Rosewood was an atrocity. It NEEDS to be remembered and taught as part of history. Not to make random white people feel guilty, or to make black people hate random white people, but because it’s part of history. Period. It’s also a cautionary tale. Call me crazy, but maybe what makes black people angry is a refusal to acknowledge the reality of what they had to deal with?

America is a country that was founded on superlative principles but how often has it lived up to its principles? The Supreme Court upheld the right of the Native Americans to their land, yet Andrew Jackson still sent them on the Trail of Tears. He disobeyed the ruling of his own Supreme Court.

Similarly, the Constitution protects the rights of all citizens, yet the Sheriff, Mayor, Governor, etc., did nothing to uphold the rights of the black citizens of Rosewood. They had an obligation and a duty to uphold the laws and the principles on which the law was based — yet they failed to act and many innocent people were killed and much property destroyed because of that.

I have an article I recently wrote about racism and gun control: https://medium.com/@shefaliohara/racism-and-gun-control-c220358b8f65

One thing I point out in the article — black citizens were also protected by the 2nd Amendment (and in your article, you show how the exercise of that right helped a black man defend his family) yet in the Jim Crow South laws were passed that took away those rights from most blacks. This was antithetical to the spirit of the law, yet it went on for decades.

The laws that protect our rights as free people are a fragile thing. We have to defend those rights even when it doesn’t affect us personally but “only” affects a group that is marginalized. If we don’t speak up for the oppressed, at some point we ourselves will be oppressed…