Central FL voters - 'UNFAZED'. 100 YEAR anniversary of Ocoee Massacre

[Roland99]

Last edited Thu Oct 22, 2020, 07:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

'UNFAZED': Voters waited in the pouring rain to cast their ballots early on Wednesday in central Florida. https://abcn.ws/3oeRwFx

https://www.thehistorycenter.org/exhibition/the-ocoee-massacre/

The 1920 Ocoee Massacre in Orange County, Florida, remains the largest incident of voting-day violence in United States history.

Events unfolded on Election Day 1920, when Mose Norman, a black U.S. citizen, attempted to exercise his legal right to vote in Ocoee and was turned away from the polls. That evening, a mob of armed white men came to the home of his friend, July Perry, in an effort to locate Norman. Shooting ensued. Perry was captured and eventually lynched. An unknown number of African American citizens were murdered, and their homes and community were burned to the ground. Most of the black population of Ocoee fled, never to return.

[getagrip_already]

1. but.. but.. rallies! boat parades! trucks with flags!!!

Those are the real signs of enthusiasm.......

ahah.

[Roland99]

4. That area is quite the dichotomy

a fair bit of trump supporters (lower-middle class whites) but also quite a few African-American communities.

[greenjar_01]

2. Likelihood that these folks are out here voting for Trump?

ZERO.

[BComplex]

3. Woo Hoo!

Way to go Florida dems!!! We love you!!!!

[idziak4ever1234]

5. I wish I could give these people a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee! God Bless them.

[Mister Ed]

6. True patriots.

Right-wing nutjobs and white supremacists have tried to appropriate that term for their own use, but this is what true patriotism looks like.

[Piasladic]

7. Did my early FL voting yesterday.

It didn't rain on me and I was in and was out in about 20 minutes.

There was a Dump supporter with a MAGA hat, and of course no one stopped him. He also has to sort of pick a fight with the older lady checking people in about his ID. I think he alone added 5 minutes to my wait, but at least I was there with hubby, so that was sort of fun/romantic. What can I say...I love voting!

[FM123]

8. Yes!

No matter what folks think about us or say about us, this is who we REALLY are! Unfazed, unafraid and unstoppable.

[Leghorn21]

9. This is so sad and BEAUTIFUL

Hang tough, y’all, and THANK YOU

[ExciteBike66]

10. LOL that's not "pouring rain", it's but a mere drizzle to us here in FL.

[Roland99]

11. heh...yeah..that's just a steady rain. To me, pouring is when I can't see the neighbor's house

across the street. Then there's the downpour where your car hydroplanes at about 40mph and you can't see 5' in front of you

Then there's the sideways fun!

[csziggy]

16. Yeah, if people stopped doing stuff in a rain like that, they'd get nothing done

I'd tried to vote Tuesday but the line was longer than I wanted to be in alone. Yesterday when my husband and I went to early vote in Leon County, Florida, it started raining as we got to the polling place.

I think the rain sent some people to their cars to wait because the line was really short - though longer than I have ever seen at that location. Before the rain fully stopped my husband got in line because it was under the entrance portico. Once the rain stopped the line tripled in length, so it was a good choice to get into early. By the time we were finished voting, the rain had stopped for our drive home.

[peggysue2]

12. Holy Crap!

I salute these voters. Have we ever seen this sort of determination at the polls? I thought standing in 8-10 hour lines was amazing but this is beyond the pale.

Can't tell me that Americans do not realize the importance of the vote in 2020. Huge wakeup call that the electorate is responding to in droves.

And no, I do not think the majority of these people are Trump supporters.

I wrote last night of my experience at the local polls, an early in-person vote. My husband and I waited about an hour. I failed to mention that was the longest either of us has waited in a poll line. However, the average wait time here is between 3-4 hours, unheard of in our district. The first day? There were several cops directing traffic with residents reporting a 5-hour wait.

The participation numbers at the end of this are going to be explosive! I'm proud of my fellow citizens. They're answering the call to defend the Republic!

[crosinski]

13. Brings a tear to my eye and makes me proud.

Thanks for posting.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. I so want to run out to them and offer them umbrellas.

[Roland99]

15. We pulled up to our early voting location a couple hours ago

had just finished raining. Workers apparently had taken down portable tents that had been setup that people were under (rain/wind here can easily blow one over quickly and cause injury/damage)

We dropped off our mail-in ballots thru the car window and drove off!

But, yeah, I'd have been tempted to hand out some umbrellas we keep in there to people that could have used one (esp elderly)

[Roland99]

17. Interesting fact - 100 YEARS AGO - Ocoee Massacre. America's worst political violence

https://www.thehistorycenter.org/exhibition/the-ocoee-massacre/

The 1920 Ocoee Massacre in Orange County, Florida, remains the largest incident of voting-day violence in United States history.

Events unfolded on Election Day 1920, when Mose Norman, a black U.S. citizen, attempted to exercise his legal right to vote in Ocoee and was turned away from the polls. That evening, a mob of armed white men came to the home of his friend, July Perry, in an effort to locate Norman. Shooting ensued. Perry was captured and eventually lynched. An unknown number of African American citizens were murdered, and their homes and community were burned to the ground. Most of the black population of Ocoee fled, never to return.

[Awsi Dooger]

19. My sister lived in Ocoee for 5 years

I visited all the time. Somehow I never knew this story until today

[Roland99]

22. First I'd heard of it

US history has many stains

[Awsi Dooger]

23. This summary was really numbing

http://theweeklychallenger.com/the-ocoee-massacre/

"Within weeks of the incident, only two African Americans remained in town. And by the 1930 census there were none. In fact, not a single African-American dared live in Ocoee for sixty years until 1981. The city didn’t hire its first black worker until 1986. And for 18 years following the 1920 massacre, not a single black vote was cast in all of Orange County."

[GulfCoast66]

20. Yeah, but Perry killed several of the SOBs

He knew his fate but went down fighting.

[Flaleftist]

18. I voted on Monday in Central Florida.

There was a line out of the library and out of the parking lot into the street. It was also raining. It took over an hour and it has never taken me more than a few minutes. It was also raining. They eventually brought the line into the library and had it wrap around the aisles.

[GulfCoast66]

21. We voted Monday in Lake County.

It looked like rain so we had our umbrella and rain jackets just in case.