White mobs went door to door shooting black people to end strike by plantation workers
More than a century after armed white mobs shot at least 30 black people in what came to be known as the Thibodaux Massacre, the Lafourche Parish Council plans Tuesday evening (Nov. 14) to honor the victims and their families, the Daily Comet reports. Councilman Jerry Jones also wants Lafourche residents to hold a moment of silence for the victims on Nov. 23, the 130th anniversary of the massacre.
The violence of that day in 1887 ended a monthlong strike by thousands of sugar cane plantation field workers, some of them former slaves and some white people. White mobs went door to door shooting unarmed black people for more than two hours. John DeSantis, whose book about the massacre was published link 2016, says records indicate that 30 to 60 people died.
The city of Thibodaux approved a similar proclamation for the victims on Sept. 5.
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Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and Louisiana interests in Congress, plus other odds and ends, for NOLA.com| The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.
