By: David Bass Dancy
Race Riots: a reminder of Americans Being ‘Great’
8/10/25 Conservative Influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a speaking event in Orem Utah. Even though he is no longer alive his impact on the Zeitgeist of society was/is undeniable. But what happened to him is nothing new. Its an old play in a worn out book called ‘how to destabilize an unstable society’. Ok we know there is no book but we also know there is nothing gained politically by creating MARTYRS, especially martyrs that believe in mass deportations and hate Black women in customer service. He also assumed every Black Professional stole the job from a higher qualified white ex-convict (lol). So before we go off the rails on crazy leftists lets remember who got the ball rolling and keeps kicking it down the road. The examples I provide in this article are just a snapshot of the everyday reality for Black Americans all over the country.
Race Riots have occupied a strange place within the psyche of American society. A peculiar, brutal place, since Africans and natives were forced to work for free when Europeans first came to the New World.
It wasn’t always white mobs nor was it exclusive to the enslaved. There were several timeless ingredients that would simmer before tensions boiled over and the violence began. Lack of resources, wether it was space to live, or food to eat, played a central, reoccurring role.
Slave revolts , for the most part, have been omitted from the canon of American History. Just like slave revolts, white rampaging mobs burned 100’s of prosperous, independent Black communities all over America in an organized effort to disenfranchise newly freed Black Americans.
I have consolidated a timeline of similar events, race riots that were started by angry white mobs, with the goal of displacing or simply looting their black counterparts. Often times the targets were free and prosperous. They posed no threat to the people around them and their only ‘crime’ was economic success.
1.Cincinnati Riots 1829
This riot or armed uprising was started by poor Irish immigrants who had to compete with poor blacks for limited living space and jobs within Cincinnati city limits. On 8/17/1829 tensions boiled over when a mob of 2-300 descended upon the black residents of what was known as the Riverfront and burned down houses and shantys that provided shelter for the rapidly growing black community. Obviously the black residents fought back but were overwhelmed by a biased system that favored the interests of the poor Irish citizenry over that of freed blacks. That same year laws were passed to limit immigration by blacks…anyone coming into Ohio had to postr a bond of 500 dollars to insure their economic solvency and to guarantee they would not be a burden to the people of Cincinnati.
Blacks responded by fleeing in large numbers… A coalition of Blacks led by Thomas Crissup and Israel Lewis traveled as far as Ontario Canada to acquire land and build a settlement that would later be named Wilberforce
The riots lasted two weeks and displaced many families.
- Cincinnati Riots 1836
The problems that caused the clash were only solved for a short period. Only half the Black population remained (1,100) unable to escape the abject poverty that kept them confined to the rebuilt riverfront eeking out a living through day labor jobs- still in competition with the poor Irish.
Tensions were building again. White residents were demanding strict adherence to the Black laws of 1829. Eventually it boiled over and same thing would happen again in 1836…This time in response to a Seminary group of Presbyterians led by Lyman Beecher , the father of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote the timely indictment of slavery known as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This time the mob burned down an entire tenement, killed blacks and beat abolitionist whites in the streets. This campaign lasted for weeks in April and didn’t stop until Martial law was declared. Later on July 5th after a fourth of July celebration white mobs of anti-abolitionists from Kentucky (across the river) descended upon the city with one goal…Burn down Birney’s printing press which printed abolitionist papers. They succeeded and were praised by the political leadership in Cincinnati. These mobs basically ruled the city until a group of Volunteers decided to establish law and order by any means and managed to stop the violence once again …Harriet Beecher Stowe was a witness to the lawless behavior and she would later recall these events in her Book Uncle Toms Cabin
3.Christiana Riots 1851
Lancaster Pennsylvania was home to many abolitionist and two Branches of The Underground railroad and it also where many clashes between abolitionists and slave catchers occurred. Many armed battles played out between these two opposing forces between 1851 and 1861. The one known as The Christiana Riot of 1851 would forever change the methods of slave catchers throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.
It centered around four Fugitive slaves who fled to Lancaster County Penn which abuts The Mason Dixon Line. These four men who went by new names. John Beard, Edward Thompson, Thomas Wilson and Alexander Scott were all owned by wealthy planter Edward Gorsuch who swore out warrants for their return to Maryland.
Leading a Posse of a dozen men Gorsuch ,accompanied by his son came to Lancaster County to claim his property. There had been many successful abductions of runaways in Lancaster and the free blacks and righteous white neighbors vowed to protect these men who had proven their worth as FREE MEN to the people of Lancaster County.
With the weaponized law of 1850, The Fugitive Slave, act Gorsuch approached the farm of William Parker where the four men worked. Parkers Wife, Eliza, blew a Bullshorn as an alarm to alert the neighbors they were under attack. The neighbors responded and a battle ensued. Gorsuch was killed and his son was wounded. The slave catchers had to retreat. They eventually returned with three regiment from the Marines and arrested 38 people Parker, his wife and the four runaways had fled to Canada with the help of Frederick Douglas. Only one of the 37 was sent to trial…The white Quaker Castner Hanway was acquitted which led to the other 37 charges being dropped….. One of the few Happy Endings in a historic fight for freedom which often ended in death as the only relief from bondage…a fight that continues to this very day
Had an emotional time Writing this…Blitzkreig research
