30. But People Acted As If The Rumors Were True
Something does not have to be true for people to act as if it is. Whether or not there was going to be a revolution, the sensationalized rumors played on the white people’s primal fears and hatred of African Americans.
So they joined the sheriff’s posse and even formed their own gangs, which would begin to systematically hunt and shoot down every single African American man, woman, and child that they encountered. Estimates place the death toll at about 240 African Americans, but the actual count could be as high as 800.
