Daily Herald opinion: Monument recognizing 1908 Springfield Race Riot an important way to remember a dark chapter in history
Today, on the 116th anniversary of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, President Joe Biden will announce a national monument to mark that dark chapter in Illinois’ history.
If you never learned about the tragedy in school, you are not alone. The site itself has been paved over, and even Springfield schools don’t teach what unfolded between Aug. 14 and 16, reported The Washington Post in breaking the story about Biden’s plans.
“When you cover things up, the wound will eventually fester like a raisin in the sun,” Ken Page, president of the Springfield chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told The Washington Post. “There is now an opportunity for schoolchildren to visit that site and also to understand it. … I think it’s extremely important for us to know our history so that we do not repeat it.”
Page is right: The monument is an overdue step in acknowledging a bitter past and understanding that racial hatred and violence were not limited to the South.
On Aug. 14, 1908, a crowd of about 5,000 white people gathered outside the jail in Springfield, demanding the release of two Black men so they could take what they considered justice into their own hands. The prisoners were George Richardson, accused of raping a white woman, and Joe James, accused of murdering a white man.
The sheriff, sensing danger, moved the two men. The infuriated mob then turned to violence, destroying homes, burning businesses and lynching two prominent members of the Black community. The violence claimed other lives, and the Illinois National Guard was called in.
As for the two jailed men, Richardson was set free after his accuser recanted her story. James was quickly convicted and hanged for murder, though civil rights groups argue today that the trial was unfair and the evidence circumstantial.
The riots led to the founding, six months later, of the NAACP.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, began calling for a monument in 2018. She joined Sen. Dick Durbin, along with U.S. Reps. Nikki Budzinski and Darin LaHood, in introducing legislation to build the monument, but the measure stalled in Congress.
We are grateful that Biden is making the monument a reality, building on his legacy as he enters his final months in office. He is scheduled to do so in a proclamation event today at the White House, surrounded by Illinois lawmakers and civil rights leaders.
The fanfare is fitting. So is the timing, with Springfield still reeling from the July 6 high-profile shooting death of Sonya Massey at the hands of Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson, now facing first-degree murder charges.
There is a tragic connection between the 1908 murders and Massey’s death: She was a direct descendant of William K. Donnegan, who was lynched during the riot.
No monument can make right the past or fully heal lingering emotional wounds. But the creation of one honoring the many victims and teaching visitors about this horrific event is an important step.
And once built, it should be on the must-see list of families and school groups visiting our state capital.