Like Judgment Day: The Ruin and Redemption of a Town Called Rosewood

by Michael D'Orso

Details the 1923 massacre of black inhabitants of the small Florida town of Rosewood by a white lynch mob, tracing the lives of survivors and describing the unprecedented award given to survivors and their descendants by the state of Florida some seventy years after the rampage. 30,000 first printing.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, American History, African American, Crime, Media Tie In

373 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 1996

About the author

The son of a U.S. Navy submarine officer, Mike grew up traveling often -- his family lived on or near military bases ranging from Key West to San Diego to Frankfurt, Germany -- before he graduated from high school near Washington, D.C. in 1971. After finishing undergraduate school at the College of William and Mary in 1975 with a degree in Philosophy, Mike spent several years traveling and working a variety of jobs that included sorting mail for the U.S. postal service, waiting tables and tending bar, driving a dump truck, repairing skis, stocking meat and produce at a small grocery store near Chicago, working as a golf course greenskeeper, and managing a convenience store in the Rocky Mountain ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado.


Mike taught high school English in Virginia Beach for one year before earning his master's degree in 1981 at William and Mary, where he wrote his thesis on Beat author and poet Jack Kerouac. While in graduate school, Mike worked as a writer and photographer for the college's publications office and wrote a weekly column for The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, which led to a job as a staff writer for Commonwealth magazine, then as a features writer for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, where he worked until 1993. Mike still lives in Norfolk, where his daughter Jamie graduated from high school in 2003. Jamie subsequently earned her undergraduate degree from Bucknell University and her master's degree from William and Mary in Higher Education Student Services.


Besides his books, Mike's writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Reader's Digest, The Oxford American, People magazine, and The Washington Post, and has been included three times in Best Sports Stories, published annually by The Sporting News. A chapter Mike wrote on journalistic research methods was included in The Complete Book of Feature Writing (Writer's Digest Books, 1991), and his writing on Jack Kerouac has been included in Studies in American Fiction and the QPB Literary Review. Mike is on the Editorial Advisory Board of DoubleTake magazine, and he has taught narrative nonfiction writing at the College of William and Mary and at Old Dominion University, where he delivered the Commencement Address to ODU's Class of 2006.

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part way into this book, my primary thought was, "Every American should read/listen to this book. What a powerful witness to why Blacks in American can't just 'get over' slavery. Because we as whites haven't gotten over our racism and the actions that extend from it."

The story is non-fiction, yet told with a lyrical beauty. The people involved are fleshed out as the complex people we all are.

I should warn for language, as the n-word is used in its fullness. However it is used as it was spoken from the mouths of those who speak it to demean. In hearing it fully used, it helped me to have to face just how nakedly racist many people in our country still are.

[Kevin Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owned this book for three years before I was able to finish it. A reminder, when I see all that's going on, our ancestors suffered much worse injustices than we do. And still there's talk of change. This book is a powerful reminder why racist propaganda needs to be erased from the American Mindset. It reminded me that we were kidnapped and brought to the west, enslaved and tortured, set free, and are now being abused and shunned by descendants of our kidnappers. It was a painful book to read. But it was well worth looking at histories quietly erased from American historical discussions.
**Rosewood Like Judgement day** should be required reading for ALL American history classes.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, wow. For those of us who think the Obama Era is "post racism", read this before you make fools of your selves.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave it a 5-star rating not because I found it so riveting nor because it was an easy read, but I felt this is a story all of us need to read. An unbelievable story! It will stay with me for a long time.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done, if a bit convoluted..hard to keep up with so many characters. Great read for anyone wo enjoys American History.

[Bobbi Hartwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerfully written dual-story about the massacre itself as well as the quest for recognition and reparations in the Florida legislature 70 years later. Important.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent history book about a very dark chapter in Florida and American history. Can't recommend this enough.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started this book I could only read so much before I had to put it down. It is hard to describe how it made me feel. I wanted to cry and rage. It was heartbreaking. I had never heard of Rosewood before picking up this book. It hurts to think of how we as a people have hurt each other.
Once the book dealt with the past and started to talk about trying to pass a bill, it was much easier on my emotions. Not being an American I found the whole system quite interesting and made me what to find out more about how things are done in my own country.
Before I finished this book I was telling people about it. To sum it up Wow that how I feel about this book.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of my favorite books.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as an audiobook. I didn't realize when I downloaded it that the book covers both the original massacre and the lawsuit for restitution seventy years later. I never heard about Rosewood prior to reading this book, but I would have been about ten when the suit began. The history of this massacre must not be forgotten, so I am thankful D'Orso wrote this book. This book would also be a good choice for groups interested in discussing the potential limits of financial restitution due to time, lack of documentation, etc. Comparing the legal experience and the financial outcome for the Rosewood survivors to the Japanese-Americans interned during World War II would also provide some good insights.

[Dan Petegorsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully written book about one of the better known episodes of American ethnic cleansing, D'Orso's story really focuses on the long quest of the Rosewood descendants for justice. Read it and then watch Marco Williams' film Banished.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I am quite familiar with history, the story of Rosewood and its inhabitants took me by surprise. I was shocked that such brutality could occur. What is even more frightening is that such brutality still occurs to this day around the world.

[Ricky Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 — harrowing story recalling the racist history of Florida in the 20s. wonderful storytelling and super detailed. my only complaint would be that the last 70 or so pages felt a little repetitive.

[Ericayo]

Really shattering. It really makes you realize the terror that was pervasive in the life of African Americans for centuries.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a native Floridian I had always heard of Rosewood. But didn't realize that a town was basically erased by blind hate and racism. These types of books are hard to read due to content so it takes a special kind of writing to present them without emotion getting in the way of the writing. This was a good book but I felt it could have been more gripping. I guess something about the writing just couldn't grab me. But once again important lessons to be learned. And honestly, reading books like this inspire me to be kinder to others. Guess I'm trying to counter balance all the hatred I just read about.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5 star review] This book should be required reading for Floridians. During the first two chapters, my jaw literally hit the floor as I read the shocking and heartbreaking account of what happened to Rosewood. The second half of the book didn't hold me like the first half did, since it focused more on the legal and political maneuvering, but this book has nevertheless left an indelible impression on my psyche. Everyone needs to know that things like this happened. They happened, and they left generational impacts.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's about Rosewood, Florida, and something that happened in 1923. It's an important true story that needs to be told, the massacre of innocent Negroes, and the destruction of their homes by angry whites from a nearby town. The pace was a bit uneven, with lots of drama, but also lots of backroom activities to bring the truth out into the open. A movie was made from this, called "Rosewood."

[Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book about a little known part of US history. I was prepared for the book to be completely depressing because of its subject matter, but the writer has a way of moving back and forth between historical accounts and the modern day discovery of those events that keeps the book moving. I enjoyed it, as much as one can...

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember the Rosewood scholarships from my days helping students, but have just gotten around to this book for a detailed explanation. A must-read for some Florida and civil rights history. A sad reminder of what was, and of what still is...

[Colby]

GREAT BOOK AND MOVIE

[Stacy Croushorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea this had happened. The injustice of those days, itis so sad.

[Rebecca Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, it's the story of America.