In the fall of 1919 one the worst racial massacres in U.S. history occurred in Elaine, Arkansas. On the evening of September 30th black sharecropping families gathered in the Hoop Spur church in Elaine. They were in the process of organizing, unionizing and hiring a lawyer to improve their standard of living. At the end of the meeting, two white men shot into the church. The black guards returned fire. The exchange of bullets led to the death of one white man. The reaction to this death was brutal and swift. According to many eyewitnesses in Elaine, bodies were buried in pits, bodies hung from bridges and countless numbers of black people were murdered. Americans have yet to recognize this event in Arkansas.
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