Peekskill rampage 1949

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The Peekskill Riots were racist riots on August 27 and September 4, 1949 near Peekskill , Westchester County , New York State . They went down in US history because they showed unprecedented open violence by right-wing extremists against the predominantly dark-skinned left. It was the first time the term " White Supremacist " appeared in the New York Times .

The first concert

The trigger for the attacks on blacks, among others by members of the Ku Klux Klan, was a planned concert by the singer Paul Robeson . Robeson was a thorn in the side of the right wing because he combined several "evils" in one person: He was dark skin color, he was a successful actor and singer, and he was a trade unionist. Robeson stood up for an end to colonialism in Africa , for better relations with the Soviet Union , for the rights of blacks and against the Ku Klux Klan.

The violent attacks began hours before the concert in Peekskill scheduled for August 27 by the Civil Rights Congress. Mostly locals, as well as about 300 racists who had traveled, took out their baseball bats and threw stones at the concert-goers. The local police demonstratively took their time and hardly intervened. When Paul Robeson arrived from the train station in the car on the concert area, he could not get out. The attackers shouted “Dirty Commie” (dirty communist) and “Dirty Kikes” (dirty Jew). A doll depicting Robeson was symbolically lynched by the right wing, and a cross was set on fire - a symbol of the KKK. The violence escalated without police intervention, so unionists had to protect fans with a ring. The concert was canceled. Residents of Peekskill who sympathized with Robeson put up night vigils.

The second concert

The concert with Robeson, Pete Seeger and others was rescheduled a week later, on September 4, 1949, and was peaceful with 15,000 spectators, but resembled a theater of war. A helicopter circled above the audience and illuminated it with its searchlights, while 3,000-man security guards deployed by communists and communist-dominated unions shielded the arena from access by third parties, including the police. The police, in turn, later claimed to have protected the event from "anti-communist" demonstrators.

After the concert, however, there were numerous attacks on the concert-goers. The mob injured over 140 people, four of them seriously, wrecked cars and buses while local police watched. US Air Force first black fighter pilot Eugene Bullard was beaten up by officials. This process was recorded on film by the press, but had no legal consequences. The scene can be seen in several documentaries, including The Tallest Tree in Our Forest and Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist .

The incidents received a lot of press coverage, but did not lead to major debates in Washington at the time.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The London Times wrote of 1,200 police officers on duty, as well as stones being thrown from roofs and trees at the concert participants who were moving home. The Times, Our Own Correspondent. Stone-Throwing After A Robeson Concert . Sept. 5, 1949, p. 3
  2. ↑ Our Own Correspondent. 138 Hurt After Concert By Mr. Robeson . Times, Sept. 6, 1949, p. 3
  3. ↑ New York Times, October 17, 1949. In this issue the word "White Supremacist" was mentioned for the first time in the newspaper: Who at Peekskill [...] failed to hear the cries, "Kill the nigger bastards" and "kill the." white nigger lovers'? [...] It reeks with the filth and bigotry so characteristic of the white supremacist.

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