Lynching in America / Lynching in Little Rock

Marker Text: On May 4, 1927, a mob of armed white men captured a 22-year-old Black man named John Carter, hanged him from a telephone pole, and riddled his body with bullets in downtown Little Rock. Afterward, in a caravan of cars, the mob dragged Mr. Carter’s corpse through the streets of Little Rock. They drove past city hall and the police station before stopping at the intersection of 9th and Broadway, then the heart of the city’s African American community. There, the mob, now numbering in the thousands, ransacked neighboring Black businesses and churches, dragging out furniture and pulling off doors to serve as fuel for a bonfire they built in the street. In an act meant to instill fear in the African American community, the mob set Mr. Carter’s mutilated body on fire as spectators watched. The mob had formed in response to rumors that a white woman and her daughter had been assaulted six miles west of downtown. Despite the absence of any evidence against Mr. Carter, the white mob terrorized the Black community causing extensive damage. The next day, photos of Mr. Carter’s lynching were sold for fifteen cents apiece. Although the Governor and press criticized local law enforcement for not protecting Mr. Carter from the mob, no one was ever held accountable for their role in the lynching of John Carter. Racial bigotry and inequality were enforced through violence and lynchings during this time period causing great suffering and harm.