How an 1876 massacre of Black men in South Carolina turned racial terror into political power

The 1876 Hamburg massacre in South Carolina utilized white supremacist terror to dismantle Reconstruction and suppress Black voters. This event transformed racial terror into significant political power, fundamentally reshaping American politics. A statue of Ben Pitchfork Tillman remains on the statehouse grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, serving as a reminder of this era. The Conversation reports that these violent actions were strategically used to destroy the progress made during the Reconstruction period for Black citizens.