PHOTOS: Black Unity Returns to Springfield

by Double Sided Media · October 1, 2020

On Sept. 30, the activist group Black Unity marched through Springfield to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the Elaine Massacre.

The massacre, in which historical estimates say over 200 Black people were killed by local vigilantes, federal troops, and the Ku Klux Klan, is cited as the bloodiest racist conflict in Arkansas and one of the bloodiest in American history.

In a poetic–and unsurprising–twist, Black Unity and their followers were met by counter-protesters, including some members of the local so-called “patriot’s militia” which led to scuffles and at least one incident in which protesters were attacked with mace.

A street medic pours water into the eyes of a protester who was sprayed with mace at a protest in Springfield on September 30. (John Adair // Double Sided Media)

It was BU’s first march in Springfield since their disastrous march in Thurston on July 29, and the first since President Donald Trump refused to condemn the violence of his far-right supporters at the first presidential debate.

Photographer John Adair was on the ground to capture these photos of the rally and subsequent march.

Images from a Black Unity rally in downtown Springfield on Sept. 30. Though the march was in commemoration of a racist massacre in Arkansas, BU and their supporters were confronted and attacked by right-wing counter-protesters and members of the local “patriots militia.” These are images of one event in the middle of an ongoing partisan conflict between Black Lives Matter protesters and right-wing agitators in Eugene. There were no serious injuries and no arrests reported by either side. (All photos by John Adair // Double Sided Media)