Rosewood (film) - Plot

Plot

The movie of Rosewood relates the historical events of a January 1923 race riot in Rosewood, Florida, in which whites attacked blacks and burned the town down. A mentally unstable white woman, Fanny Taylor, claims to have been beaten by a black man. Historical accounts note that this was never proven. The movie shows a white man, not Fanny’s husband, in her bedroom where they have sex. Shortly after he finishes, he prepares to go back to work. She gets upset and hits him inciting him to beat her. Some black workers outside heard the events but did nothing. When they told about it, their account of a white man beating Fanny was not believed. Singleton presents it as looking as if Fanny was covering up her cheating on her husband by blaming it on a black man. The white residents readily believe Fanny's account, demonstrating the power of racial stereotyping and fears. The black residents of Rosewood quickly become targeted by the white males of nearby Sumner, Florida and others who arrive for a fight, including members of the Ku Klux Klan. Mobs formed swiftly.

The movie features the fictional character of Mann, played by Ving Rhames. Mann is a WWI veteran who is traveling around in search of land. He meets and falls in love with a woman in Rosewood named Beulah or "Scrappie" and has stayed there. After Fanny tells her story of rape, Mann leaves town. He is afraid of being lynched as a suspected stranger. He hears stories of the attacks and returns to the town to save the woman he loves, together with children she cares for.

After the whites started generally attacking and killing blacks, all of the blacks fled from Rosewood or were killed. First the women and children fled, followed by men who survived. People left their homes and land and all of their possessions behind to get away from the murderous white men that raided their town (D'Orso).

Some white men who lived in Rosewood helped black people escape from the mob. Railroad conductors smuggled people out of town on the rail cars that ran nearby. In the movie, Voigt as Wright asks the train conductors to pick up the women and children. Other blacks took refuge in white people’s homes, including Wright's. Racism was shown by the mob's avoiding Wright's house but burning down those of blacks. They did not bother with known white houses. Although it was dangerous for them to do, some white men like Wright protected blacks from death.

In the movie, the mob believed James Carrier held information about the escaped convict Jesse Hunter. Wright let the Sheriff take Carrier, because the officer said he only wanted to question him. When Carrier said he didn't have any information, he was shot immediately by one of the mob. Wright gets upset and the mob accuses him of being soft on blacks. The scene shows that most of the white men didn't agree with what was going on, but were too afraid to face the mob.

The movie portrayed towns near Sumner trying to prevent the violence from spreading. At one point the men of Sumner were following the trail of some men. But when they get to the border between their town and the next one over, white men stopped them. They protected their black citizens, saying they are law abiding and peaceful, and Singleton demonstrated that not everyone agreed with the riot.

As word spread to the federal government and national newspapers, the media splintered in its portrayal of events. Some portrayed the murder at Sylvester Carrier's as appropriate to stop the black men from arming. They relied on rumors and fear. Southern white newspapers explained mob's actions as the way to avenge the rape of Fanny and keep blacks in their place. The Afro-American newspapers encouraged blacks and praised them for staying behind to defend their homes and property. Officially the death toll was eight people total, two whites and six blacks. Other accounts by survivors and the Afro-American newspapers were of a higher toll. The movie portrayed the newspapers as contributing to the riot; men came from neighboring towns and even states to put down the riot.

At the end of the movie, a narrative states that some blacks and one white testified as witnesses in court in the a 1990s suit of survivors against the state for its failure to protect the people of Rosewood. (In the 1980s, newspaper reporters investigated and publicized the long-secret story.) This was followed by a state investigation and report. Florida was the first state to pay reparations to survivors and their descendants for a racial riot.