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{{short description|1923 massacre of African Americans in Florida, US}}
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{{Infobox civilian attack
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In the mid-1920s, the [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) reached its peak membership in the South and Midwest after a revival beginning around 1915. Its growth was due in part to tensions from rapid industrialization and social change in many growing cities; in the Midwest and West, its growth was related to the competition of waves of new immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.<ref name="Jackson, pp. 82, 241">Jackson, pp. 82, 241.</ref> The KKK was strong in the Florida cities of [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]] and [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]; [[Miami, Florida|Miami]]'s chapter was influential enough to hold initiations at the Miami Country Club. The Klan also flourished in smaller towns of the South where racial violence had a long tradition dating back to the [[Reconstruction era]].<ref name="Jackson, pp. 82, 241"/><ref>Gannon, pp. 300–301.</ref> An editor of ''[[The Gainesville Sun|The Gainesville Daily Sun]]'' admitted that he was a member of the Klan in 1922, and praised the organization in print.<ref name="colburn"/>
Despite Governor Catts' change of attitude, white mob action frequently occurred in towns throughout north and central Florida and went unchecked by local law enforcement. Extrajudicial violence against black residents was so common that it seldom was covered by newspapers.<ref name="historian"/> In 1920, whites removed four black men from jail, who were suspects accused of raping a white woman in [[Macclenny, Florida|Macclenny]], and lynched them. In [[Ocoee, Florida|Ocoee]] the same year, two black citizens armed themselves to go to the polls during an election. A confrontation ensued and two white election officials were shot, after which a white mob destroyed Ocoee's black community, causing as many as 30 deaths, and destroying 25 homes, two churches, and a Masonic Lodge.<ref>Jones and McCarthy, pp. 81–82.</ref> Just weeks before the Rosewood massacre, the [[Perry Race Riot]] occurred on December 14 and 15
== Events in Rosewood ==
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