Another Butchery
October 31, 1903
Summary
Three black "men were killed and eight wounded” for refusing “to pay certain bills said to be held against them”.
Transcription
Another Butchery.
Reports tell of a butchery of colored men in the rear of Pecan Grove Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, October 19th, 1903. Three colored men were killed and eight wounded. These colored men had been working for the Mississippi Valley Railroad and are alleged to have refused to pay certain bills said to be held against them. White men organized under the leadership of a constable and proceeded to kill them as above stated. The newspapers call it a race war instead of a race butchery, as only colored men were killed.
This condition of affairs will continue as long as colored men submit to it. In conflicts with the lower strata of white men of these localities a colored man has nothing to expect but death and he should resolve to sell his life as dearly as possible. His maxim should be to “kill and be killed.” There is no other way out. It should be remembered that, according to the Christian’s belief, “death is the date to endless joy.”
Of course, no one likes to go through it by the “shot-gun route.” Still it's all the same at last and colored men should see to it that they have company. There are numbers of good white people in the southland, but there are millions of the other kind. Politeness to white and colored people, manhood and a determination to sell our lives as dearly as possible when we are called to go are the elements which will simplify the situation and bring respect to those whom we have left behind.
Reports tell of a butchery of colored men in the rear of Pecan Grove Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, October 19th, 1903. Three colored men were killed and eight wounded. These colored men had been working for the Mississippi Valley Railroad and are alleged to have refused to pay certain bills said to be held against them. White men organized under the leadership of a constable and proceeded to kill them as above stated. The newspapers call it a race war instead of a race butchery, as only colored men were killed.
This condition of affairs will continue as long as colored men submit to it. In conflicts with the lower strata of white men of these localities a colored man has nothing to expect but death and he should resolve to sell his life as dearly as possible. His maxim should be to “kill and be killed.” There is no other way out. It should be remembered that, according to the Christian’s belief, “death is the date to endless joy.”
Of course, no one likes to go through it by the “shot-gun route.” Still it's all the same at last and colored men should see to it that they have company. There are numbers of good white people in the southland, but there are millions of the other kind. Politeness to white and colored people, manhood and a determination to sell our lives as dearly as possible when we are called to go are the elements which will simplify the situation and bring respect to those whom we have left behind.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Rose Williams
Citation
“Another Butchery,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 20, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1097.