Ocoee Race Riots - 1920

The Ocoee massacre was a violent race riot that broke out on November 2, 1920, during the U.S. Presidential election in Ocoee, Florida, when African-American-owned buildings and residences in northern Ocoee were burned to the ground, as many as 50 or 60 African Americans were killed throughout the conflict, and those who were not direct victims were later driven out by threats or force. Ocoee then became an all-white town and remained so until 1981. Considered the single bloodiest day in modern American political history, the riot began as a white mob’s response to Mose Norman’s persistence in trying to vote on Election Day after he was twice ordered away from the polls. Whites later formed a mob to search for him and surrounded the home of Julius “July” Perry, a prosperous local African-American farmer and contractor, where Norman was believed to be taking refuge. After Perry drove away the mob with gunshots, reinforcements from Orlando and Orange County were called in, the African-American community in Ocoee was laid waste, Perry was eventually killed, Norman escaped and was never found, and other African Americans fled into orange groves, swamps, and neighboring towns, leaving behind their homes and possessions.

Mims, Florida · United States