#OnThisDate November 23, 1887 - Bayou Bloodshed

The Thibodaux Massacre Was A Grim Turning Point In The History Of American Labor And Racial Violence. Taking Place In Thibodaux, Louisiana, This Event Was The Brutal Response To A Strike By Black Sugar Cane Workers Organized By The Knights Of Labor. These Workers, Protesting Starvation Wages Of Just 42 Cents A Day And Paid In Scrip Redeemable Only At Plantation Stores, Demanded A Cash Wage Of $1.25 Per Day. Their Efforts Culminated In A Strike Involving Approximately 10,000 Laborers Across Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Mary, And Assumption Parishes.

On November 22, Plantation Owners Refused Negotiations And Fired Strikers, Setting Off A Violent Suppression Campaign. The Following Day, White Vigilante Groups, Backed By Louisiana Governor Samuel D. McEnery And State Militias Commanded By Ex-Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, Descended On Thibodaux. Armed With A Gatling Gun And Other Weaponry, They Targeted Suspected Strikers And Sympathizers, Killing At Least 60 People, Though The Death Toll May Have Been Higher. Victims Were Buried In Unmarked Graves, And Survivors Fled Into The Swamps And Forests.

This Massacre Highlighted The Systemic Oppression Of African Americans In The Post-Reconstruction South. Despite Their Official Freedom, Black Workers Faced Exploitative Economic Practices And Violent Suppression When Asserting Basic Rights. It Took Decades For Agricultural Laborers To Reorganize Effectively, As This Event Left A Legacy Of Fear Among Workers.

While The Southern Press Lauded The Actions Of The Militia And White Vigilantes, Celebrating Figures Like Planter Andrew Price Who Later Won A Congressional Seat, The Workers' Suffering Went Unacknowledged For Generations. The Thibodaux Massacre Is Now Recognized As One Of The Deadliest Labor Conflicts In U.S. History, Reflecting The Deep Interconnection Between Racial And Economic Injustice In The Late 19th Century.

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