There has been much to celebrate from the late 19th and early 20th century expansion of Sarasota and Bradenton but there are also silences.
The toll taken on communities by the lynchings in the post-Civil War era are remembered by some. Several lynchings of African Americans by whites are known; more are suspected for Manatee/Sarasota. More research, especially oral histories, and public recognition of the murders are needed for there to be justice. Some of the terror was in newspapers, including news stories of the Klan Circus, the term openly used in the Sarasota Herald for the Bob Morton Circus.
The key lesson from the lynching era is not the actions of the predators but the courage, resilience, and determination of the African American communities: their actions led to the acceleration of the civil rights revolution with its demands for the USA to live up to its ideals for all. The resistance to segregation made America live up to the ideals of its founding.
While we do not have Charles Ringling’s views on racism, as an immigrant family he and his family thrived and the Ringling Brothers Circus was no Klan Circus, welcoming much diversity even if not confronting segregation.
