The Ocoee massacre was a brutal killing of African Americans and an "unimaginable example of racial hatred". On Election Day in 1920, Mose Norman, a black U.S. citizen attempted to vote in Ocoee and was turned away at the polls. That evening a mob of white angry armed men came to the home of July Perry looking for Mose, Perry was lynched and the mob proceeded to murder black citizens and burn their homes to the ground ("Yesterday, This Was Home" Orange County Regional History Center Exhibit). The exact number of those killed remains unknown, all were forced to flee, some had to hide in the alligator infested swamp. The scares of this event run deep in the black community.
Prior to the night of the massacre the KKK held parades around the state to intimidate black voters. It is believed that between 30-80 black citizens were killed that night. What is known is that 255 black residents lived in Ocoee according to the 1920 census, and after that night, only 2 remained and from 1930-1970 no black citizens lived in Ocoee (The Truth Laid Bare: UCF Magazine). It is heartbreaking that this history has been for too long ignored, stifled and denied. We know these hateful events can never be forgotten. It is important to educate ourselves and others about the fruit of the poison of white supremacy. The videos below are documentary evidence recounted of the terrible events of that night. May we never repeat the sins and evil of our past.
Watch video links below for the history of the Ocoee Massacre in Florida.
Robert Hickey, grandson of Ocoee Massacre survivors
Isaiah 58:6-8
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice,to undo the thongs of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
