Reconstruction was a period of American History that spanned from December 8, 1863, to March 31, 1877. It was divided into 3 phases, Wartime Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction, and Radical or Congressional Reconstruction. Collectively, the era ended in 1877, when the United States pulled the last of its troops out of southern states. Reconstruction, implemented by congress, was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War, providing the means for readmitting them into the Union, and defining the means by which whites and Blacks could live together in a nonslave society. During this period, slavery was abolished, Confederate secession was eliminated, and the Reconstruction Amendments, 13th, 14th, and 15th, were added to the Constitution to add civil rights to the newly-freed slaves.
The period of Reconstruction was followed by Post-Reconstruction, which included the Gilded Age (roughly 1877 to 1900), and the Progressive Era (roughly 1896 to 1917). The Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand-new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. The Progressive Era was a time of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste, and inefficiency.
In 1903, during the early stages of the Progressive Era portion of post-Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote a series of essays and sketches, entitled, The Souls of Black Folk. The book is considered a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. The work includes a host of controversial and provocative premises, one of which is, "double consciousness," which elevates the thesis that Black people must have two fields of vision at all times. “One ever feels his twoness; -- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. One of Du Bois’ more notable prognostications, included in the book, was that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” In retrospect, not only did “the problem” Du Bois cite, endure for the entirety of a century, only four years old, when he labeled it, the dilemma has persisted through nearly a quarter of the 21st Century, frankly, with no prognosis of any end in sight.
This weekend, the 45th President made an appearance in Montgomery; Alabama’s Capital City, to keynote the State GOP’s Summer Dinner fundraising event. Trump remains a popular figure in Alabama. His appearance may or may not have been related to Montgomery’s other noteworthy weekend event. And to be clear, coincidences do happen.
What, you may ask, was the other notable event? Well, I’m glad you asked.
A brawl ensued on the Montgomery riverfront pitting people standing up for a Black riverboat worker against a group of white people who began beating him, ostensibly, for doing his job, which was asking them to move their illegally moored pontoon boat. Like most altercations in the social media dominated world we inhabit today, multiple videos of the events were posted to on social media accounts.
The episode which featured a Black Co-Captain of a riverboat, his attackers, and the people who came to his aid, broke down neatly into a Black vs. white melee. Based on video accounts, the fracas appeared to have started with a one-on-one tête-à-tête between the Co-Captain of the riverboat, a Black man, and one of the passengers from the pontoon boat, a white man. The Co-Captain tried, in vainl, to get the passenger to facilitate moving the pontoon boat so the riverboat could move into its allotted spot. While their discussion was intensifying, a second white man entered the picture, with a running start, and physically assaulted the riverboat worker. Did I say, the guy was simply trying to do his job? It was at this point, more people from the pontoon boat, most, if not all white, joined the festivities. Eventually, others from the Riverboat also joined the chaos.
Aside from possibly having been fueled by 45’s recent visit, Montgomery has a history of having played a central role in the slave trade. The city is often called the “Cradle of the Confederacy” because in 1861 it briefly served as the first capital of the Confederate States of America. By the start of the Civil War, Montgomery was one of the most prominent slave trading communities in the state, if not the nation. Joshua D. Rothman, a historian, and Chairman of the Department of History at the University of Alabama said, “slavery’s impact could be seen in everything.” He added that, “enslaved labor fueled the local economy and influenced everything from the political order to religious life.”
The essence of the post-Reconstruction era was the diminution of rights and privileges afforded during Reconstruction, from voting rights, civil rights, property ownership, and more. In contemporary America, the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the advent of the anti-CRT movement, library closings, and the frequency of racial intolerance…e.g., the Montgomery incident, portray a certain sense of déjà vu. One might characterize it as, The Montgomery Chronicles: Post-Reconstruction 2.0
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/us/montgomery-riverfront-brawl-history-reaj/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era
http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-montgomery-chronicles-post.html
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