1n 1928, the Okeechobee hurricane ravaged Belle Glade, Pahokee, and other areas in Palm Beach County.It claimed over 2,500 lives, most of whom were poor, black agricultural workers.Because of systemic racism, those people’s lives were seen as dispensable at the time and most were buried in mass graves.One of those graves is located right here in West Palm Beach and is now known as the 1928 Hurricane Mass Burial Site, though it was not officially recognized for decades. Read the article Florida Frontiers: Hurricane of 1928 (Links to an external site.) and watch the video then answer the questions.
200 WORDS
- Were you previously aware of this mass burial site in West Palm Beach?
- Describe and explain your thoughts and feelings while reading the article and watching the video.
- How do you think the erasure of so many people affected the psychological wellbeing of black people living in Palm Beach County?
