Editing Paris, Texas (section)

==History==

Present-day Lamar County was part of [[Red River County, Texas|Red River County]] during the [[Republic of Texas]]. By 1840, population growth necessitated the organization of a new county. George Washington Wright, who had served in the Third [[Congress of the Republic of Texas]] as a representative from Red River County, was a major proponent of the new county. The Fifth Congress established the new county on December 17, 1840, and named it after [[Mirabeau B. Lamar]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yBEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA281 | title=Revised Civil Statutes and Laws Passed by the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, & 20th Legislatures of the State of Texas | author1=John Sayles | author2=Henry Sales | publisher=Gilbert Book Company | year=1889 | volume=1 | page=281 | access-date=January 7, 2018}}</ref> who was the first vice president and the second president of the Republic of Texas.

[[Image:Old map-Paris-1885.jpg|left|thumb|Paris, Texas in 1885]]

Lamar County was one of the 18 Texas counties that voted against secession on February 23, 1861.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/secession-and-civil-war | title=Texas Almanac: Secession and the Civil War | publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] | access-date=January 7, 2017 | archive-date=October 21, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021182743/http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/secession-and-civil-war | url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{anchor|1916 fire}}In 1877, 1896, and 1916, major fires in the city forced considerable rebuilding. The 1916 fire destroyed almost half the town and caused an estimated $11&nbsp;million in property damage. The fire ruined most of the central business district and swept through a residential area. The burned structures included the Federal Building and Post Office, the Lamar County Courthouse and Jail, City Hall, most commercial buildings, and several churches.<ref name=1916Fire/>

In 1893, black teenager [[Henry Smith (lynching victim)|Henry Smith]] was accused of murder, tortured, and then burned to death on a scaffold in front of thousands of spectators in Paris.<ref name="nyt.lynch">{{cite web| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/history-of-lynchings-in-the-south-documents-nearly-4000-names.html | title=History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names | author=Campbell Roberts | newspaper=The New York Times | date=February 10, 2015 | access-date=August 19, 2016}}</ref> In 1920, [[Lynching of Irving and Herman Arthur|two black brothers from the Arthur family]] were tied to a flagpole and burned to death at the Paris fairgrounds. The city has prominent memorials to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]].<ref name="nyt.lynch"/>

In 1943, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in ''[[Largent v. Texas]]'' struck down a Paris ordinance that prohibited a person from selling or distributing religious publications without first obtaining a city-issued permit. The court ruled that the ordinance abridged freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press in violation of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/318/418.html | title=Largent v. State of Tex. | publisher=U.S. Supreme Court | via=[[FindLaw]] | access-date=January 7, 2018}}</ref>

[[Image:Paristrains.jpg|thumb|Historic Paris train station]]

Paris is a former railroad center. The [[Texas and Pacific]] reached town in 1876; the [[Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway]] (later merged into the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) and the Frisco in 1887; the Texas Midland Railroad (later [[Southern Pacific Railroad|Southern Pacific]]) in 1894; and the Paris and Mount Pleasant (Pa-Ma Line) in 1910. Paris Union Station, built 1912, served Frisco, Santa Fe, and Texas Midland passenger trains until 1956. Today, the station is used by the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce and serves as the research library for the Lamar County Genealogical Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM74JF_Union_Station_Paris_Texas|title=Union Station - Paris, Texas - Train Stations/Depots|website=Waymarking.com}}</ref>

Following a tradition of American cities named "Paris" (named after [[Paris, France|France's capital]]), the city commissioned a {{convert|65|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} [[Eiffel Tower (Paris, Texas)|replica]] of the [[Eiffel Tower]] in 1993 and installed it on site of the Love Civic Center, southeast of the town square. In 1998, presumably as a response to the 1993 construction of a {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} [[Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee)|tower]] in [[Paris, Tennessee]], the city placed a giant red cowboy hat atop its tower. The current Eiffel Tower replica is at least the second one; an earlier replica constructed of wood was destroyed by a [[tornado]].

