Following the Civil War, violent resistance to equal rights for Black people and an ideology of white supremacy fueled racial terrorism across the United States, with lynching used to intimidate Black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. More than 6,500 Black people were lynched in the United States between 1865 and 1950, often after unproven allegations by white people sparked mob violence and with white officials largely tolerating the killings and failing to hold white mobs accountable. In Arkansas, at least 493 Black people were lynched, including at least five in Pulaski County. In Argenta, now North Little Rock, tensions grew after two Black men were shot and killed on September 12 and 13, 1906, after fighting with white men, and the white men were not held accountable. On October 6, after a white man was shot to death on East Washington Avenue, where several Black businesses were located, white mobs launched what became known as the Argenta Race Riot, terrorizing the Black community, burning Black homes and businesses, and driving at least 500 Black people from the city while law enforcement failed to stop the violence. Homer G. Blackwell, a Black restaurant owner also known locally as Mr. Blackman, returned to Argenta late on October 6 after being out of town, and because his home and restaurant were on East Washington Avenue, a white neighbor accused him of taking part in the shooting. He was arrested and taken to the city jail, but on the next night a white mob broke in, abducted him, and hanged him to a light pole at the corner of Sixth and Main streets. Afterward, the Daily Arkansas Gazette insisted that he had been innocent of the charges, and no one was ever held accountable for his lynching.