May 1, 1866: A group of Irish police accosted black Union soldiers on a street corner in Memphis, Tennessee. The soldiers resisted being bullied. When a policeman shoved and struck one soldier, he exchanged heated words with the deputy. The soldiers outnumbered the police, who moved off, hurling epithets behind them. One soldier fired his pistol up at the sky, a rebuke to the curses heaped upon them. The police whirled around and fired at the soldiers. One policeman shot himself accidently, a mortal wound that bled out. Within hours, rumors circulated the city that African-American soldiers had killed a police officer, and Irish city officials led a mob against black neighborhoods to avenge the alleged murder. White mob violence escalated from beatings to murder, looting, rape, and arson; all of the victims were African Americans. After three days of unchecked violence at the hands of white vigilantes, 46…
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