Springfield Colored Folks and the Mob

In response to the mob outbreaks and Springfield race riots, a group of black citizens fight back “like Turks.”

It has been admitted that the colored people of Springfield, Illinois fought “like Turks” and wounded many of the mob. Some colored folks were armed with revolvers, shot guns and well-nigh every available weapon that could inflict injury in any kind of contest. This is the proper spirit. While many colored people lost their property and some were killed and injured, the long list of white people, who were wounded bear mute testimony to the determination and ability of the colored folks of Springfield, Illinois to give as good as was sent. This is the only way to convince these hoodlums that it does not pay to join a mob. It is the only way to put a stop to such lawlessness. We are forced to the conclusion that the police force of Springfield is largely responsible for the outbreak. Had the hoodlums been Negroes, the affair would have been over in half an hour and the ring-leaders would have been in the jail, where they belonged. Every law-abiding colored man should own a good repeating rifle for hunting purposes. He should also have a shot gun for small game. In case of a riot by either white or colored people, he will then be in a position to join with the better class of white people and put down this kind of lawlessness. The time will yet come, when it will be definitely ascertained that the criminal, vicious, immoral white and colored elements are a positive menace to a community and all citizens regardless of color should aid in either their annihilation or transportation where they can do neither harm nor injury. When a thief is about to steal, he is not particular as to whether the money he is after belongs to a white man or a Negro. This is as true of the Negro thief as it is of the white one. The same is true where the mob holds sway. The criminal elements use this or that as an excuse for their depredations. The have no genuine sympathy for the victim of particular antipathy to the criminal. They want to see a show and the most interesting one available is a hanging, where the suffering of the victim is satisfaction and the screams of pain make music for the ear. The best way to deal with a mob is to shoot the life out of it. Lynch-law must go!

“Springfield Colored Folks and the Mob,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed September 13, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/711.