Yes, things are better now than in days gone by, but —

Given the national, and now global, outrage sparked by the murder of George Floyd, it may be hard to convince folks that things really are better concerning race relations than in the past, but this is the case. It took more than two months for information about the end of the Civil War to reach folks in Texas; while the Floyd video was broadcast via social media around the world almost immediately. The slogan “Make America Great Again!” is antithetical to race relations in the U.S. The following is a brief listing of events that prove this point.

Few people know of the Civil War battle of Poison Springs, Arkansas, and its aftermath. A combined troop of black and white Union soldiers surrendered to Confederates. Subsequently every black soldier was killed by Choctaw warriors (Confederate Allies); while every white survivor was taken prisoner, but the story is more complicated. The day before white officers forced black soldiers to attack a Choctaw village, kill all who couldn’t escape, then burn the village to the ground. Better known are the Draft Riots of 1863, where angry whites hunted down and killed any blacks they could find. Much of New York City was burned. Others were killed also. Then there was the infamous bargain of 1876, where Republicans effectively terminated reconstruction in the South for putting a Republican in the White House. The result was a slew of “Jim Crow” laws that effectively criminalized folks for being black. We next turn to Boley, Oklahoma. Boley was an allblack town that seemed to be thriving. Unfortunately it appeared to be in the way of an upcoming land rush and was burned to the ground. Some folks were killed. No one knows how many. In 1921 angry mobs attacked a thriving black community in Tulsa. Estimates of the dead range anywhere between 30 and 300. Perhaps the discovery of a mass grave and subsequent investigations will shed more light on the subject. 1916 witnessed the last recorded “Black Burning” in McClendon County, Texas. The following decades witnessed at least 500 lynchings, encapsulated so well in Billie Holiday’s song, “Strange Fruit.” Is it any wonder why the noose is such a powerful anti-black sign? Lives were lost during the civil rights movement and subsequent riots, and one mustn’t forget the March on Selma, where marchers were confronted by angry whites and police who used fire hoses, clubs, and dogs. This is why Trump’s remark about vicious dogs is so reprehensible. In 1970 four white folks were killed by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State, sparking national outrage, and justifiably so. Glossed over, however, was the killing of seven black students on the campus of Jackson

State. The list could go on and on. If still available, I would encourage folks to view “What Jennifer Saw,” a documentary telling the story of how a black man was mistakenly identified as the rapist of a white woman, and police methods leading to that mistake. I also encourage folks to view “When They See Us,” a docudrama telling the story of the Central Park Five.

Yes, things are better, but “better” doesn’t mean “good.” Far from it. Maybe for once the senseless murder of a black man by four policemen will result in significant change for the better. This is my fervent hope.