Posted on 10/09/2023 11:40:50 AM PDT by mikelets456
In short, March 14, 1891 there were several Italians on trial. They were found "not guilty" which sent a mob of thousands in a frenzy (along with government). In the end, 11 Italians were lynched and numerous others treated harshly. As a consolation to this tragedy, our government gave them a day---Columbus day.
A mob of tens of thousands of angry men surrounded a New Orleans jail, shouting angry slurs and calling for blood. By the time they were done, 11 men would be dead—shot and mutilated in an act of brutal mob violence that took place in front of a cheering crowd. It was 1891, and the crowd was about to participate in one of the largest lynchings in U.S. history.
Nearly 5,000 lynchings—vigilante murders that included shootings, hangings and other forms of mob “justice”—were recorded in the United States between 1882 and 1968. Most of their victims were African American men. But though the New Orleans lynch mob was driven by bigotry, its targets weren’t Black people.
They were Italian Americans. March 14, 1891, would go down in history as one of the darkest moments in the United States’ long history of anti-Italian discrimination.
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
Exactly!!! Yet facts are not an important part of the LW narrative
As an Italian, I’m upset at myself for not know this horrible history.
Maybe the article is B.S. in terms of why we have Columbus Day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day
I read that Teddy Roosevelt called the lynchings “rather a good thing”.
Wrong. From the Wikipedia:
For the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1892, following a lynching in New Orleans, where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration.[10][11] The proclamation was part of a wider effort after the lynching incident to placate Italian Americans and ease diplomatic tensions with Italy.[10]
During the anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets, and politicians used rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These rituals took themes such as citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and the celebration of social progress, included among them was the Pledge of Allegiance by Francis Bellamy.[12][13][14][15]
I read that article all the way through. It says nothing about Columbus Day.
In a private letter to his sister.
“They were Italian Americans.”
Well there’s the problem. They should have been just Americans.
I’ve known about this for a while. Yeh- its horrible but that’s what happened back then. Should we hold a grudge forever as the lefties do??
“ I read that article all the way through. It says nothing about Columbus Day.”
*********************************************
Party pooper. ;-)
As I recall, the remarks were public.
This article has at least one fact wrong, so it is difficult to know how accurate it is.
Roosevelt was not elected President in 1894. He became president when McKinley was assassinated in 1901, and was elected again in 1904.
Go to NOLA and demand reparations! Do it! All the cool kids are!
This is a history article. Nothing is said about grudges or reparations.
Same here. From this thread I’ve learned much today.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.