Clinton Briggs
August 3, 1919· Unknown, Star City, Arkansas
- People
- Clinton Briggs
- Outcome
- unknown
On September 1, 1919, Clinton Briggs, a 26-year-old Black soldier who had just returned from serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, was lynched in Star City, Arkansas. Briggs had served in the military from June 19, 1918, until December 17, 1918, receiving the World War I Victory Medal and Victory Lapel Button for his service. His only "crime" was refusing to yield the sidewalk to white pedestrians. While walking down a sidewalk in Star City, Briggs reportedly stepped aside to allow a white couple to pass. The white woman brushed into him and scolded him, saying "Niggers get off the sidewalk down here." When Briggs responded, "This is a free man's country," the woman's escort seized him. Other white men arrived with an automobile and carried Briggs outside of town. Unable to find a rope, the mob used automobile chains to tie Briggs to a tree and riddled his body with bullets. Briggs's murder exemplified the violent backlash faced by Black veterans returning from World War I. Like many African American soldiers, Briggs had risked his life for a country that promised equality but delivered terror. His service to his nation, rather than earning him respect, made him a target for whites who wanted him to return to his "former subordinate position." As historian Nan Elizabeth Woodruff documented, Black veterans' military service was seen as a threat to the traditional segregated southern way of life. The Red Summer of 1919 saw at least 25 major race riots across America, with Black veterans often specifically targeted for violence. Briggs's lynching stands as a stark reminder that the fight for civil rights has always been intertwined with the struggle of Black Americans for recognition of their full humanity and citizenship.