We all remember the Great Hoot Nanny of 2017 when racist from all over America descended on a little town in Virginia called Charlottesville. Then president Donald Trump called them “some very fine people,” while simultaneously giving the thumbs up for his Justice Department to try and find legal ways to dismantle the Civil Rights Act Of 1964. That calls for a yahoo… “Yahoooo!!” So what started the Tiki Torch Revolution? In 1917, Paul Goodloe McIntire commissioned Henry Shrady to sculpt a statue of General Robert (“There’s A Darkie Eating Watermelon In My Front Yard” ) Lee. Now before I start with the name calling, I did do my research on both McIntire and Shrady and to the best of my knowledge neither one has a racist background. That is to say their names didn’t figure prominently in the local newspapers under articles with headlines like, “McIntire Gives Negro Two Seconds To Apologize!” or “Shrady Says Blacks Allowed To Breath In Same Room With Him.” So although McIntire didn’t seem to have racist affiliations, he was born and raised right in the middle of the Klan Belt. From the time he could wave the Rebel flag and yell Yahoo, he was probably taught that people of color were inferior. He became a successful businessman in a time when the Klan in Charlottesville was king.
Boy Are You Breathing My Air!!??
In 1915 G.W Griffith came out with one of the most racist movies of all time. It was called Birth Of A Nation. It was a celebration of the Aryan birthright.. and believe me, they celebrated their azz off in the movie. Then president Woodrow Wilson had a private showing of the film in the White House and the Klan boasted almost 4 million members. Today their ranks are estimated to be around 3000 members… that doesn’t include their supporters. When I say members, I am talking about the the ones that still wear hoods, burn crosses, spit chewin “tobackee…,” and wish a (expletive) would. Anywho, so before we continue I want to throw out a little love for another movie with the same title. This “Birth Of A Nation” film is about Nat Turner… and as we all know he wished a (expletive) would too!! This is the link to the trailer for the movie for those who are interested. So as I was saying.. back in the day Charlottesville was a haven for the pointy heads. Spurred by Griffiths racist movie, Charlottesville and the University Of Virginia embraced the message of Aryan superiority. In 1916 the Daily Progress, a local Charlottesville paper ran an article about children dressed in Klan robes on Halloween, it read in part, ” a gay battalion of Ku Klux Klan came thundering down from the heights of the Midway, recalling other days. Many a dusky denizen of ‘the bottom’ was seen to shrink instinctively back into the shadows of Preston Avenue.” Now if you don’t know who the dusky denizens were… well you bedda ask somebody. Even as far as ten years after the film was released the Charlottesville Daily Progress called the film “greatest spectacle” and “the greatest picture of the age.” Yessiree Bob.. back in da day, dusky denizen weren’t welcome in Charlottesville U.S of A.
Charlottesville Virginia, U.S Of A 1916
Leaving town before dark
According to the local news accounts, Hampton Cosby, Richard Jones and John Anderson were three “dusky denizens” who were accused of stealing a ham, actually they were caught red handed stealing a ham. Back in that time, the police thought if you was a black person and you were standing less than two feet from a ham, you was stealing it. Police: “Boy are you getting ready to steal that ham? You under arrest!!” Anyway, a fight broke out when the officer tried to arrest Cosby. So the police say that Cosby then struck the officer repeatedly on the dome with a rock and sent him on an all expense paid trip to the Upper Room. Cosby and Jones then fled to a nearby residence. Now normally this story would end with the police surrounding the crib, setting it on fire and shooting anybody that came out… and that would be that. But in 1916 just a couple years before the Red Summer, this type of opportunity was the stuff spectacles were made out of. The Red Summer started around 1918 and historically there has never been a greater number of lynching and killing of black folks than during this time period. It lasted about a year.. but if you feeling some kinda way after hearing this, black people fought back too… in places like Washington DC, Chicago and New York. Even so the hatred during this period was real and it culminated in Elaine, Arkansas, which was known as the Elaine Massacre. More than 200 blacks were killed during this race riot along with 5 whites. I will write about that in a later article, but for now let’s get back to “where did you get those quarters at?” So Cosby along with Jones fled and were subsequently caught.. so you might ask, ” well where does Anderson come in at?” Anderson was in the house that Cosby and Jones fled to and he was arrested along with them. After going through the standard procedure they were taken and locked up. What is the standard procedure? Oh that’s an azz whoppin.. all black men that came into contact with the police in these small towns in the early 20th century had to go through the standard procedure… that’s in the book… Standard Procedures- Rule #1. Whip dey azz wheneva you get a chance… So yeah, after standard procedure they were locked up. Well the next day another account of the theft was printed in the local newspaper. This account said that the police officer first shot Jones in the leg, then Cosby grabbed a brick and knocked the officer down. Cosby then got a hold of the officers thing and shot him in the stomach. The newspapers were aiming to gin up to a fevered pitch the inherent racism