Black History is filled with heroes, but it also has it’s fair share of villains. From Robert E. Lee to David Duke, here are the most terrifying men and women from throughout Black history.
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Jefferson Davis
Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis is an obvious candidate for this list. Aside from fighting to preserve the system of chattel slavery, Davis personally enslaved over 100 Black people on his plantation. Davis believed in the fundamental inferiority of Black people, telling the Senate in 1860, that slavery was a “form of civil government for those who by their nature are not fit to govern themselves.”
Robert E. Lee
This one is kind of a no-brainer. Robert E. Lee was a confederate general during the civil war, who fought for the enslavement of Black Americans. There’s not really anything else you have to say about the man to justify his inclusion on this list.
Sir Francis Galton
If you haven’t heard of Sir Francis Galton consider yourself lucky. Galton is credited with inventing “eugenics” a now-debunked pseudo science that classifies people based on race. Eugenics has been used to justify the subjugation of Black Americans and marginalized communities all across the world.
Dr J. Marion Sims
Although Dr J. Marion Sims is often credited as the “father of gynecology,” he conducted horrific experiments on enslaved women without anesthesia. These women were not able to consent to his procedures.
Mrs. J.E. Andrews
Unlike, Robert E. Lee, this is a name you probably don’t know. Mrs. J.E. Andrews was President of the Women’s National Association for the Preservation of the White Race, Georgia in the 1930s. She fought against anti-lynching efforts and said the NAACP was trying to destroy the “pure white race.”
Roy Bryant & J.W. Milam
Roy Bryant & J.W. Milam kidnapped, tortured, and killed 14 year-old Emmett Till in 1955. Despite, significant evidence of their guilt, the two men were acquitted by an all-white jury. They died without facing any consequences for killing a child.
Carolyn Bryant Donham
Carolyn Bryant Donham, wife of Roy Bryant, is another obvious addition to the list. Bryant Donham testified at her husband his brother’s trial that Emmett Till, 14, had assaulted her and whistled at her. Bryant Donham’s accusation not only set off the events of Till’s murder, it also helped Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam escape accountability. A Duke University historian later said that she had told him that she lied about the assault and that he made sexual advances towards her. She died in 2023.
Senator Strom Thurmond
South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond was an outspoken segregationist. Thurmond strongly opposed civil rights legislation to the point where he led a 24-hour filibuster to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Thurmond spent 48 years in the Senate. He never renounced his racist views and he died in 2003 at 100 years old.
Eugene “Bull” Connor
Eugene “Bull” Connor might not be a household name in the modern-era, but he certainly earned his spot on our list of boogie men. Connor was an ardent segregationist, who served as commissioner of public safety in Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights era. Connor enforced segregation in what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the most segregated city in America.” with an iron fist, using hoses, dogs, and batons to beat demonstrators.
George Wallace
Former Alabama Governor and failed-Presidential candidate George Wallace undeniably earned his spot on this list. Wallace became a symbol for the segregationist movement vowing, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
Ronald Reagan
We can’t have a list of folks whose actions have haunted Black Americans without a shout-out to former President Ronald Reagan. It’s easy to start with the overt racism, i.e. that time Reagan called a U.N. delegation from Africa “monkeys,” or his creation/exploitation of the “welfare queen” stereotype. But, we can’t talk Reagan without talking Reaganomics — his trickle down economic policy, which many scholars consider disastrous for Black Americans.
Donald Trump
Although it may seem like Donald Trump made a total 360 when he started running for President, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In 1973, the Justice Department sued Trump Management, Trump, and his father for illegally discriminating against Black renters. And in 1989, Trump took out an advertisement calling for the deaths of five Black and Latino children who were wrongfully accused of raping a central park jogger. Trump has never apologized for calling for their deaths.
David Duke
This ardent white supremacist is still a menace to this day. David Duke, former grand wizard of the modern Ku Klux Klan and a former Louisiana State Rep., is arguably the most recognizable right-wing hate figure in the United States. Duke has endorsed several Republican political candidates, including former President Donald Trump.
Justice Clarence Thomas
We don’t even have to get into the modern-era to explain this choice. In 1991, Anita Hill, a Black attorney and future esteemed Brandeis University law professor, accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her while he was her supervisor. (He denied the allegations). In the subsequent years, Justice Thomas has repeatedly voted to overturn major civil rights victories, including huge swaths of the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action in higher education.
Donald Trump Pt. 2
Yes, Donald Trump is making a second appearance on this list. In 2011, Donald Trump became the main spokesperson for the “birther” movement — a racist conspiracy theory claiming that former President Barack Obama was not a U.S. Citizen. Trump spent years perpetuating this lie, which helped him grow a significant base of Republican support. It wasn’t until 2016, that Trump finally backed-away from his claims that the first Black president was born in Kenya. While in office, Trump defended said that there were very fine people on both sides during a neo-Nazi rally in Virginia. (There’s plenty more to say about Trump, but that would be its own list).
Glenn Beck
Conservative radio host Glenn Beck is an obvious choice for numerous reasons, Fun fact: he compared Paula Deen getting called out for saying the N-word to critiques of Martin Luther King Jr. is definitely one of them.
Candace Owens
Obviously, we can’t have Stacey Dash on this list without Candace Owens. Owens has spent years putting down Black Americans, demonizing Black culture, calling Black Lives Matter activists terrorists, and saying that Black people who care about systemic racism are stuck in the past and pretending to be oppressed.
Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter is a bit of a blast from the past, which makes her perfect for this list. Coulter has defended white supremacist groups, and implied that racism in the U.S. is more or less extinct.
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson may have lost his primetime spot on Fox News, but that doesn’t mean he’s off our radar. Carlson has a bunch of reasons to be on this list, but his promotion of the racist and dangerous “Great Replacement” theory, is a top contender.
Richard Spencer
Richard Spencer is a neo-Nazi and an avowed White Supremacist with a Southern Poverty Law Center rap sheet a mile long.
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