History
The history part was a lot of research of the topic which I then turned into a series of paragraphs focusing on the main points, including what sparked it, the mayors involvement, and the trails.
The York race riots were a distinct time of racial tension between 1968 - 1969. The civil war ended about one hundred years prior but the date marking the end of the war did not magically mark the date of the end of racism. The York riots, among many other events both historical and present, are proof that racism still exists. Lillie Belle Allen (a black young women from the south) and Henry Schaad (a white police officer) were the two victims of these riots.
The riots were believed to have started after black youths were in Penn Park in what police viewed as disorderly assembly on July 11, 1968. A rock was bounced off a police car and escalated to the point where an officer fired a shot into the air. This day was the spark of many days of violence between police and black youth. Another cause would be the claim that a twelve-year-old black boy made, stating that a white gang had doused him with gasoline. This claim turned out to be false and the truth was the child was playing with a lighter and burned himself. So, this started a problems between blacks and white gangs.
Justice for Allen and Schaad were allowed to be put on hold for about 30 years after their murders. Once the cases were opened 30 years later, it became what's known today as the race riot trails. The trails were composed of the question of an unfit mayor to see the communities needs such as its face in poverty and poor social and economic conditions, and also the unfinished/unsolved cases of course.
Henry Schaad was shot on July 18 and Lillie Belle Allen was shot three days after on July 21. Schaad was shot while patrolling in one of the cities armored trucks. Allen was shot after offering to take the wheel and getting of the car. Everyone knew who was involved in her murder but people were either scared to speak up, or just thought that everything was even. “One black had been killed and one white - even,” said Mayor Robertson.
Robertson was elected and re elected mayor in the 1990s. Before becoming mayor he was a police officer and became associated with Allen's death in court proceedings. There were charges against ten other white men who were all involved in gangs at the time. Robertson was the only person to claim innocence. Two witnesses said they saw Robertson give ammunition to members. One confessed to using the rifle ammunition to fire at Allen and the other says he was told to “kill as many niggers as you can” by the mayor. Robertson also confessed to shouting “white power” the night before her murder. He was later acquitted of charges and had been given a set $50,000 bail. Through all he was accused of and backlash he took, he still refused to resign which angered many blacks of york and minorities made up about 40% of the town's population of 41,000 at the time.
Breaking down the Intro
If you google search the end of the civil war, the internet will give the date April 9, 1865. If you search the end of racism, a date does not come up. Instead, sites made to help stop racism come up. But that is not what was searched. I think what should come up is “Your search - end of racism - did not match any documents.” Because the end does not exist, yet.
Over the course of 100 years, a lot of things could change. The fact that the civil war ended an entire hundred years before the race riots is absurd. The thought that the problem of skin color is so intense that people of the late 1960s, and arguably still today, are being killed because of their skin tone.
Allen and Schaad were just two of many lives to be loss due to racial tension.
Schaad was a police officer about 50 years ago, and police officers today still get a hard time about racial unjust. I don't think every police officer behaves as the stereotype given to them. They’re `under a lot of pressure and sometimes make bad choices. Do I think some police shootings could have been avoided? Definitely. Are there racist cops in the field and in training now? Of course. Whether Schaad was racist or not, no one truly knows, I’d like to believe that he was just doing his job. He was on duty in a police car, very aware of his towns situation and still did his job. He knew the town was going through racial rumbles and there were even issues between black youth and police officers. I think he was completely innocent, much like most people to lose their lives to this unruly cause of race. In the end, about thirty years after his death, when the trials were opened up again, Schaad finally gained justice when three black men were charged for his murder.
Allen was just as innocent as Schaad. She didn't do anything to those white men. Her family didn't do anything to provoke them either. They were all minding their business and they weren't even from that town. Its possible they didn't know that York was going through the riots. The family that they were visiting could have warned them but I'm sure that they couldn't understand how serious everything was just by words. They had to wait to figure out just how bad it was when they got there. If Allen was white there’s no doubt that she would have fine and there would never had been a scene in the first place. There’s no doubt the only reason she and her family were targeted is simply because they were not white and that was apparently a huge problem in that time and place.
Over the course of 100 years, a lot of things could change. The fact that the civil war ended an entire hundred years before the race riots is absurd. The thought that the problem of skin color is so intense that people of the late 1960s, and arguably still today, are being killed because of their skin tone.
Allen and Schaad were just two of many lives to be loss due to racial tension.
Schaad was a police officer about 50 years ago, and police officers today still get a hard time about racial unjust. I don't think every police officer behaves as the stereotype given to them. They’re `under a lot of pressure and sometimes make bad choices. Do I think some police shootings could have been avoided? Definitely. Are there racist cops in the field and in training now? Of course. Whether Schaad was racist or not, no one truly knows, I’d like to believe that he was just doing his job. He was on duty in a police car, very aware of his towns situation and still did his job. He knew the town was going through racial rumbles and there were even issues between black youth and police officers. I think he was completely innocent, much like most people to lose their lives to this unruly cause of race. In the end, about thirty years after his death, when the trials were opened up again, Schaad finally gained justice when three black men were charged for his murder.
Allen was just as innocent as Schaad. She didn't do anything to those white men. Her family didn't do anything to provoke them either. They were all minding their business and they weren't even from that town. Its possible they didn't know that York was going through the riots. The family that they were visiting could have warned them but I'm sure that they couldn't understand how serious everything was just by words. They had to wait to figure out just how bad it was when they got there. If Allen was white there’s no doubt that she would have fine and there would never had been a scene in the first place. There’s no doubt the only reason she and her family were targeted is simply because they were not white and that was apparently a huge problem in that time and place.
English
My English part consisted of two different pieces from Lille Belle Allens perspective of a negative and a positive one. It mentions the contrast of todays world racial endosed events and those her her lifetime and the past.