based on trumped up outrage.. and it worked. ” The officer’s life was snatched away by murder most foul, done to death while in the line of duty, by two negro housebreakers, who are now on trial for the dastardly crime…. Yahoo!! “ Okay I put Yahoo in there… but they was gearing up for a lynching. The trial started five days later and a mob of a few hundred gathered outside the courthouse. According to the newspapers they gathered in a “spirit of rioting and lynching in Charlottesville.” The mob many of whom who wore masked, gathered in front of the court house intending on forcibly removing the suspects and taking them to the nearest tree, where they planned on having a good old time… but they they were stopped by the police. Meanwhile another mob had gathered near the location where the incident had occurred and they had picked out a tree in front of the house where the alleged crime had taken place. That mob included “a large delegation from the student body at the University Of Virginia.” They eventually joined the other mob at the courthouse, where they now numbered over one thousand people. The sheriff came to the front and and opened the door and a tall negro came out. He walked toward the crowd, walked up to what appeared to be the leader and smacked the “Behind Jelly” out of him… Oh wait a minute.. that’s another story.. sorry… So yeah there were about a thousand people there wanting to picnic, but the sheriff temporarily moved Jones and Cosby to Richmond until things had cooled down. They were returned a couple weeks later, where they were tried by an all white jury. They were found guilty and were sentenced to death in the electric chair. The sentence was carried out almost two months to the day after they had first been arrested. As far as Anderson is concerned, the papers never mention him again, although he had been arrested with Cosby and Jones. Usually in these cases when you are let out of jail because they made a mistake, your family and all your belongings are on a horse drawn cart in front of the courthouse and the Sheriff says something like… “It will be dark soon boy….”
Land Of The Wahoos
Picture of Confederate alumni in 1912- University of Virginia.)
So Charlottesville is home to the University Of Virginia. The students there are unofficially known as Wahoos. Yep it sounds a lot like “Yahoos, but is it by design or coincidence.. I couldn’t tell ya. Anyway in 1921 the Grand Dragon of the Imperial Right Swastika Of Yahoo aka State Klan leader, sent the University a letter pledging $1000 to their Centennial Endowment Fund. UVA’s director then publicly expressed great joy and admiration for the generous gift the Klan had given them. This was the beginning of what would become a long and beautiful friendship between UVA, Charlottesville and the Klan. The Daily Progress Newspaper: “The spirit of Nathan Bedford Forrest hovered over Charlottesville recently, and the fiery cross, symbolic of the Invisible Empire and of the unconquered and unconquerable blood of America, cast an eerie sheen upon a legion of white robed Virginians as they stood upon hallowed ground and renewed the faith of their fathers.. Yahoo!!” I don’t know why I put Yahoo at the end of racist #@@! like this.. but.. oh well.. It went on to say, “hundreds of Charlottesville’s leading business and professional men met … and sealed the pledge of chivalry and patriotism with the deepest crimson of red American blood.” So Ima tell ya right now.. when dey start talking about the “deep crimson of American Red Blood…” its time for you to getcho azz outta der.!! As a matter of fact later that month the Klan began circulating bulletins that said, “Law and order must prevail at Charlottesville, Va. and all undesirables must leave town.” That meant the Dusky Denizens, the Asian Hordes and the Mexican Field Hustlers,, all had to leave… or else!! The same bulletin invited American born, red blooded whites to join them if they believed in white supremacy. By the end of the 1921 Charlottesville was Klan City, USA. Throughout the twenties the Klan tightened their grip on Charlottesville. They had at least two chapters locally. The second, known as “VA. Klan No. 5,” was at UVA and the 1921 year book for at least one alumni had a picture of the KKK as the frontispiece for the student organizations section. The frontispiece is like when you open a book cover and on the right hand side you see the title and on the left hand side you see a picture… in this case it was a of a bunch of Klan hanging somebody and spittin chewing tobackee… at least in dey book that’s what you might have seen. Anywho… the Klan was there to stay. Over the years many Klan speakers were invited to speak at official functions and participate in parades and other city celebrations. August 1922, State Grand Poobah or whateva.. speaking at official city function, “The destinies of America shall remain with the white race; they shall never be entrusted to the black, the brown, or the yellow, or to the unclean hands of hybrids and mongrels.” As I was reading this… Well, I’m not sure how many of you saw Mississippi Burning, but the Klan leader in that film made a similar statement… wonder if they got their inspiration from this speech? “By the early 1920s, with close to 60 local chapters statewide, visible Klan activity was part of the fabric of life in Charlottesville and Albemarle.” – UVA Today. I can’t leave this section without mentioning Nathan Bedford, The Butcher of Fort Pillow and the first and “only” “National Grand Dragon” Of The Imperial Knight Of The Klu Klux Klan. I believe the massacre at Fort Pillow was the reason he became the first leader of one of the most hated groups in American history, the Klu Klux Klan.
