State to offer scholarships to Ocoee Massacre descendants

It has been just more than 100 years since white mobs violently murdered members of the black community in Ocoee and set it ablaze.

That moment in history — known now as the Ocoee Massacre — took place on Election Day Nov. 2, 1920, and has long been a topic of discussion in the community.

The city itself put on special programming the week of the 100-year anniversary and installed a historical marker close to City Hall. Now, descendants — as well as current black residents of Ocoee — will be receiving scholarship money following the work of Florida State Sen. Randolph Bracy, of Ocoee.

“It’s historic,” Bracy said. “If you look at it from the perspective that it’s only been done once in the history of this country where a massacre like this (and) payments have been made to the descendants — the only other time was Rosewood.

“It’s historic, and it creates the path to provide healing for those families, but also just reconciliation amongst communities,” he said. “It’s hard to move forward as a community without talking about these tragedies that have really happened and addressing them appropriately. That’s why I thought it was important.”

The Randolph Bracy Ocoee Scholarship Program will utilize just more than $300,000 in recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund. Fifty qualified applicants will be awarded $6,100 each year in scholarships from the state. Descendants of the Ocoee Massacre will get priority, while the other scholarships will be handed out to other black students based on need.

Finding a way to give back to the black community in Ocoee has been a priority during Bracy’s time in Tallahassee, although it did not start off well. Last year, his full-reparations measure failed during the 2020 legislative session.

During that time, Bracy tried to figure out how to remember the massacre, and he received some help during a lecture to students at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University — College of Law.

“When I talked to them about the Ocoee Massacre and having it taught in schools, they had some ideas about memorializing the Ocoee Massacre — to make sure buildings were named after them and other ideas I hadn’t thought about,” Bracy said. “Originally, I thought payments to descendants would be the way, but they kind of expanded my thought process on different ways — creative ways — that would be appropriate.”

The word “reparation” is often a jarring and unsettling term, so Bracy decided scholarships could be a possibility — especially because of the Rosewood scholarship established years ago.

“It’s difficult to get any bill through (the Legislature) — especially something like this would prove to be difficult — so I thought scholarships would be the right thing to do,” Bracy said. “It was more palatable for legislators to get behind than the payments to descendants.”

After the 2020 legislative session ended, Bracy visited the home of Republican Senate President Wilton Simpson to discuss the proposal. He then put his proposal through the budget process instead of the bill process, where it would have to go through each committee.

Simpson helped Bracy negotiate with the House to keep it in the budget, Bracy said.

The next step will be its signing by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and once that is done, the scholarships will go into effect July 1. Seniors who graduate this spring could apply for it and possibly receive the funds by the fall, Bracy said.

Although Bracy said he has more plans for the future regarding the Ocoee Massacre, he is pleased to be able to help those students in Ocoee with the new scholarships.

“I’m just glad that I’m able to bring some light to what happened — and hopefully facilitate restoration for the families and this Ocoee community,” Bracy said.