Hundreds of black deaths in Red Summer ignored century later

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Hundreds of black deaths in Red Summer ignored century later

By JESSE J. HOLLAND
July 23, 2019

America in the summer of 1919 ran red with blood from racial violence, and yet today, 100 years later, not many people know it even happened.

It flowed in small towns like Elaine, Arkansas, in medium-size places such as Annapolis, Maryland, and Syracuse, New York, and in big cities like Washington and Chicago. Hundreds of African American men, women and children were burned alive, shot, lynched or beaten to death by white mobs. Thousands saw their homes and businesses burned to the ground and were driven out, many never to return.

It was branded “Red Summer” because of the bloodshed and amounted to some of the worst white-on-black violence in U.S. history.

Beyond the lives and family fortunes lost, it had far-reaching repercussions, contributing to generations of black distrust of white authority. But it also galvanized blacks to defend themselves and their neighborhoods with fists and guns; reinvigorated civil rights organizations like the NAACP and led to a new era of activism; gave rise to courageous reporting by black journalists; and influenced the generation of leaders who would take up the fight for racial equality decades later.

“The people who were the icons of the civil rights movement were raised by the people who survived Red Summer,” said Saje Mathieu, a history professor at the University of Minnesota.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/d7830d62a99f4cdd8f0a0d08cefb92c5


In this 1919 photo provided by Chicago History Museum, a crowd of men and armed National Guard stand in front of the Ogden Cafe during race riots in Chicago. Red Summer, as the summer of 1919 came to be known, saw white-on-black violence in big cities like Washington and Chicago and small towns like Elaine, Ark., and Bisbee, Ariz. (Chicago History Museum/The Jun Fujita negatives collection via AP)


A white gang hunting African Americans during the Chicago race riot of 1919

[bobbieinok]

1. See controversy over number of blacks killed during 1921 Tulsa Race Riot

The massive destruction of homes and businesses in Tulsa's black community. The elimination of Black Wall Street

[UpInArms]

2. Here's that timeline

The history of the Tulsa race massacre that destroyed America’s wealthiest black neighborhood

In 1921, Tulsa had the wealthiest black neighborhood in the country. On Sundays, women wore satin dresses and diamonds, while men wore silk shirts and gold chains. In Greenwood, writes historian James S. Hirsch, “Teachers lived in brick homes furnished with Louis XIV dining room sets, fine china, and Steinway pianos.”

They called it Black Wall Street.

“They had done everything that they were supposed to do in terms of the American dream,” says Carol Anderson, Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. “You work hard, you save your money, you go to school, you buy property. And this is what they had done under horrific conditions.”

Greenwood was strictly segregated from the rest of the city, but still it flourished. It was home to black lawyers, business owners, and doctors — including Dr. A.C. Jackson, who was considered the most skilled black surgeon in America and had a net worth of $100,000.

Dr. Jackson was killed on the night of May 31st, 1921, along with hundreds of black Tulsans. Thirty-five blocks of Greenwood were razed that night. 1,256 homes and 191 businesses were destroyed. 10,000 black people were left homeless.

By morning, Black Wall Street had been reduced to rubble.

[UpInArms]

3. WHITE TERROR U.S.A.: The shameful history of white supremacy in America

Trump in the White House, the alt-right booming online, riots on the streets of Berkeley. Far-right thinking is more prominent than it has been for decades. But from farmyard lynchings to Nazi rallies at Madison Square Garden to a former KKK member on the Supreme Court, racism in the United States is as old as the country itself. To understand how we got to now, Timeline has surfaced some of the most extraordinary stories about racism in America, and those who fought against it.

http://whitesupremacyhistory.timeline.com