A vocal black preacher, named Grant Smith, appealed to the Sheriff to release the men. He claimed there wasn’t much evidence to hold all five men accountable for assault, and also suggested that one of the men could have already been in a consensual relationship with Grice. Many whites were outraged by Smith’s allegations and an angry mob beat and horse-whipped the preacher on the steps of the courthouse, almost taking his life.
From it's very inception our nation has committed these kinds or horrible acts, killing many 10s of thousands of our citizens because of greed, hate, or any other outlandish reason that they came up with. We committed genocide against the Natives of this country to start the USA and then turned to the enslavement of Africans as forced labor and we've not stopped until this very day. It may be more subtle and better hidden from view, but we still suffer the same slings and arrows as our ancestors did from day one here in the home land. Of course for the Slaves this was NOT their homeland.
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https://www.history.com/news/native-americans-genocide-united-statesBy the close of the Indian Wars in the late 19th century, fewer than 238,000 Indigenous people remained, a sharp decline from the estimated 5 million to 15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492.
