Black survivors seeking emergency assistance following the 1917 pogrom in East St. Louis.
(Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
(Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society)
Confronting Legacies of Racial Violence
There is growing awareness of the lasting significance of historical racial violence in the United States and increasing effort toward redress. Area histories of enslavement, lynching, and other racial terror and dispossession relate to inequality, conflict, and violence in the same places today. These ‘haunting legacies’ include contemporary patterns of heart disease and other health disparity, black victim homicide, white supremacist mobilization, and corporal punishment in public schools.
Meanwhile, many communities and institutions are moving to acknowledge and address legacies of historical racial violence. Key to these efforts are detailed records of historical racial violence, which aid in understanding dimensions and mechanisms of its enduring significance, and implications for redress. The Racial Violence Archive is developing a more extensive and accessible record of historical racial violence to support research, education, and advocacy regarding this challenge of transformative racial justice.
Meanwhile, many communities and institutions are moving to acknowledge and address legacies of historical racial violence. Key to these efforts are detailed records of historical racial violence, which aid in understanding dimensions and mechanisms of its enduring significance, and implications for redress. The Racial Violence Archive is developing a more extensive and accessible record of historical racial violence to support research, education, and advocacy regarding this challenge of transformative racial justice.
