Key West race riot

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The Key West race riot occurred in 1897, after a 19-year-old black man was accused of raping a white woman in the city. While there were attempts to lynch Sylvanus Johnson, the alleged perpetrator, an all-black group defended him at his jail. They killed a white man in the process, fomenting a race riot. Johnson was executed after a 21-minute deliberation by an all-white jury.

Background[]

Key West, Florida, had been established for about a year when Sylvanus Johnson, a 19-year-old black man, was accused of raping Livington Atwell, a white woman.[1] He had allegedly attacked her while she and three of her friends were collecting flowers in June 1897.[2] He was jailed after Atwell identified him as her rapist.[1] The night of the accusation, a mob of some 25 to 30 men tried to storm the jail and lynch Johnson.[1] They failed, as the jail keeper did not turn him over;[1] the jail keeper and his associates had drawn their guns on the white mob who attempted to access Johnson.[3]

C.B. Pendleton, the owner and editor of two newspapers in the city, urged a lynching at the court hearing for Johnson:[3] He had asked whether there were enough white men to lynch him.[1] This was a public call, and the Miami Metropolis said it was intended to warn black residents of the city of a lynching.[1] The Miami Metropolis also said it allowed them time to organize and prevent it; had Pendleton not said anything, they argued, he could have met no resistance.[1] After Pendleton's outburst, a black resident called to lynch Pendleton, and a group swarmed the editor.[3] He drew his guns and fled in a carriage.[3] Soon, another group of black residents of the town surrounded the jail, and promised to shoot any white person who tried to take Johnson.[3] They shot William Gardner, a white man, that night.[3]

Riot[]

The sheriff thereafter formed a mob of some 40 people, and asked the governor to root out the black group.[3] The governor, William D. Bloxham, in turn asked for assistance from president William McKinley and his secretary of war.[3] With his group formed, the sheriff had prevented much disturbance throughout the town; his shooting of a black resident may have influenced this.[3]

Aftermath[]

Newspapers around the United States blamed the violence on Johnson,[3] although the Afro-American Sentinel from Omaha, Nebraska, had praised the black community's vigorous defense of him.[4]

An all-white jury was empaneled for Johnson's criminal case, and after 21 minutes of deliberation, found him guilty.[3] He was ordered to be hanged, and he was executed on 21 September 1897 as thousands of people watched.[3]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Fleischmann 1992, p. 22.
  2. ^ Fleischmann 1992, p. 22; Sloan 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Sloan 2020.
  4. ^ Williams 2012, p. 131.

Bibliography[]

  • Fleischmann, Thomas F. (1992). "Black Miamians in the Miami Metropolis" (PDF). Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida. LII: 21–38. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  • Sloan, David (30 July 2020). "The Key West race war of 1897". Keys Weekly. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  • Williams, Kidada E. (2012). They left great marks on me: African American testimonies of racial violence from emancipation to World War I. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814795354.
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