Race Riots In Chicago

A large influx of colored people created many problems. First, there was a major problem in the availability in housing, of which was responded to with racism. This is the root for the hatred between the black and white communities. There wasn’t enough housing in the “black belt” community, so Negroes began to spill into white neighborhoods. The very existence of a colored person in a neighborhood would lower the property values. When a house was sold to a colored person, the rent for the house would be higher than the previous, white owner’s rent. Real Estate companies believed that “it is a matter of common knowledge that house after house…whether under white or black agents, comes to the Negro at an increased rental” (Sandburg 46). They sold housing despite the fact that “the Negro in Chicago, paid a lower wage than the white workman” (47), and that black people would have

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, labor was anything but easy. Factory workers faced long hours, low pay, high unemployment fears, and poor working conditions during this time. Life today is much easier in comparison to the late 1800s. Americans have shorter days, bigger pay and easier working conditions. Not comparable to how life is today, many riots sparked, and citizens began to fight for equal treatment. Along with other important events, the Haymarket Riot, the Pullman Strike, and the Homestead strike all play a vital role in illustrating labor’s struggle to gain fair and equitable treatment during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Racism was a larger issue back in the 1930’s than it is today. During the 1930’s many Black Americans were unable to find jobs. With the Great Depression came the “last hired first fired” mindset. Many African Americans felt that this was targeted towards them (Racial 5). This along with Jim Crow laws kept most blacks in a level of poverty, which added to the discrimination (Racial 7). Throughout this time, all the way up into the 1960’s and 1970’s African Americans were under great segregation. During this thirty years, great strides toward social equality were made, but at the cost of numerous racial driven incidents. Many great African American icons were assassinated during this time. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 because he stood up against racial oppression as well as Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated in 1968. Both of these two men were part of the leading force in the desegregation of America (Rosenberg 1). This movement led to great tension between the African American culture and white culture, which led to many very violent cases between the races. A great

The Tulsa Race Riot is considered to be the most deadly and violent race riot of all time. The period of the riot was a time of prosperity in America, not only among whites, but the black population in Tulsa were also living an upper middle class life. The oil boom gave Tulsa a quick boost in the economy and people had money, lots of money. With oil in the ground and money everywhere, it’s hard to imagine that the National Guard was about to be called on its own civilians for the first time and only time in history.

The Watts riots began in the summer of 1965, in a city in Los Angeles called Watts. It all began with the arrest of a young African American by a white California Highway Patrol officer. Now, it was not because he was arrested for already doing something illegal, it was for the way the police officer treated the individual. According to Lacine Holland, an eyewitness to the arrest, the officer “took him and threw him in the car like a bag of laundry and kicked his feet in and slammed the door.” (Flournoy) This caused lots of unrest among the fellow residents of Watts. This was just the beginning of years of pent up oppression for the minorities, which participated in the event. Similarly, in 1992, the Rodney King riots also arose due to the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers for their brutal beating

This paper explains a very important moment in the history of our government that took place in Illinois in 1917. As World War I was beginning for the United States things were heating up in East St. Louis, Illinois. Anti-black riots killed or injured over one hundred black civilians. Then a Silent Parade of over ten thousand black citizens from New York broke out. Civil rights have always been an issue in our government, and according to www.kidzworld.com, after these anti black riots, things eventually led to the development of the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and from that, Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on the bus. The creation of the NAACP also influenced the Little Rock, Arkansas incident, Martin L. King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech, and many other things which eventually led to equal rights for everyone with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This paper will explain the riots and how it shaped our government into providing equal jobs for all races.

Before the race riots broke out in Chicago, tension between two communities were high and resulted 1919 Chicago Race Riot, which Black teenager called Eugene Williams swimming in Lake Michigan was stoned to death by White bystanders. His death caused one of the worst riots in American history because 37 people died, 500 injured and thousands left homeless. When the local police were called to the William’s death, they refused to arrest the man who initiated the

A racially segregated Chicago had experienced few race riots prior to 1919. However, between April 1919 and October 1919, race riots spanned the nation; this became known as the Red Summer. On July 27, 1919, Chicagoans started to express their emotions on racial issues, which turned into violence, lasting several days and resulting in the deaths, injuries, and displacement of hundreds of people. During this time, Chicagoans opinions regarding racism led to extreme chaos, leaving African Americans and whites fighting with each other for wealth and opportunities. The relatively-invisible line between blacks and whites in Chicago became bolder, deepening the rift between the races. As a result of the gruesome events that occurred in the summer of 1919, segregation in Chicago deepened. Chicago city officials created the Chicago Commission of Race Relations, comprised of six whites and six blacks, with the goal of solving large racial issues in Chicago, such as housing for blacks and job competition. Today, Chicago is more desegregated, but it was an arduous journey and is still a work in progress. It is still a predominant issue, and there are many recurring examples of racial violence in Chicago currently. This makes racial inequality an even more important issue in Chicago communities, and the legacy of this racial violence continues to haunt this persistently segregated city.

