"One tragic day, on 15 May 1856, the good fortune of the Ashworth family[a family of afrometizos who owned a lot of cattle, and were not enslaved or deported by Texas as was the law] was cruelly reversed[Block, 1979:11]. Samuel Ashworth, a nephew of Aaron[the wealthiest person in Jefferson County], became embroiled in a fist fight, with William Blake, a White man. Witnesses accused Samuel of using abusive language against Blake, which was against the law. In those days, Blacks in Texas were not allowed to insult White folks. Samuel was immediately arrested, taken to ail, fined and given thirty lashes.[Block, 1979]. News of the event spread and agitated many White people. Samuel's neighbor began talking and concurred that the Ashworth clan were an arrogant bunch of trouble makers. A mob of White folks decided to take action. ...[Samuel escapes from jail. White folks get mad] Frustrated at the perceived social injustice, they decided to seek revenge by forcing all Black people from Orange and Jefferson counties to leave. That night White men went into the homes of Black people and ordered them to leave within 24 hours or suffer repercussions[Block, 1979]"- From p. 232 of Recovering History, Constructing Race.

Reading that, and the earlier parts of this chapter about the new racial laws that took citizenship away from Blacks and Indians and forced many of the Indians onto reservations in the aftermath of the Mexican American war, all I have to say about that is that's fucked up.