Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart were Black men who co-owned the wildly successful People’s Grocery store outside of Memphis, TN, in the 1890s. William Barrett, a white grocery owner, was livid. Soon, he found a way to destroy his competition for good.
Two young boys - one Black, one white - caused a scene near People’s when they got into a minor scuffle. Adults got involved, and the fight turned racial. Barrett used this clamor to spread the lie that the Black townspeople were organizing a race war. In response, an armed white mob, including police deputies, surrounded People's Grocery.
More than 100 Black people were arrested. But the mob still wanted blood. They stormed the jail, removed Moss, McDowell, and Stewart, and ruthlessly murdered all three men. The police even allowed them to loot and burn the store.
White people, used to having it easy when Black people are systematically denied opportunity, often get salty when they have to compete with us on a level playing field. Unfortunately, lynchings still happen today.
Our very presence threatens whiteness because it exposes the lies they created to harm us. We must never make ourselves small for their comfort. How do you define success?