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Whereas Sophie Kloppenburg could also be younger, she already has expertise preventing adversity within the title of commemorating Black historical past.
This 17-year-old particularly needed to overcome pushback whereas embarking on a mission to pay homage to 7 Black males who had been lynched in her hometown of Mount Vernon, Indiana, per the Atlanta Black Star.
Calling Consideration To Mount Vernon’s Darkish Previous
Whereas working towards for a driving take a look at with a household good friend, Sophie started to be taught of Mount Vernon’s troublesome historical past. Regardless of the South Indiana group being her hometown, she had by no means heard of its darkish previous.
“We bought to speaking about Black historical past and all the things, and he advised me in regards to the lynchings that had occurred, and I used to be clearly shocked as a result of I’ve lived right here my entire life and by no means knew that had occurred.”
Over the course of three days in October 1878, a lynch mob brutally killed 7 males—Daniel Harrison Jr., John Harrison, Daniel Harrison Sr., Jim Good, William Chambers, Edward Warner, and Jeff Hopkins. CBS stories that the killings occurred after the boys had been accused of rape. Moreover, it’s vital to notice that the mob hanged 4 of the boys exterior of the Posey County courthouse.
As soon as she realized this data, Sophie sought out to see if the courthouse commemorated the incident in any respect. Nevertheless, she was unable to search out any point out of the killings, so she began a mission to alter that with a memorial.
Critics Battle To Whitewash Historical past In Posey County
Though Sophie’s pursuit to honor the lynching victims is commendable, locals didn’t precisely embrace it with open arms.
Because the group of Mount Vernon is predominately white, Sophie felt as if many weren’t too involved with the undertaking. In reality, she advised the Atlanta Black Star that she needed to enchantment to the Posey County Commissioners Workplace on 5 totally different events earlier than they agreed to see the memorial by.
Bryan Schorr, a county commissioner, addressed this by noting that the hesitance was “extra about getting the wording proper and ensuring it was correct and captured individuals’s curiosity in a optimistic manner.
In flip, Sophie recalled among the compromises she made to show her undertaking right into a actuality.
“I needed to take out, to me, actually vital phrases like ‘lynched’ [and] ‘mobbed’…I couldn’t use these actually vital phrases as a result of it made individuals too uncomfortable.”
Kloppenburg was certain to push again in opposition to among the different edits, although.
“In addition they needed me to not embrace the phrase African American in there, and I used to be like, completely not. What’s the purpose of us placing this up there if individuals don’t know this was a racially motivated homicide?”
All in all, Sophie achieved her objective, and she or he’s pleased that her group is open to “having the tough conversations.”
“I’m happy with Posey County, Indiana, and the attractive individuals right here for having the tough conversations and giving a tangible voice to its minorities. Thanks.”
Sophie Kloppenburg, 17, of Mount Vernon, Indiana, helped give seven Black males who had been victims of the state’s largest recorded lynching a memorial 144 years after their ugly fates.
https://t.co/wLcOEhDUVc— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) November 19, 2022
Shoutout to Sophie Kloppenburg for pushing by and establishing a memorial to honor the victims of the Mount Vernon lynchings.
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