Farmworker Ed Roach was arrested for assaulting a white girl. A mob kidnapped Roach, lynching him in Black churchyard.
Days later whispers spread throughout town — there was proof Roach was innocent!
Roach’s employer submitted a witness statement, stating Roach had been working when the assault happened.
But even with blatant evidence, Roach wasn’t exonerated nor was anyone held responsible for his murder!
White supremacists, bragging about lynching Roach, used his murder to terrorize Roxboro, NC’s Black residents! They sent threatening letters to Black residents stating if they didn’t leave town they’d “face a fate similar to that suffered by Ed Roach.”
One elderly Black woman refused to leave, and they blew up her home!
Soon, white supremacists demanded all white landowners assist them in evicting thousands of Black residents from Roxboro.
No one was held responsible — instead generations of white people profited from the land and lives stolen by their ancestors.
Today white Americans own 98% of U.S. land — amounting to 856 million acres worth roughly $1 trillion. How much of this was stolen from our ancestors?
We’re owed monetary reparations and land back initiatives — We owe it to our ancestors to make these demands and take back their wealth!