The Rosewood Massacre took place from January 1-7, 1923, an infamous week of violence and deep-rooted racism. The Modern Temper, chapters four through six, discuss significant themes such as secular and sacred interpretations and conformity and pluralism communities. The Rosewood Massacre does not necessarily reflect secular and sacred interpretations, but it can be loosely based on the ties of racism. Whites, the group that mainly treated African Americans horribly in the 1920s and beyond, also disliked Catholics. African Americans in the 1920s led their own rich cultural paths, but naturally, some did not. They conformed to the white Victorian ideal but mainly went against conformity and pressures. Pluralism occurs when people from different identities, such as race, social class, and religion, are together in one society yet still have their own traditions and interests that make them unique and keep the society running.
Certain aspects show the change in American society in the 1920s, but the Rosewood Massacre shows the remaining racism that haunts us. While changes were made, the progressiveness made by conservative whites shows that some change takes a very long time. The Ku Klux Klan started in 1865 and is since regarded as the first organized terror group in the United States’ history.1 At the beginning of the 1920s, a new Ku Klux Klan group that reflected the Southern Reconstruction KKK was formed. This group contributed to the nativist furor and spread racist and xenophobic ideology in local and national politics. Its main targets were African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants before its ultimate demise in the mid-1920s.2
Prohibition and alcohol consumption, as explained in The Modern Temper, reflect ideas from the racism of the Rosewood Massacre. Prohibition was a symbol of dominance and power that white Anglo-Saxon Protestants had on American society. These whites controlled the law through prohibition against the ever-growing consciousness of change.3 Working-class citizens, typically African Americans, were more boisterous than their counterparts regarding alcohol consumption. Saloons were popular, as was bare-knuckle fighting, where African Americans and others were able to let loose and have alcohol as a point of leisure and outlet.4
To add to working-class leisure, in the 1920s, attractions, such as amusement parks, took storm. African Americans and other minority groups were able to express themselves, yet were frequently appropriated by white entertainers.5 Blackface was popular at the time. The Modern Temper talks about Jack, an Americanized Jewish entertainer who performed in blackface. The Jazz Singer helps to see how African American and immigrant performers influenced the new culture that the 1920s is known for. One reason people did blackface was because they offered whites a mask to be more expressive than their Victorian norm.6
Black women, although still rebuffed by white women, still fought for women’s suffrage and racial progress.7 Overall, The Modern Temper holds vital information about African Americans and how they were treated in the 1920s. Yet, the Rosewood Massacre shows us the dark side of the decade and is an event we should never forget.
- Wikipedia contributors, “Rosewood massacre,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rosewood_massacre&oldid=1203979650. ↩︎
- Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper (Hill and Wang). 9. ↩︎
- Dumenil. 9. ↩︎
- Dumenil. 81. ↩︎
- Dumenil. 81. ↩︎
- Dumenil. ↩︎
- Dumenil. ↩︎
History major and Human Rights and Genocide Studies minor at Ramapo College of New Jersey class of 2025.
