Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 4, 2009

The Rosewood massacre was a violent, racially motivated conflict that took place during the first week of January 1923 in rural Levy County, Florida. Six blacks and two whites were killed, and the town of Rosewood was abandoned and destroyed during what was characterized as a race riot. Florida had an especially high number of lynchings in the years before the massacre, including a well-publicized incident in December 1922. Rosewood was a quiet, primarily black, self-sufficient whistle stop on the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Spurred by unsupported accusations that a white woman in nearby Sumner had been beaten and possibly raped by a black drifter, white men from nearby towns lynched a Rosewood resident. When black citizens defended themselves against further attack, several hundred whites combed the countryside hunting for black people, and burned almost every structure in Rosewood. Survivors hid for several days in nearby swamps, and were evacuated by train and car to larger towns. Although state and local authorities were aware of the violence, they made no arrests for the activities in Rosewood. The town was abandoned by black residents during the attacks. As of 2009, none have returned. Although the rioting was widely reported around the country, few official records documented the event. The massacre was the subject of a 1997 film directed by John Singleton. In 2004 the state designated the site of Rosewood as a Florida Heritage Landmark. (more...)

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