Tallahassee Race Riots

The Tallahassee Race Riots was a protest that was integral to Civil Rights in the Floridian Republic. African-Floridian soldiers had served honorably in the military, but despite this segregation was still in effect. As Florida continued to insert itself in more and more conflict, calls for equality among blacks and whites began to rise. As summer gave in to autumn, the growing Civil Rights movement came to a head with several protests breaking out across the country. Tallahassee, the Capital of the Floridian Republic, was the site of one of the more important of these, which drained the factories and brought the city to an economic standstill as blacks filled the streets demanding de-segregation. The military was called out to put down the protests. One of the leaders of the movement came forward and made a speech that would be memorialized as the spoken heart of the movement..."'You have oppressed us for too long, my friends. We have proven we can build... we have proven we can fight in Cuba and in Georgia, we have proven we can heal in hospitals across the nation, we have proven we are the intellectual equal of any white man. So why? There is no point in continuing the horrible oppression that my people have suffered, ever since we were brought over from Africa in chains so many years ago! A wise man once said, 'A house divided against itself can not stand!' Never, except from the mouth of our Lord and Savior have truer words been uttered. And my friends, I pledge to you this: if we are not granted our freedom now, the fight shall go on! And on and on and on, until liberty strikes and the flames of oppression die out!'"In response to these protests, the Floridian government officially brought an end to segregation in the country. The decision was controversial and resulted in the resignations of several important government officials. Eventually, this tolerance toward blacks would be a motive for the terrorism that would bring Florida down.