===Race relations===
[[File:Henry-smith-2-1-1893-paris-tx-2.jpg|thumb|215x215px|Lynching of Henry Smith, Paris Fairgrounds, 1893]]Paris has had a [[Non-Hispanic whites|white]] majority with a significant Black minority for most of its history.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} The city is deeply segregated<ref name=Witt/> and race relations in Paris have a bloody history<ref name=Witt2/> and are deeply polarized,<ref name=Witt2/> turbulent,<ref name=Kovach>{{cite web |url=http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/27/the-turbulent-racial-history-of-paris-texas/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801120841/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/27/the-turbulent-racial-history-of-paris-texas/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 1, 2009 |title=The turbulent racial history of Paris, Texas |author1=Gretel C. Kovach |author2=Ariel Campo–Flores |date=July 27, 2009 |work=Newsweek, via Anderson Cooper 360° |publisher=CNN |accessdate=May 1, 2015}}</ref> and sometimes explosive.<ref name=Kovach/>

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, several [[Lynching in the United States|lynchings]] were staged at the Paris Fairgrounds as public spectacles, with crowds of white spectators cheering as the African-American victims were tortured and murdered.<ref name="Witt">{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703120170mar12-story.html#page=1 |title=To some in Paris, sinister past is back |author=Howard Witt |date=March 12, 2007 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 1, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Witt2" /> A Black teenager named [[Henry Smith (lynching victim)|Henry Smith]] was lynched in 1893. His murder was the first lynching in US history that was captured in photographs sold as postcards and other trinkets commemorating the killing.<ref name="Minutaglio">{{cite book |last=Minutaglio |first=Bill |author-link= |date=2021 |title=A Single Star and Bloody Knuckles: A History of Politics and Race in Texas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYcHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |location= |publisher=University of Texas Press |pages=48–51 |isbn=9781477310366}}</ref> Journalist [[Ida B. Wells]] said of the incident, "Never in the history of civilization has any Christian people stooped to such shocking brutality and indescribable barbarism as that which characterized the people of Paris, Texas."<ref name="Minutaglio" />

On July 7, 1920 [[Lynching of Irving and Herman Arthur|Irving and Herman Arthur]] were burned alive at the fairgrounds before a crowd of 3,000,<ref>{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', January 14,|1922}}|date= January 14, 1922|title= Man Acquitted of Murder|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/634458137|newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |issn=0889-0013|oclc=60616134 |access-date= July 23, 2020 |url-access=subscription |page=7}}{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''New Britain Herald'', July 7, 1920, front page}}|date= July 7, 1920|title= Texas Mob Burns Negroes At Stake|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014519/1920-07-07/ed-1/seq-1/#|newspaper=New Britain Herald|publisher=Herald Pub. Co.|location=[[New Britain, Connecticut]] |issn=2643-4954|oclc=8783515|pages=1–12|access-date= July 7, 2020 |via=[[Chronicling America]] }}{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''Bisbee Daily Review'', July 7,|1920}}|date= July 7, 1920|title= Mob of Texans Burns Negroes|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1920-07-07/ed-1/seq-1/#|newspaper=[[Sierra Vista Herald|Bisbee Daily Review]]|publisher=W.B. Kelly|location= [[Bisbee, Arizona]] |issn=2157-3255|oclc=11363144|pages=1–8|access-date= July 7, 2020 |via=[[Chronicling America]]}}</ref> their charred corpses then being dragged by a convoy of shouting white terrorists through Paris's African-American neighborhood as a warning to the Black community.<ref>{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''New York Age'', September 4, 1920, front page}}|date=September 4, 1920|title= Officer of the Law Assaults Innocent Girls|url=https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/New%20York%20NY%20Age/New%20York%20NY%20Age%201919-1921%20%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Age%201919-1921%20%20Grayscale%20-%200703.pdf|newspaper= [[New York Age]]|location= [[Manhattan|New York City]] |oclc=9274417 |access-date= July 15, 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:1cherryandblackwell.jpg|thumb|Local resident and activist [[Brenda Cherry]] speaking at the rally for Brandon McClelland, 2009]]
In 2008, an African-American man, [[Death of Brandon McClelland|Brandon McClelland]], was run over and dragged to death under a vehicle. Two white men were arrested, but the prosecutor cited lack of evidence and declined to press charges, and no serious subsequent attempt to find other perpetrators was made. This caused unrest in the Paris African-American community. Following this incident, an attempt by the [[United States Department of Justice]] <!-- Justice --> Community Relations Service to initiate a dialogue between the races in the town<ref name=Abshire>{{cite web |url=http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2008/12/justice-department-community-d.html/ |title=Justice Department community dialogue on race set for Paris, Texas |author=Richard Abshire |date=December 4, 2008 |work=Crime Blog |publisher=Dallas Morning News |access-date=May 1, 2015}}</ref> ended in failure when African-American complaints were mostly met by silent glares from white community members.<ref name="Witt2" />

