September 1919, Elaine Arkansas, five whites and an estimated 200 blacks were killed in the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest ethnic conflict, post-civil war, in the history of the United States.
In the early 1900s, blacks were chasing their part of the American Dream. As US citizens, they were promised the opportunity of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With the Northern migration, blacks were searching for a way to obtain these rights that seemingly were god-given, society promised by our constitution, but in actuality impossible to achieve.
In Elaine Arkansas Blacks were Sharecroppers, Sharecroppers were a tenant farmer who gives a part of each crop as rent; with the hopes of one day owning the land they worked. During the planting season of 1919, the price of crops were some of the highest it had been in a generation. The black sharecroppers were aware of the unfair practices of the white landowners; this year, they would ensure that their voices would be heard, and they would receive a fair dollar settlement for the corps they provided through unionization. When the local white landowners heard about the organization and formation of the Union by their sharecroppers, they wanted to ensure that even though this organization for fairness began, it would not continue….
INTERVIEWEES FOR THE FILM
David Krugler
Author of “1919, The Year of Racial Violence” & Professor of History at University of Wisconsin,
Shelia Walker
The descendant of Albert Giles
Robert Whitaker
Author of “On the Laps of Gods” and Journalist
LTC Malcholm Reese U.S. Army (Ret.)
Historian & Resident of Helena
Chester Johnson
Historian & Descendant
Patrick Garland
Historian & Scholar
Kyle Monroe
Resident of Elaine
Pictures from the Film
