The Chicago Red Summer Riots of 1919 were a series of race riots that took place in Chicago just two years before the great Tulsa Race Massacre. These riots led to dozens of people being brutally beaten, resulting in thirty-eight deaths. One of those people was not mentioned in the count. Although he was the motivation behind the initial riots. The young man’s name was Eugene Williams. The date was July 27 in the year 1919. Williams and a group of friends were swimming in Lake Michigan; when a pool buoy slipped into the unofficial “WHITES ONLY” barrier of the city’s “white” and “black” beaches. A group of white onlookers saw the incident and escalated the situation drastically. They began to throw stones at young Eugene, striking him in the head and killing him by drowning.
This incident led to clashes between African American and white residents, resulting in widespread violence and destruction. The riots lasted for 13 days and resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people, most of whom were African American. The Chicago Red Summer Riots were a significant event in American history, as they marked the beginning of a wave of race riots that swept the country in the aftermath of World War I and highlighted the deep racial divides that existed in American society at the time.
The Chicago Red Summer Riots of 1919 were a series of race riots that took place in Chicago and other cities in the United States in the summer of 1919. The riots were a result of increasing racial tensions following the end of World War I and the migration of African Americans to Northern cities. In Chicago, the riots were triggered by a racial incident on July 27, 1919, in which a young African American man, Eugene Williams, drowned. When police arrived on the scene, they refused to arrest the “white boys” who killed Eugene. as black eyewitnesses identified them. A mob of angry crowds began to form on the beach, and news of what happened spread quickly. Violence broke out between the mobs of black and whites in the South Side neighborhood near the stockyards.
The riots lasted for 13 days and resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people, most of whom were African American. The Chicago Red Summer Riots were a significant event in American history, as they marked the beginning of a wave of race riots that swept the country in the aftermath of World War I and highlighted the deep racial divides that existed in American society at the time.
When police arrived on the scene, they refused to arrest the “white boys” who killed Eugene. As black eyewitnesses identified them. A mob of angry crowds began to form on the beach, and news of what happened spread quickly. Violence broke out between the mobs of black and whites in the South Side neighborhood near the stockyards.
President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the twenty-eighth United States president at the time (1913-1921), publicly blamed whites for the riots in Chicago and Washington D.C. This was done to promote racial harmony, including the congressional legislation and volunteer organizations. This was done to shed light on the growing tensions in the United States urban communities and areas of work. The public statement showed the growing willingness we still see among so-called African Americans today. Fighting for their rights in the face of oppression and inhuman horrific injustices they have suffered from in the past and in the present.
References: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/chicago-race-riot-of-1919