A significant number of white Americans opposed fighting in a civil war that would grant freedom to Black Americans. Their concern was former slaves, whom they considered inferior, would compete for jobs at lower wages. Consequently, in July of 1863, a white mob, furious with conscription, targeted Black New Yorkers in an attempt to eradicate them from the landscape. The Union was not as united as it is often portrayed.
“For the horrors of the American Negro’s life,” wrote James Baldwin in 1962, “there has been almost no language.” The history is clear. America gave Black Americans nothing. What freedom we have was earned through blood, toil, grit, perseverance, & courage. After the deadliest insurrection in American history, Black-New Yorkers rebuilt their lives, shaped their destinies & contributed to the ongoing freedom struggle.
Proposed Wage Theft Legislation Would Strip Violators of Their Ability to Do Business in #NewYork
“We did not have the data to understand the scale of the issue in New York State until the ProPublica and Documented series came out last year,” state Sen. Jessica Ramos said.
The #MTA is off twitter! If you live in NYC or use the service
(including metroNorth, CT friends!)
Please contact the MTA and let them know they would be more than welcome on the fediverse. They could probably have their own instance "@mta.info" just the way it ought to be.
160 years ago, in July 1863, a 4-day reign of terror descended upon NYC Black-Americans, who faced targeted violence, persecution & destruction. The riots exposed the deep-rooted racism that permeated Northern society, as Black men, women, & children were brutally attacked and subjected to horrific acts of cruelty. It was the deadliest riot in American history, but it showcased again the resilience of Black America.
If you were Black and woke up in NYC on Monday, July 13, 1863, things got terrifying quick. For Black New Yorkers, there was no reprieve. Black life was dispensable to white mobs & law authorities. The Civil War, poverty, & rabid racism in 19th-century New York explains the events of that week. For Black Americans, the NYC Draft Riots were a heinous episode in an already brutal age. But it didn’t happen in a vacuum.
One of the Exonerated Five (from Central Park case in 1989) is on the verge of winning the NYC Democratic primary for a City Council seat in District 9 in Harlem (a shoo-in to win in November)
#NYC arrests people who jump the subway turnstiles without paying $2.75, but a "billionaire" & his spawn think they have a right to steal millions in tax revenue and they whine and cry when finally handed a bill.
This is the view from George Washington Bridge as smoke from wildfires in Canada blankets the Northeast US.
Air quality in NYC is the worst in the world right now. The Air Quality Index is unimaginably high at over 400 in some areas, meaning there is a high risk of adverse health effects.