National Public Radio‘s All Things Considered program interviewed Stephen V. Ash, UT professor emeritus in history, about the 150th anniversary of the Memphis Massacre. The story examines whether the words “race riot” belong on a historical marker commemorating the tragic event.
Ash, the author of A Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot That Shook The Nation One Year After The Civil War, noted that newspapers of the era labeled what happened in Memphis a race riot, mostly on the basis that it began as a fight between black Union soldiers and some Irish police officers. Listen to the story.
New England Public Radio also featured the story online.