Seeking Justice in Black Spaces: The Geography, Memory, and Power of Race Massacres in the United States

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology of Urban Dissonance: Violence, Friction, and Change" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Many urban centers bear the scars of anti-Black violence and race massacres. Predominately Black spaces have been especially susceptible to various forms of racial unrest at the hands of their white counterparts. Massacres such as those in the Snowtown neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island in 1831 and the Tulsa, Oklahoma Greenwood District in 1921 reveal the generational impacts of these histories. Structural violence, in the forms of gentrification, urban renewal, and a lack of public education and discourse, has sought to erase the memories of these events. Despite this, Providence and Tulsa are now witnessing descendants, community members and researchers reframe and reimage conversations about the past through community driven initiatives that include the construction of memorials, commemorative events, and archaeological investigations. This analysis explores both the resilience and challenges faced by both cities as they seek justice and confront their pasts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology of Urban Dissonance: Violence, Friction, and Change   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology