Attacking the Dream: 7 major race massacres in US history
1. New Orleans – 1866
A group of former Confederate officers and other whites were deputized by the sheriff of New Orleans to stop a state constitutional convention that had been set to expand civil rights to black residents.
On July 30, as the delegates were reconvening, a group of white men attacked the building where the gathering was being held, with the deputized troops opening fire on the black men gathered outside.
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Union troops eventually came and put a stop to the violence. After a couple of hours of rioting, 34 African Americans were killed and another 119 were wounded.
According to Park Ranger Rich Condon of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, the violent effort to stop Louisiana's black residents from gaining full rights likely had the opposite effect.
“The 1866 elections saw to it that a Radical Republican majority ruled in both the House of Representatives and Senate, and ultimately contributed to the passing of the 14th and 15th Amendments,” according to the National Park Service.
“It could even be said that the violence which transpired on July 30, 1866, in a twist of irony, gave rise to several policies that would be enacted in following years, including federal military presence in the South, temporary disenfranchisement of former Confederates, and for a population of more than 4 million freed people: the right to vote.”
