Every initial newspaper portrayed African Americans as “Armed Instigators,” which was false. Newspapers also reported that the estimated death toll of black residents was 8 to 22 victims. Black community members argued with this report by stating a minimum of 40 people died and that it may have reached up to 200 victims.The Anderson County Sheriff stated that at the time, it was difficult to obtain the death toll accurately because the bodies had been scattered all over the woods. Many black residents fled the town after the massacre and while it was happening, causing them to leave behind valuable real estate property, which white residents later seized. Almost all of Slocum’s residents were told to testify, and white men who refused were arrested. Spruger and at least 15 other men were arrested for their actions. Despite the fact that the white community of this small town committed such a crime, there is a historical marker, or memorial, in the town that describes what happened so others are aware. Many descendants of the African Americans come to this town to learn about their …show more content…
It was given its name because the U.S. was aware of what was happening, but still chose to not act and help the Maya community. It started when a Guatemalan army general and politician named Efran Ros Montt took power by force and became the country's dictator in March 1982. A month after his ruling was declared, he decided to attempt to take over the Mayan land and use it for military purposes, so he launched a “Scorched Earth” operation. This was a strategy used by the military that involved destroying everything that allowed an enemy military force to be able to fight in a war, which is now considered an inhumane attack and has been banned for 46 years. He used his army unit and soldiers to mistreat the Maya people with this tactic, the army units killed over 600 villages. Armed forces cordoned off each village, separated the men and women and slaughtered them. Those who managed to escape were hunted from the air by helicopters. The military used murder, torture, forced disappearances, eviction of people from their land, as well as rape in their battle focusing on the civilians. The government made over 40,000 Guatemalans “disappear”, or as it seemed, as well as about 5,000