Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart were Black men who co-owned the very successful People’s Grocery store outside of Memphis, TN in the 1890s.
Their success made William Barrett, a white grocery owner, upset at having fair competition. So he found an excuse to get rid of them for good.
When two young boys - one Black, one white - got in a small fight near People’s, it caused a scene. Soon, adults entered the scuffle and the fight grew along racial lines.
Barrett used this opportunity to spread the lie that the Black townspeople were organizing to incite a race war! In response, an armed white mob, which included police deputies, formed and surrounded People's Grocery.
A firefight ensued. The next day, more than 100 Black people were arrested. But the mob still wanted blood, and with the support of the local authorities, they stormed the jail, removed Moss, McDowell, and Stewart, and ruthlessly murdered them.
The police then allowed the mob to loot and destroy the store.
White people, used to having it easy when Black people were systematically denied opportunity, often get real salty when they have to actually compete on a level playing field.
While lynchings are mostly a thing of the past, we all know that unfortunately not much else has changed.