PositiveFinally. It’s about time I see people finally coming together to make a change. It's been long overdue and I’m so proud of all my brothers and sisters who are brave enough to have their voices heard. I love seeing them tell their stories and preach their struggles.
After all of the voices screaming for change in marches got drowned out by the sounds of gunfire and dog growling. After the years of dirty knees, dry throats, and dark skin from being out in sun all day picking cotton in fields. After being torn away from family and given a price to reflect our values. Finally, people have decided that enough was enough. Without leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, and various other icons, I worried that my brothers and sisters would sink into society and learn to call their world of daily minority struggle “normal.” For a while I lost my hope. I thought that there was no one left with thoughts of peaceful vengeance. Now I see that there are multiple people who have not forgotten the purpose. The purpose to not let brave acts of resistance like that of Rosa Parks go to waste. The purpose to stand up and remember innocent bloodshed just because of skin tone, like me. The purpose to recognize that things have come a long way but still have much farther to go. I look down and see people come together of all races to demand a change. They’re proud of what they’re doing and aren’t ashamed to let anyone know. They wear the words “black lives matter” on their shirts and hoodies then proudly go about their day. I love it. I love seeing them so involved and aware of racial crimes and injustice. Even though they may not have suffered first hand like me and hundreds of others, they have every right to speak up and speak out about their oppression, beliefs, and hopes of change. My story is simple. I’m from Aikens, South Carolina and my family and I went all the way to York, Pennsylvania just to visit family. Who would’ve thought that the grocery store could’ve been my last doors to ever walk through . We were all in the car. My sister behind the wheel, my parents in the backseat, and me occupying the passenger seat. We saw them start to appear. They were on their porches. They were on roofs. They were surrounding us. Imagine minding your business just laughing and joking with your family at one moment, then the next having the car come to a halting stop because your view from every window is white men and guns. Guns pointing at you. My sister was too scared to drive and I knew that something had to be done. Somebody had to be brave and see to it that we all get back home. I got out of the car. Slowly and raising my hands so they would all see I was not armed and I was harmless. I was not focused on them. I was focused on the safety of the people that I grew up with, the people whose quickening heart beats and short breaths belonged to. I was worried about safety but it seemed like every white man that day looking down upon us was worried about death. Maybe they confused my English and I wasn't clear enough. Does “No, don’t shoot. Please, don’t shoot,” sound like “Shoot me. The color of my skin means I am lesser than you. You have every right and reason to open fire upon me and my family. I won't stop you?” I lost my life and that's the unfortunate part but now I get to be remembered as apart of something much greater. The memory of me and my murder is now grouped into others who were murdered for roughly the same reason: racism. I’m proud to be part of something greater. We blacks have been suffering for years and it's about time we begin to get the full recognition, respect, and fairness we deserve. |
NegativeBlack kids these days grow up yelling “Black Lives Matter” with no context behind it. They think that because they learned about the civil war in third grade and read about what their ancestors went through that it gives them the right to speak their “oppression” into existence. It does not. Until they can say that they traveled about 600 miles to visit family just to get gunned down by white gang members, they own no rights to say black lives matter. They don’t understand what it means. So, here’s my story, and here's my validity as to why I have every right to let the syllables of “racism” slide from my mouth. Not because I’ve read or was taught about it in school from what I'm assuming would be a white lady you addressed by ‘Mrs,’ but because I’ve lived through and experienced prejudice and discrimination before my life was taken. I could've been greeting half the men and women I met as “Yes, master.”
My story is simple. I’m from Aikens, South Carolina and my family and I went all the way to York, Pennsylvania just to visit family. Who would’ve thought that the grocery store could’ve been the last doors I’d ever exit. We were all in the car. My sister behind the wheel, my parents in the backseat, and me occupying the passenger seat. We saw them start to appear. They were on their porches. They were on roofs. They were surrounding us. Imagine minding your business just laughing and joking with your family at one moment, then they next having the car come to a halting stop because your view from every window is white men and guns. Guns pointing at you. My sister was too scared to drive and I knew that something had to be done. Somebody had to be brave and see to it that we all get back home. I got out of the car, slowly while raising my hands so they would all see I was not armed and I was harmless. I was not focused on them. I was focused on the safety of the people that I grew up with, the people whose quickening heart beats and short breaths belonged to. I was worried about safely, but it seemed like every white man that day looking down upon us was worried about death. Maybe they confused my English and I wasn't clear enough. Does “No, don’t shoot. Please, don’t shoot,” sound like “Shoot me. The color of my skin means I am lesser than you. You have every right and reason to open fire upon me and my family. I won't stop you?” How many people living today have gone to a grocery store with their family? It could've been anyone, but this happened to me. They’ll say I was just at the wong place at the wrong time. But what they’ll mean is the wrong skin tone at the wrong time. Either way, it doesn't matter anymore. I lost my life and now I’m looking down and seeing the foolishness of today's world. I watch as a man gets shot in a backyard carrying a cell phone. I watched another brother get shot from pointing what looked like a gun at people. I witnessed people saying “all lives matter” as a protest to our protest. Can we just come together and believe in something for once instead of be overshadowed by someone believing they are bigger than us? I watched my brothers and sisters get stepped on, and now when we try to get up, y’all just stand your foot down harder on our necks. You've attempted to muffle our voice but the movement continues. The world is still changing and growing, maybe not fast enough but it has come along way. Teachers are in place to do their job to educate what will become the future of the world about these topics of my people’s hardships, informative and powerful music such as “I’m not racist” by Lucas Joyner has been made to speak the truth and spread awareness, there are shows such as “Dear white people.” We blacks have been suffering for years and it's about time we begin to get the full recognition, respect, and fairness we deserve. |