In 1919, Elaine, Arkansas was the scene of a deadly race massacre after Black farmers attempted to organize for better crop prices and acquire land.
Even now, talking about this historic event is a challenge complicated by fear, myth, and a whitewashed official story that for decades had minimized the devastation of the massacre.
Some descendants of survivors now share the oral histories passed down by their ancestors that land was stolen from Black people during and after the chaos of 1919 that caused many families to flee for their lives. Hard evidence of those claims has yet to surface, but a local organization is making some gains.
Awareness of Elaine’s brutal history has encouraged others to speak out against modern concerns, including the relentless spraying of agricultural pesticides that many here believe pose health hazards.