A 2009 protest rally over the case led to [[Texas State Police]] intervention to prevent groups shouting "white power!" and "black power!" from coming to blows.<ref name="Carlton" /> In response to the incident, civil rights activist [[Brenda Cherry]] said "I think we are probably stuck in 1930 right about now".<ref name="McKinley">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/us/15paris.html?pagewanted=all |title=Killing Stirs Racial Unease in Texas |author=James C. McKinley Jr. |date=February 14, 2009 |work=New York Times |access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref>
In 2007, a 14-year-old African-American girl was sentenced by a local judge to up to seven years in a youth prison for shoving a hall monitor at Paris High School. Three months earlier, the same judge had sentenced a 14-year-old white girl to probation for arson. This sentencing disparity occasioned nationwide controversy<ref name="Witt4">{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703310265mar31-story.html |title=Girl in prison for shove gets released early |author=Howard Witt |date=March 31, 2007 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref> and the African-American girl was released after serving one year on orders of a special conservator appointed by the State of Texas to investigate problems with the state's juvenile-justice practices.<ref name="Witt4" />

In 2009, some African-American workers at the Turner Industries plant in the city claimed that hangman's nooses, Confederate flags, and racist graffiti were regular features of plant culture.<ref name="Witt3">{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-paris_webfeb25-story.html |title=Racism bedevils Texas town |author=Howard Witt |date=February 25, 2009 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref> At the same time, the [[United States Department of Education]] was conducting an investigation into allegations that African-American students in Paris's schools are disciplined more harshly than white students for similar offenses.<ref name="Witt4" />

In 2015, the United States [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] ruled after an investigation that African-American workers at the [[Sara Lee Corporation]] plant in Paris (closed in 2011)<ref name="Cancino">{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-eeoc-sarah-lee-0211-biz-20150210-story.html |title=Sara Lee discriminated against black employees, attorneys say |author=Alejandra Cancino |date=February 10, 2015 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref> were deliberately exposed disproportionately to asbestos, black mold, and other toxins, and also were targets of racial slurs and racist graffiti.<ref name="NBC5">{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Workers-Targets-of-Racist-Behavior-at-Sara-Lee-Plant-EEOC-291445561.html |title=Workers Targets of Racist Behavior at Sara Lee Plant: EEOC |date=February 10, 2015 |publisher=NBC Channel 5 Dallas–Fort Worth |access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref>

Some Paris residents downplay the extent to which the town has a race-relations problem.<ref name="Witt" /><ref name="Carlton">{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/riot-police-storm-texas-t_n_242372.html |title=Riot Police Storm Texas Town After Black, White Protesters Clash Over Dragging Death |author=Jeff Carlton |date=August 21, 2009 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref> Judge M. C. Superville commented, "I do not believe there is systematic racial discrimination in Lamar County. I do believe there is a misperception that that is going on".<ref name="McKinley" />