US election 2020: America saw deadliest poll day 100 years ago as mob unleased violence

It's been 100 years since the deadliest election day violence in the United States history took place when a mob consisting of White Americans attacked Black people in Florida's Ocoee neighbourhood while they were registering to vote. The incident that took place on November 2, 1920, is often overlooked in the United States, however, the white supremacy message that the mob had tried to send a century ago, still resonates with many. 

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It had been just 60 years since slavery was abolished and Black people got the right to vote, however, the White majority southern Florida neighbourhood, which had fought in the American Civil War with the Confederates, was still recovering from the defeat it had tasted in the 1860s. The White people in the area had always tried to obstruct Black people from voting and exercising their right, as they saw it as the decline of white supremacy. 

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What transpired?

On the election day in 1920, things took a violent turn when officials and Klu Klux Klan (KKK) members mercilessly attacked Black people in the community. The White mob killed dozens of Black Americans and drove Black families out of the neighbourhood in Ocoee. The violent mob burnt the house of Black people to force them out. Since officials tried to erase that part of the history, there are very few pieces of evidence that explain what actually transpired on November 2, 1920. 

However, according to reports, it all started after a Black man tried to cast his vote by visiting one of the polling stations in the community. As per Florida Historical Quarterly, a Black landowner named Moses Norman attempted to cast his vote but was turned away by officials for unknown reasons. Norman then reportedly contacted some prominent lawyers and Republican Senate candidate who all advised him to go again and try. 

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When Norman reached the polling station, it is reported that he had a gun with him. However, some accounts also say that the gun was in his car, which a group of White men found. So, when Norman was turned away again, he took refuge at his friend July Perry's place, where Black people gathered. Later a White mob reached looking for Norman and the violence broke out which saw Perry's lynching. It is unclear, which side started the violence, but the events that followed definitely prove injustice against the Black community. 

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