The New York race riots of 1919 developed with increasing racial tension and violent incidents in New York City. These riots were a part of the Red Summer,[1][circular reference] a series of violent terrorist attacks on black communities in many cities in the United States during the summer and early autumn of 1919. The New York race riots were caused by social tensions such as competition for jobs, politics, and racial tension. Many historians and scholars view these riots as the culmination of racial tensions which had been rising due to the migration of African Americans from the rural South to northern cities.[2] Tensions developed partly due to the competition for jobs, which was worsened by the presence of African Americans workers who could replace striking White workers.
Race tensions in New York had always been an issue. During the New York City draft riots of July 13–16, 1863, which were initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests turned into a race riot, with White rioters, predominantly Irish immigrants, attacking African American people throughout the city.[3] The official death toll was listed at 119 or 120 individuals. As more and more African-Americans moved from the south to the industrial north, they started to move into predominantly White neighborhoods.
July
On July 20, 1919, a White man and an African American man were arguing about World War I. The fight got heated and the black man pulled a gun and shot wildly down the street. Some of the bullets hit civilians, with one striking George Doles of 231 East 127th St while he was in his ground-floor apartment.[4] Another hit Henrietta Taylor, who was sitting on a stoop on 228 East 127th Street. While the two were rushed to a Harlem hospital, word spread that a riot was about to start, and when police arrived on the scene about a thousand black people were present on the block between 2nd and 3rd Ave.[5] As police attempted to clear the streets they were fired upon from surrounding buildings.[4]
This uprising was one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called American Red Summer of 1919. It consisted of terrorist attacks on black communities and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the Elaine Race Riot in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 black people and 5 white people were killed. Also occurring in 1919 were the Chicago race riot and Washington D.C. race riot, which killed 38 and 39 people, respectively, and with both having many more non-fatal injuries and millions of dollars in property damage.[7]
Red Summer was a period in mid-1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots occurred in more than three dozen cities across the United States, and in one rural county in Arkansas. The term "Red Summer" was coined by civil rights activist and author James Weldon Johnson, who had been employed as a field secretary by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1916. In 1919, he organized peaceful protests against the racial violence.
Jim McMillan was lynched in Bibb County, Alabama on June 18, 1919.
Berry Washington was a 72-year-old black man who was lynched in Milan, Georgia, in 1919. He was in jail after killing a white man who was attacking two young girls. He was taken from jail and lynched by a mob.
The Charleston riot of 1919 took place on the night of Saturday, May 10, between members of the US Navy and the local black population. They attacked black individuals, businesses, and homes killing six and injuring dozens.
The Baltimore riots of 1919 were a series of riots connected to the Red Summer of 1919. As more and more African-Americans moved from the south to the industrial north they started to move into predominantly white neighborhoods. This change in the racial demographics of urban areas increased racial tension that occasionally boiled over into civil unrest.
The 1919 Norfolk race riot occurred on July 21, 1919, when a homecoming celebration for African American veterans of World War I was attacked in Norfolk, Virginia. At least two people were killed and six people were shot. City officials called in Marines and Navy personnel to restore order.
The Port Arthur riot happened on July 15, 1919, in Port Arthur, Texas. Violence started after a group of white men objected to an African American smoking near a white woman on a street car. A "score" of whites and twice that number of African Americans battled in the streets leaving two seriously injured and dozens with minor injuries.
The Morgan County, West Virginia race riot of 1919 was caused by big business using African-American strikebreakers against striking white workers in Morgan County, West Virginia.
The Putnam County, Georgia arson attack was an attack on the black community by white mobs in May of 1919.
The New London riots of 1919 were a series of racial riots between white and black Navy sailors and Marines stationed in New London and Groton, Connecticut.
The Dublin, Georgia riot of 1919 were a series of violent racial riots between white and black residents of Dublin, Georgia.
The Garfield Park riot of 1919 was a race riot that began in Garfield Park in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 14, 1919. Multiple people, including a seven-year-old girl, were wounded when gunfire broke out.
The Syracuse riot of 1919 was a violent racial attack that occurred when the management of the Globe Malleable Iron Works pitted striking white unionized workers against black strikebreakers in Syracuse, New York on July 31, 1919.
The Newberry 1919 lynching attempt was the attempted lynching of Elisha Harper, Newberry, South Carolina on July 24, 1919. Harper was sent to jail for insulting a 14-year-old girl.
The Darby 1919 lynching attempt was the attempted lynching of Samuel Gorman in Darby, Pennsylvania on July 23, 1919. Samuel Gorman, a 17-year-old black boy was sent to jail for the alleged murder of William E. Taylor.
Corbin, Kentucky race riot of 1919 was a race riot in 1919 in which a white mob forced nearly all the town's 200 black residents onto a freight train out of town, and a sundown town policy until the late 20th century.
There were a number of race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer.
The Wilmington, Delaware race riot of 1919 was a violent racial riot between white and black residents of Wilmington, Delaware on November 13, 1919.
The Laurens County, Georgia race riot was an attack on the black community by white mobs in August 1919. In the Haynes' report, as summarized in the New York Times, it is called the Ocmulgee, Georgia race riot.
On December 26, 1920, an African-American man named Wade Thomas was lynched in Jonesboro, Arkansas, by a white mob. The mob seized Thomas from the Jonesboro jail after he allegedly shot local Patrolman Elmer Ragland, and murdered him.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
