In the rolling hills along the Caribbean coast, east of the Mississippi Delta, where settlers had displaced the indigenous Panzacola and established an economy dependent on enslavement that persisted for 100s of years until the Civil War, on this day in 1976, 30 students at Escambia High School are injured, some by gunshot, during 4 hours of riots. The recently-desegregated student body elect to change their mascot from the confederate-styled "Rebels" to the "Raiders." In protest, white students hoist a Confederate flag. Black students and allies react. Violence and vandalism ensues; part of the school is flooded. A State Rep shows up to support the white students. The weeks that follow include cross burnings. The next year, the students change their mascot to the "Gators."