Where Did You Get Those Quarters From?
Procession during the unveiling of the Lee statue in Charlottesville Virginia in 1924
So we could say back day in the Charlottesville was like the Stone Mountain of Of Georgia. In May of 1924 the Klan held a rally and at a place called Montalto, they burned a large cross and it was said it could be seen for miles, just like they use to do at Stone Mountain. Of course we are all familiar with Stone Mountain in Georgia. It is the place of the largest bas relief sculpture in the world. The carving depicts three Confederate leaders, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. Davis was President of the Confederacy, Robert E Lee was Commander of the Confederate forces and Jackson was one of the greatest confederate military tacticians of his day. Stone Mountain is the holy place of white supremacy, that is until a black man named Grand Master Jay, founder of the “Not F*cking Around Coalition told them to either come out and fight or join them in demonstrating against the government. Nobody showed up as far as I know… last time I heard they was throwing chicken and watermelon parties out there. Anywho, back to Charlottesville… the next day, the KKK was feeling they self and marched fully loaded. When I say fully loaded, I mean they were dressed in full robe and hood with red cross and hanging rope insignia… right down Main street and straight into Vinegar Hill. Vinegar Hill is like them marching down Alabama Ave in DC, or Greenmount Ave in Baltimore, or Flatbush in Brooklyn… they was kicking ass and taking names in 1924. Later that evening after the cross had been lit, the Klan had planned a celebration for Confederate Veterans and for what our topic is in this article.. they planned to celebrate the unveiling of the Robert E. Lee statue. That’s right ladies and gentleman, that statue was unveiled during a major Klu Klux Klan hoopla and tobackee spittin convention, complete with a parade thru the dusky denizens of Vinegar Hill neighborhood! So anybody that tells you that statue was about preserving their heritage and it didn’t have anything to do with race… well let me go get the thing first… is a bare faced liar!! That statue represented the might and power of white supremacy in the city of Charlottesville Virginia at the height of the Klu Klux Klan revolution! After the Racist and Nazi Rally of 2017 in Charlottesville, it was decided that @##!! had to go. It took four years and countless hours in court, but on July 20, 2021, it was raised from it pedestal and removed. I watch as history was being made. I felt a little disappointed when they put the chain around the horses body instead of around his neck, which would have been more symbolic… and as he bears that responsibility for the deaths of so many Americans, black and white at the hands of Klu Klux Klan lynching, well I thought that would be a more fitting ending to this story.. until.. On December 7, 2021, by a vote of 4-0, the City Council voted to hand over the statue to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Executive Director Andrea Douglas, “The center will take the statue to a foundry in early 2022 to have it melted down. We’ll do that immediately. It’s the first thing we’re going to do! We are hoping that this process will be the complete antithesis to the process that put the [Lee] statue in our community to being with.” They are going to melt it down.. The Southern Poverty Law Center says more than 160 Confederate monuments were removed in the United States in 2020. We have watched history unfold in front of us. So after telling this story, you may wonder where did I get my title from? It doesn’t seem to fit the narrative. Well before I wrote this story and I found out they were melting the Lee statue down and that over 160 statues had been taken down… Well I just wondered… wouldn’t it be great if they were melting them statues down and making Maya Angelou quarters out of them. I would find the greatest satisfaction in asking, “Where did you get that quarter from?”
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