Cop Abets White Mob

Title: Cop Abets White Mob
Description: Featured in the Black newspaper, "The Washington Bee", this cartoon depicts a cop disarming an African American man during the Red Summer of 1919. While African Americans could now legally own firearms, it did not mean that their Second Amendment rights were protected. As racial tensions flared, the police repeatedly failed to prevent white mobs from attacking African Americans. The Black community understood that the cops could not be relied upon to protect them from racial terror and that they had no other option but to arm themselves in self-defense. The police incorrectly believed they could prevent riots and appease white mobs by disarming Black citizens. Not only did law enforcement illegally deny African Americans their constitutional rights, but their actions failed to prevent white violence. From April to November of 1919, the NAACP recorded at least 25 large anti-black riots and at least 52 Black people were lynched across the United States.
Creator: The Washington Bee See all items with this value
Publisher: Washington Division, D.C. Public Library.
Date: August 2, 1919 See all items with this value
Type: Cartoon
Format: Digital format of newspaper cartoon (jpg)
Language: English
Subject: Red Summer of 1919; African Americans; Police; Race Relations; Racism; Race Riots See all items with this value
Temporal Coverage: 1919
Rights: Public Domain

Site pages: A Free State? The Second Amendment and Anti-Blackness in America’s Past and Present

Filter by resource type and property:

Item sets with "Related Item: Cop Abets White Mob"
Title	Class
Race and the Second Amendment	Collection