Ocoee unveils new marker for massacre

Change — more times than not — comes not with a bang, but with the slow churn of time.

Just more than 100 years have passed since the Ocoee Massacre of 1920 took place, but the city paved the way for a new, vibrant future as it capped off its weeklong remembrance with the unveiling of a new historic marker Sunday, Nov. 8.

The marker, which now sits at the southeast corner of Bill Breeze Park, recounts the events of that tragic Election Day in 1920, when members of Ocoee’s black community were murdered and run out of town by white supremacists who were trying to keep the community from voting.

In the time since those dark days, the city had never truly acknowledged the massacre, but a lot has changed the last two years. For many, like John Peterson — a descendant of Valentine Hightower, a survivor of the massacre — it was the first step toward healing a community.

“I believe for all of the descendants — and I can definitely speak for myself and my family — that we’ll be appreciative,” Peterson said. “First of all, (it’s) the acknowledgment, because until there is an acknowledgment, until there is genuine repentance of what happened, we cannot move forward, and I believe this has been a point where we can now have a starting point where healing can take place.”

Peterson was one of a few descendants on hand to take in the three-hour program — put on by the city and its Human Relations Diversity Board, which is led by William Maxwell — that was held at the Lakeshore Center.

Prior to Sunday’s event, the city held three programs throughout the week, each hitting on different aspects of the massacre: Telling the Ocoee Story, Honoring the Memory and Healing the Wound.

But it was Sunday’s service that many were most looking forward to, as it also marked the moment when the city would give its official apology for its darkest moment.

Following remarks from local pastors, and discussion about the importance of the event by numerous speakers, it was about an hour-and-one-half into the program when Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson stood at the podium to read the city’s formal apology.

“Today, Nov. 8, 2020, we the elected officials of the city of Ocoee have chosen to invite each of you here to openly, publicly and sincerely admit, acknowledge and forever voice our displeasure over the inhumane acts of terror committed against the African American community of Ocoee,” Johnson said. “Let us be clear and completely candid. Those of us gathered here today will forever bear testimony to the efforts of the city of Ocoee and its citizens to move forward into the future knowing that we are a culturally diverse, modern community with eyes set on a conscious unification.

“Therefore we, the elected officials of the city of Ocoee, Florida, do hereby and herewith officially extend to each and every member of the community of Ocoee, of 1920, and to each descendent both living today or deceased, our deepest apology for each and every atrocity that was committed against those individuals,” Johnson continued.

The official apology was followed by the handing out of a plaque to descendants that featured both the apology and the official proclamation that the city issued in 2018.

These moments were met with applause and tears as the socially distanced audience took in a historic moment for the city.

“On behalf of the Franks family … and my father, Richard Allen Franks, I’d like to accept your apology and thank you for doing this,” said Gladys Franks Bell, whose father survived the massacre. “And I hope everything just moves forward.”