A white mob in Sikeston, Missouri, abducts Cleo Wright, accused of assaulting a white woman, from jail, drags him behind a car, and sets him on fire in front of two Black churches as service lets out.
January 24, 1956
Men who murdered Emmett Till confess in Look magazine.
January 23, 1957
Ku Klux Klan members force Willie Edwards Jr., a Black resident of Montgomery, Alabama, to jump to his death from a bridge over the Alabama River; they never face prosecution for his murder.
January 22, 1883
U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Harris limits Congressional authority to criminalize racial terrorism, including violent acts by the Ku Klux Klan.
January 21, 1804
Virginia legislature passes law this week outlawing all nighttime meetings of enslaved people; such unlawful assemblies are made punishable up to twenty lashes.
January 20, 1870
Southern Democrats declare the election of Mississippi Senator Hiram Revels, the first Black African American Senator, null and void and argue Black people are ineligible to serve in Congress.
January 19, 1930
For five days, white mobs beat, shoot, and destroy property of Filipino farmworkers in Watsonville, California, following interracial dancing and economic competition.
January 18, 1962
President of Southern University closes Baton Rouge, Louisiana, campus, citing “disruptive” student protests against segregation.
January 17, 1834
Alabama legislature passes law that effectively bans any free Black person from residing in the state.
January 16, 1832
Alabama General Assembly enacts law that bars Creek and Cherokee witnesses from testifying against white people in court and criminalizes Creek and Cherokee customs, including meetings of tribal leaders.