Missouri’s History of Anti-Black Racism: A Definition and Abridged Account
The history of the term ‘anti-black racism’
The term "anti-Black racism" was first introduced in a Canadian context in a 1992 report by Stephen Lewis, then Ontario’s advisor on race relations. It was later defined by Dr. Akua Benjamin in her 2003 doctoral dissertation, “The Black/Jamaican Criminal: The Making of Ideology,” which examined the racialization and criminalization of Black Jamaicans by one of Toronto's leading newspapers, The Toronto Sun.
Stephen's report, which followed the 1992 Yonge Street Riots, stated: “First, what we are dealing with, at root, and fundamentally, is anti-Black racism. While it is obviously true that every visible minority community experiences the indignities and wounds of systemic discrimination throughout Southern Ontario, it is the Black community which is the focus. It is Blacks who are being shot, it is Black youth that is unemployed in excessive numbers, it is Black students who are being inappropriately streamed in schools, it is Black kids who are disproportionately dropping-out, it is housing communities with large concentrations of Black residents where the sense of vulnerability and disadvantage is most acute, it is Black employees, professional and non-professional, on whom the doors of upward equity slam shut.”
In her 2003 dissertation, Dr. Akua Benjamin defined ‘anti-Black racism’ further saying, “Anti-black racism essentially describes the practices and procedures of dominant and hegemonic structures and systems of power over Blacks.”
Missouri’s Abridged History of Anti-Black Racism
The September 24, 2024 execution of Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels’Abdul-Qudduus, also known as Marcellus Williams, is yet another example of Missouri's long history of anti-Black racism—both by the government and within society—dating back to 1719, when the first enslaved people were brought to colonial Missouri for forced labor.
Missouri's history with Black people spans 305 years. This is an abridged version of the long and painful experience of Missouri's Black residents, starting in 1828. The following information contain mentions of sexual violence, lynching, and other forms of racial and physical violence. Please engage with care.
August 23, 1828
📍 Clay County
Annice, an enslaved woman, was hanged in Clay County for the murders of five children, two of whom were her own. She was the first known enslaved woman to be executed in Missouri.
Historians have theorized that the rare instances of infanticide committed by enslaved women like Annice were acts of resistance and rebellion, aimed at protecting their children from enslavement and rejecting a role in society that demanded their sexual exploitation.
August 11, 1838
📍 Steelville
Mary, an enslaved teenager believed to be 13 or 14, was hanged for the drowning murder of her master's two-year-old daughter, Vienna Brinker. Historians have theorized that Mary killed Vienna because she believed her father was planning to sell her.
February 16, 1847
The Missouri general assembly passed an act prohibiting “respecting slaves, free negroes, and mulattos” from being taught to read or write, assembling for worship without police being present, and migrating to or through the state. The penalty for violating this act was a $500 fine (the equivalent of $19,194 today), six months in jail, or both.
Summer of 1850 - June 23, 1855
📍 Calloway County
In the summer of 1850, Robert Newsome traveled from Calloway County to Audrain County and purchased his sixth enslaved person, 14-year-old Celia. For the next five years, Robert repeatedly raped Celia, and she gave birth to two children, at least one of whom was his.
In late winter or early spring of 1855, Celia became pregnant again and her lover, George, who was also enslaved by Robert urged her to put an end to Robert's sexual exploitation, warning that he would no longer be with her if it continued.
Celia approached Robert’s daughters, begging them to help keep their father away from her. It’s unclear whether they intervened, but the assaults continued.
On June 23, 1855, Celia took matters into her own hands and struck Robert twice on the head with a stick, killing him. She then burned his body in her fireplace.
June 25, 1855 - December 21 1855
📍 Calloway County
After confessing the night before, a pregnant Celia was arrested on June 25, 1855, and held in the Callaway County Jail to await her trial in October.
Despite a Missouri statute from 1845, Article 2, Section 29, which made it a crime “to take any woman unlawfully against her will and by force, menace, or duress, compel her to be defiled,: the judge reminded the all-white, male jury that this law did not apply to enslaved women, as they were considered property. Therefore, Celia, according to the judge, had no right to kill Robert.
On October 10, 1855, the jury found Celia guilty of first-degree murder, and the judge sentenced her to be hanged.
Her defense team appealed the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court, and while awaiting execution, Celia delivered a stillborn child in jail.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, and Celia was hanged on December 21, 1855.
April 14, 1906
📍 Springfield
Three Black men—William Allen, Horace B. Duncan, and Fred Coker—were lynched and burned by a mob on Easter Sunday in Springfield, with Duncan and Coker falsely accused of assaulting Charles Cooper and raping Mina Edwards.
Hundreds of local Black residents fled Springfield in fear, never to return, effectively, “[ending] the natural development of a Black community with a strong and prosperous middle class” (Pratt, 2021, p. 6).
February 29, 1916
📍 St. Louis
St. Louis voters passed an ordinance with a 3-1 margin mandating segregation in the city, prohibiting anyone from moving into a block of residences where 75% of the residents were of another race.
