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When laughter broke out, she countered, “Do I look like I’m joking?”

Doc Randolph said, “One thing at a time, MissJan.”

He got an eye roll from her for that but moved on. “Mr.Hiram Revels of Mississippi has been sworn in as the country’s first senator of color.”

More applause and whistles and cheers.

“Things are looking up,” he said. “But if the Kluxers have their way, our people in the South will be back in chains.”

You could hear a pin drop.

Eddy knew from the newspapers that although Congress passed the Enforcement Act, giving the government authority to send troops to protect freedman rights, the Kluxers and their supporters were running loose like rabid dogs.

Doc went on to tell them that North Carolina was on the verge of ending Reconstruction because of political assassination and violence. “In Alamance County, Wyatt Outlaw, one of the Colored leaders, was lynched this past winter. The state’s governor has come out against the Klan, but folks there are pretty sure he’ll be impeached before autumn.” He added that Tennessee and Georgia were being overrun by insurrectionists as well.

Eddy sighed. There’d been so much hope in the years immediately following the war. Fisk University and Morehouse College were founded, the Fourteenth Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, and Blacks in Washington, D.C., were given suffrage over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. But during that same time in Memphis, Tennessee, a mob of Whites that included policemen killed forty-­six freedman and two White supporters. In the melee, seventy people were wounded and ninety homes, twelve schools, and four churches were torched and burned. A month and a half later in New Orleans, another mob, this time led by the police, attacked a convention of Black and White Republicans, killing forty and wounding 150.

“What about Mr.Sumner’s civil rights bill?” Amos Granger asked. “Any news on it?”

Doc cracked, “Other than the Lily Whites are running away from it like their mustaches are on fire? No, and there’s no guarantee it will even come to the floor for a vote, let alone be made law.”

Sumner, the senator from Massachusetts, had drafted the bill along with John Mercer Langston, the founder and dean of Howard University’s law school. Its wording would guarantee all citizens, regardless of race, equal access to public accommodations like theatres and public schools, and allow men of the race to serve on juries.

The doctor said, “The part of the bill those refusing to support it dislike the most is allowing children of both races to sit in the same classrooms. Folks are pretty sure that clause will be stripped away somewhere down the road.”

There were disappointed head shakes all over the room.

“Now, I want to turn this over to Zeke.”

Doc sat and Zeke walked to the front. “I just returned from Reno. Went up to handle a job and to attend a meeting with a man named Henry Adams. Since the end of the war, he and a group of men have been traveling across the South, taking stock of conditions and writing down what they’ve been seeing, like the children being forced to sign papers that indenture them to planters for the rest of their lives, sharecroppers being cheated out of their wages and homes, schools burned, teachers killed or run off. The men meet yearly to discuss their travels and turn their diaries over to Adams. I found him to be very passionate about the race and freedom. He’ll let me know when and where the next meeting will be.”

From the back of the room, Jim Dade asked, “What’s he going to do with the notes?”

“He’s hoping to take them to Congress at some point so they can have a real look at our so called freedom. He says some of our people in the South are talking about making an exodus west to Kansas and Nebraska to escape the Kluxers and lynchings.”

He let that sink in before continuing. “On a more positive note, four new Colored colleges opened their doors last year: Clark, Claflin, Dillard, and Tougaloo. They keep kicking us but we keep striving.”

Applause greeted that. Adding hers, Eddy was glad she’d attended the meeting. It had been sad at points but also informative.

When the room finally quieted, Doc Randolph said, “I’m sending a petition around the room for the men to sign. It asks the state of Nevada to support Mr.Sumner’s civil rights bill. There’s no guarantee they’ll entertain it but at least they’ll know how we feel.” He then looked around. “Does anyone else have something to add before we eat?”

Whitman Brown raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr.Brown?”

He stood. “I say we should throw our votes behind the Democrats.”

Loud boos greeted his words.

He pressed on. “The Lily Whites take our votes for granted. Why not do something to make them sit up and take notice?” Eddy knew it was a move being pushed by some of the race’s national leaders, but it was also fiercely opposed.

Zeke called out, “If you want to align yourself with those blood-­spilling supremacists, have at it. I’m a Republican.”

Cheers rose.

Irritation soured Whitman’s face. “Well, I’m thinking of running for council and I’m going on the ballot as a Democrat.”

Eddy noted the shocked faces and those who shook their heads in disgust.

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