Thread by @JABell27

A couple of reasons my military friends here should go grab a cup of coffee, open the link, & read this story. It might not be immediately obvious, but this *is* at essence a military story—which is why I'm including it in the manuscript for the story of the Golden Fourteen. 1/

https://twitter.com/MSFreePress/status/1423668975351762946

First, it's a story about two Black men, MS state senator Charles Caldwell & MS state representative Eugene Welborne, who volunteered their services in an officially-organized state militia (forerunner of National Guard) to help keep the peace in a contentious election season. 2/

Their white supremacist opponents—the White Liners and the trained & organized "Modocs" from Vicksburg—were an example of a NOT-well-regulated militia, aka they were white supremacist terrorist organizations. 3/

White supremacist politicians made use of the media (the Raymond Gazette in particular) to whip up white public sentiment against the "black-and-tan Republican" political coalition that included Black elected officials. 4/

They mixed small truths & large falsehoods to portray their opponents as corrupt—and dangerous to the white population. And then they turned to vigilante violence to steal the 1875 election. The Boutwell report contains some stats on registered voters showing this. 5/

Despite the subsequent congressional investigation, the white-line southern Democrats were so successful that their tactics of intimidation & violence became known as the "Mississippi Plan." And other white supremacists in the South began to study how they'd done it. 6/

North Carolinians Josephus Daniels, Furnifold Simmons, & Charles Aycock used the 1875 Clinton Massacre as a playbook for the Wilmington (NC) Massacre of 1898, in which white insurrectionists overturned a legally elected city government. 7/

Because they had served as militiamen when called, Eugene Welborne lost his home and farm. Charles Caldwell lost his life. It was, and remained for many years, dangerous for Black men to serve their state or country in uniform. 8/

Eugene Welborne's niece, Ruth Alma Welborne, knew the story of how her uncle and father had barely escaped Mississippi with their lives. The story has come down in the family to the present generation. 9/

She, too, knew what might happen when she left a good-paying job at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and walked into the office of a Washington, DC, Navy recruiter at the height of US participation in World War I. She went anyway. 10/

When we look at the events of 1/6/2021, we must think about whose version of history we will tell & remember. The story of the Clinton Riot, & many of the stories of white violence against Black servicemembers, were largely whitewashed out of military history until recently. 11/

Until the armed forces acknowledge the history of violence against Black servicemembers, in addition to celebrating the "firsts" and the superstars during Black History Month, it will be hard or even impossible to put a stop to continuing inequity in military service. 12/end