In “City of Courts” by Michael Willrich he talks about how the social causes of crime, specifically about the criminal justice system of Chicago. Michael Willrich goes into great detail about whether crime should be an individual failing or a social failing. He claimed that because of the “social” conditions, such as heredity and the environment, it drove individuals to commit crime. This relates to racially motivated crimes or riots, which was motivated by heightened tensions because of promise of employment and dignity for blacks, since the black population doubled from 1916 to 1918. Blacks have always talked about joining white-controlled unions, and “in the face of violence, black leaders had begun preaching self defense

According to Harper?s? sources, white sailors begin to join in on the brawl thus further escalating it, while a black man runs to a nearby club and announced that a group of white men had raped and killed a black woman and her daughter. As this rumor spreads, a white group began spreading their own rumors by incorrectly informing others that a white woman had been assaulted. Thus, the destruction that ensues from this riot is simply the product of rumors. According to Baldwin, the same can be stated about the Harlem riot. A rumor is spread of a black soldier being shot in the back and killed, thus incensing the crowds (Baldwin 81). While this is not the truth, it sufficiently ignites the fury of Harlem.The majority of the fighting in the Detroit riot takes place in the valley which is the black

Eventually, the occurrence of the Orangeburg Massacre led to the racial integration of Orangeburg and many other parts of South Carolina. If the Orangeburg Massacre had not occurred, South Carolina might not have become the racially equal society it is today. However, not everybody agreed with the change that was being brought as a result of the event. Many caucasians at the time attempted to cover the incident up, and to blame whatever could not be hidden on the protesters. Nevertheless, civil rights protesters were not going to let the killing of their fellow pupils be in vain. The students of Orangeburg demanded the punishment of highway patrolmen and other law enforcers on scene the night of the massacre. “They wished to see the officers punished to the fullest extent of the law so that justice could be served to the families of the three young men who were killed” (Pulaski 10). But, as an attempt to hide the massacre, many white-owned newspaper companies either simply refused to report the event, or blamed the massacre on the protesters that participated that night (3 Negroes 1). “A skirmish line of highway patrolmen and city police returned the fire of demonstrating college students last night” (3 Negroes 1). After a scant two weeks, no white-owned newspaper business covered the event at all.

Racial segregation has had a long history in Chicago. While separation by nationality had always been apparent in the city, with neighborhoods typically being dominated by a certain ethnicity, no group of Chicagoans experienced the degree of segregation that African Americans faced in everything from the housing districts to public services. Forced to live only in designated areas by de facto segregation, redlining, and other tactics, they had limited chances to escape the cycle of danger and discrimination of the city. Confined to only their deteriorating neighborhoods,they had little chance.

Many instances Tuttle states that the police not only condoned the beatings and killings but also participated in many of them. He often made the point of police involvement. Like when the two black officers came to arrest the suspected stoners the other white officers did not allow them to arrest them and let them go free. These actions put fear into blacks. Tuttle states, “They had expected little else of a police force which they had come to view as the armed representative of white hostility”(Tuttle, 33). These actions may explain the resentment and hatred of police today by many blacks.

On 1 May 1866 in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an altercation between black Union soldiers and Memphis police officers started a chain reaction that eventually brought about what has come to be known as the Memphis Riots of 1866. The group of amicably intoxicated soldiers reacted negatively when told by a small group of officers to break up their party, and although no one was seriously injured, the situation quickly escalated to the point where shots were fired on both sides (Carden 2). This incident, however, was not the cause of the Memphis Riots. Instead, I will argue that the altercation merely served as the spark to set a fire to a whole mess of kindling made of economic, political, and social twigs and branches, which was already in place long before the actual events of the Memphis Riots.

The Detroit riots occurred in the summer of 1967. The riot initially started because of race when poor African Americans got kicked out of their houses. They started living on 12th street in Detroit. The riot started there because African Americans were fed up with the way that they were being treated. Many years prior to the riot there were already racial issues. The government made it hard for African Americans to buy houses in the 1950s. During that time, white people were resisting African Americans from moving into Detroit. They were gathering outside of houses owned by African Americans until they would leave. According to Stanford, “I was blissfully unaware of the pervasive racism and resentment that was simmering in my city” (28).