The Thibodaux Massacre

Fear, rumor and white supremacist ideals clashed with an unprecedented labor action spawned an epic tragedy.  On November 23, 1887, white vigilantes gunned down unarmed black laborers and their families due to strikes on Louisiana sugar cane plantations. A future member of the U.S. House of Representatives was among the leaders of a mob that routed black men from houses and forced them to a stretc...