Historical Spotlight: The 1970 Augusta Riot
There are numerous examples of Black Americans putting foot to pavement and fighting for their rights. From the early days of slave rebellions and modern day resistance, no other demographic has had to endure horrid conditions, unfair treatment, and injustice quite like we have. Regardless of the circumstances, we have refused to allow our spirits to be broken and have carried on the good fight for centuries. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on the 1970 Augusta Riot, an uprising that shook a Georgia community and led to lasting change.
The Augusta Riot was the largest urban uprising in the Deep South during the Civil Rights era and was sparked by White officials refusing accountability for the unjust death of a Black teenager. Tensions have always run high in the area because of long time grievances about racial injustice and unfair treatment.
White supremacy, police brutality, and severe poverty were interwoven into every aspect of life in Augusta up until that point in history. There were numerous Black organizations with chapters in the area like the NAACP, SCLC, Black Panther Party, the Committee of Ten, and a group of Paine College students that mobilized in the fight for their rights. Each had their own unique way of confronting the injustice, but their end goal of improving conditions for Black Americans remained the same.
On May 9, 1970, news broke that a 16 year old by the name of Charles Oatman had been beaten to death in county jail. He was a popular student in school, but struggled with mental illness. In an unfortunate accident, he fatally wounded his young niece in March of that year. The white authorities charged him with murder and sent him to jail, where he was brutally tortured and beaten before ultimately dying from his injuries. His body was terribly mutilated with cigarette burns, marks from a fork, and a deep gash in the back of his head.
The news of his death spread quickly in the Black community, which united in rage and grief. The very next day, a crowd gathered in protest at the county jail and demanded answers. The officials weren’t forthcoming and made sure sheriff deputies were visible in, around, and even on the roof of the jail with their weapons drawn.
On the afternoon of May 11, a larger crowd gathered in front of the Municipal Building, again demanding answers about Charles' unjust death. Police officers confronted the crowd with shotguns and again refused to take any accountability. More news emerged that the sheriff conducted a brief, unspoken investigation and charged two Black teenagers with manslaughter for Charles’ death, which further enraged the Black community.
The Black people that believed in fighting violence with violence immediately took action by ransacking and setting fire to businesses owned by white and Chinese American people. There were younger people, working-class people, and even militants that prescribed to the Black Panther Party’s tactics who joined in the riot.
Between 2,000 to 3,000 people tore up the businesses, stores, and warehouses that were unjust in the community. The Black businesses and any others that weren’t discriminatory were marked with paint that read “Soul Brother” and left undamaged. The damage totalled $1 million and covered a vast 130-block area.
Unfortunately, white police officers violently tackled the riot and were given shoot-to-kill orders from their captain. Georgia governor Lester Maddox endorsed the lethal violence and deployed the National Guard and State Patrol to reinforce the local officers. Officers fired haphazardly at Black people who were actively participating in the riot, Black people who were just bystanders, and even Black people who simply lived in the neighborhood.
At least 60 people were wounded and six were killed. The people who lost their lives to police gunfire that day included Charlie Mack Murphy, William Wright, Jr., Sammy McCollough, John Stokes, John Bennett, and Mack Wilson. The police tried to claim they acted in self-defense, but none of the men killed were armed and all were shot in the back.
By May 12, the riot had been violently suppressed. In the months afterwards, all-white juries convicted the two teenagers charged in Charles’ death, over 100 people who participated in the riot, and the initial organizers who stood up against the injustice. There were no consequences for the people or system that constantly kicked Black people down and forced them to live in poverty and unfair situations.
The police captain got promoted to chief, the mayor praised the police department for their unnecessary response, and the media and politicians minimized the riot as simply inherently violent people who destroyed their own neighborhood for no reason. A major FBI investigation into excessive police force brought two officers to trial, but they were acquitted by overwhelmingly white juries. Charles’ mom even filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, but it was dismissed on a technicality.
Despite the violent suppression and lack of accountability from the legal system, Black Americans in the area successfully changed the status quo and sparked a new wave of activism that opened economic and political doors for the Black community. By actually turning up, they made the dominant society respect that they weren’t just going to sit back and be complacent.
A major lawsuit for school desegregation gained new momentum and there were a number of anti-discrimination cases won that opened doors for Black workers. Unfortunately, the resulting white flight undercut any progress and shifted the economy from industrial manufacturing to mostly low-wage service jobs.
Still to this day, 30% of Black households in Augusta live below the federal poverty threshold. The unspoken criminal accusations placed on Black Americans just for existing that was seen in the 1970s, continue to damage the local Black community by supporting mass incarceration. The untrue distortion of the event severely undermines and disrespects the Black grievances, activists, and average citizens who fought for change.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
