terror
throughout the city of New Orleans that resulted in the lynching of
at least seven Black people. Violence began after police tried to arrest
Robert Charles, a 35-year old Black man. During this era, Black people
carried a heavy presumption of guilt and faced hostile suspicion,
whether evidence implicated them or not. On July 23, White policemen
confronted Mr. Charles while he was seated peacefully on a doorstep.
Mr. Charles objected, struggled, and ultimately fled after multiple
exchanges of gunfire, leaving two officers dead on July 24. In response,
thousands of armed white people, shouting "kill the negroes,” gathered
at (once) Robert E. Lee Circle seeking to attack Black people. Over
several days, White mobs shot, beat, and killed Black people in a
terror crusade to maintain White supremacy. In the first 48-hours of
the attack, police failed to intervene as the mobs abducted, killed and
maimed Black people. and destroyed the Thomy Lafon School, leaving
no public education for Black children in New
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Orleans after the fifth
grade for nearly 20 years. On July 27, policemen and deputized
civilian militia discovered Mr. Charles at 1208 Saratoga Street and
brutally killed him after hours of gunfire exchange. In the four day
massacre, White mobs lynched several Black people, including Hannah
Mabry, a wife and mother.
No one was ever convicted for their deaths.
Racial Violence in America
Thousands of Black people were the victims of racial terror lynching
in the United States between 1877 and 1950. Following the Civil War,
White southerners violently resisted equal rights for African Americans
and sought to uphold an ideology of White supremacy through intimidation and lethal violence. Lynching emerged as the most public and
notorious form of racial terrorism and violence, intended to intimidate
Black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. In 1898,
two years after the Supreme Court decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson,
legalizing segregation, a state constitutional convention was convened
in Louisiana to mitigate the perceived threat of Black political power
to white political control through "the purification
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2020
2. Mass Lynching in New Orleans/Racial Violence in America Marker
of the electorate,"
and to establish the supremacy of the White race." Many Black
people were lynched following unsubstantiated accusations of violating
social customs, engaging in interracial relationships, or committing
crimes, In most cases, including the July 1900 Mass Lynching in New
Orleans, local law enforcement was indifferent to or ineffective in
protecting Black residents from these attacks, allowing Whites to employ
violence and murder without fear of any legal repercussions. Many
victims of racial terror lynching were not recorded and will never be
known, but of the 548 documented lynchings in Louisiana, at least
15 took place in Orleans Parish.
Erected 2020 by The Orleans Legacy Project/Equal Justice Initiative.
Location. 29° 56.462′ N, 90° 4.758′ W. Marker is in New Orleans, Louisiana, in Orleans Parish. It is in Central City. It is at the intersection of Oretha Castle Haley
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2020
3. Mass Lynching in New Orleans/Racial Violence in America Marker
Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, in the median on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans LA 70113, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in one of Louisiana’s River Parishes. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, on the Gulf Coast, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
“A Replica marker of one side is located at the Equal Justice Initiatives' National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The Equal Justice Initiative supports efforts to locally memorialize documented victims of racial violence and to educate communities about the history of racial injustice.” Mark Hilton
Other markers no longer nearby. Robert E. Lee (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been permanently removed); St. Charles Line (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been confirmed missing).
Credits. This page was last revised on October 16, 2024. It was originally submitted on January 2, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 942 times since then and 75 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on January 2, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. 4. submitted on October 15, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.