Missouri History Museum
July 25, 1941
After filing several unsuccessful lawsuits against the University of Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court finally ruled in Lucile H. Bluford’s favor, requiring the university to admit her into its graduate journalism program, as no such program existed at the historically Black college, Lincoln University. This ruling came just two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lloyd Lionel Gaines, mandating that the University of Missouri School of Law allow him to study there. However, he disappeared and was unable to attend, and there is speculation that his disappearance may have been a murder.
Lucile was unable to attend the University of Missouri’s journalism program because, following the ruling, the university closed its School of Journalism graduate program, citing a lack of faculty due to World War II. Despite this setback, Lucile went on to found The Kansas City Call, which became one of the largest and most influential Black newspapers in America at the time.
January 25, 1942
📍 Sikeston
Early in the morning, Cleo Wright was arrested after being accused of assaulting a white woman. He was repeatedly shot before being taken to the hospital, which rejected him for care due to his race, and he was returned to the city jail.
A mob subsequently abducted him, tied him to the back of a pickup truck, and dragged him through the streets of Sikeston, where his pregnant wife was forced to identify him. They then burned his corpse in front of two Black churches, with hundreds of churchgoers as witness.
This lynching marked the first time the Department of Justice ever investigated a lynching, yet a grand jury refused to indict any of the perpetrators. Hundreds of Black people fled Sikeston, never to return.
1950s & 60s
📍 St. Louis
In the 1950s, and again a decade later, the U.S. Army conducted a series of aerosol radiation tests, spraying zinc cadmium sulfide around Pruitt-Igoe, a predominantly Black, low-income housing development. Internally, the Army referred to the area as 'a densely populated slum district.'
In 1994, the government revealed that these tests were part of a biological weapons program, with St. Louis chosen because of its resemblance to Russian cities the U.S. might target.
In the 70+ years since, people exposed to the mist have developed unexplained illnesses, including various forms of cancer.
A lawsuit seeking restitution for those affected was filed by Ben Phillips in 2013 but was dismissed by a federal judge, citing that the Army and its contractors were indemnified by the government.
April 9, 1968
📍 Kansas City
Five days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and one day before his funeral, a high school student-led walkout in Kansas City escalated into one of the 43 riots that occurred across America in response to his death. Known as the Kansas City Race Riot, it lasted for nearly four days. Six Black people were killed, five likely by the police, and another 78 were injured. The city suffered $4 million in damage, equivalent to $36 million today.
December 6, 2013
📍 Kansas City
While walking home, Josh Bills was approached by five police officers who had received a call about a “Black man in black clothing.” Despite cooperating with the officers, one officer, Jordan Nelson, grabbed Josh’s arms, kicked his legs out from under him, and smashed his face into the concrete. Another officer knelt on his back as he was arrested. The dash cam in the police car captured the entire incident. Josh was held in jail for two weeks without bond and lost his job.
In 2018, the ACLU of Missouri filed a civil suit against Jordan Nelson on Josh's behalf. However, it is unclear what happened with the case, as the last update from U.S. District Courts on UniCourt was on December 3, 2018.
August 9, 2014
📍 Ferguson
Michael Brown and a friend were walking down the middle of Canfield Drive when Officer Darren Wilson drove by, hurled expletives at them, and ordered them to get on the sidewalk. Officer Wilson followed the teenagers, and the situation escalated. He ultimately fired 12 bullets, six of which struck Michael, killing him.
For the 15 days that followed, Ferguson experienced intense unrest. Curfews were established, the Missouri National Guard and SWAT teams were deployed, and the police became increasingly militarized. Businesses were looted and vandalized, while tear gas, smoke bombs, molotov cocktails, rubber bullets, flash grenades, and bean bag rounds were used on protestors. Reporters were arrested, and Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.
The unrest reignited on November 24th when a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Wilson. Looting, fires, and violence spread across the city. The next day, Deandre Joshua’s body was found in his car—he had been shot in the head and set on fire. He was the only person killed during the second wave of unrest, which lasted until December 2nd.
In 2015, the DOJ concluded its own investigation, declining to bring criminal charges against Officer Wilson. Five years later, on July 30, 2020, Wesley Bell, St. Louis County's first Black prosecutor, announced that after spending five months conducting an independent review of the case, he would also not be charging Officer Wilson.
May 26, 2019
📍 Kansas City
Terrence Bridges Jr. was approached by police officers who mistakenly believed he was the suspect they were searching for in response to a domestic disturbance and carjacking call.
When police attempted to arrest Terrence, who was unarmed, he fled. Officer Dylan Piper fatally shot him in the chest when he caught up to him.
A grand jury later decided not to file any charges in the case. However, in November 2022, Kansas City Police reached a $5 million settlement agreement after Terrence’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
April 29, 2020
📍 Sikeston
Officers arrived at the home of Milton Taylor, who told them that his son, Denzel Taylor, had shot him during an altercation.
Upon finding Denzel, police asked him to show his hands, as they claimed they thought he was armed. He raised only his left arm. Officers Josh Golightly, Matthew Cotner, and Jon Broom then fired 40 bullets, 28 of which struck Taylor, killing him.
Denzel turned out to be unarmed. A special prosecutor declined to file criminal charges against the officers. His mother and fiancée sued the city of Sikeston and received a $2 million wrongful death settlement.