Red Summer of 1919
James Weldon Johnson named the summer of 1919 the "Red Summer" of 1919 because of all the lynching on the blacks. Reportedly overall the summer 76 blacks were lynched and 26 race riots took place, but these are just the ones that were reported. These attacks happened because of the racial issues that were still present in this time and the unemployment of the whites because blacks took a lot of the white men's jobs during WW1 and after. This is unlike many other attacks before 1919, because the number of attacks and how many people died and were lynched, but also because this is the first where there was an organized black resistance toward the attacks. Not only black men were killed, but also white men were because the blacks tried fighting back.
I thought this was weird, the picture above is Will Brown and he was lynched in Omaha, Nebraska during the 1919 riot in Omaha. There were many other riots in dozens of towns such as Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Elaine, Arkansas where there were more fatalities in those towns than others. Chicago is where these riots started where 23 blacks and 15 whites died. You wouldn’t think people would be homeless from this, but there were, approximately 1000 African Americans were left homeless in Chicago. Not only people were left homeless, but 537 people were injured. White people were actually astonished blacks even tried fighting back, which I think is a little crazy.
Why would whites just think that blacks are just going to sit back when they are being attacked and killed for really no reason? The whole thing I think is just crazy and really honestly could happen at any time again! But I don’t believe it will because I don’t think there is that much racism around the U.S. The sad thing was that it wasn’t only men fighting; it was also women fighting and dying as well. White men killed men, women, and children with guns, drowning, lynching, and many other horrible things. Some people believe that the military was involved on the white’s side. The whites had assumed the blacks made a secret conspiracy and were trying to kill white farmers. They also believed that after the blacks killed farmers, they would rape their wives and take their land. What a horrible thing to think of doing. I couldn’t ever imagine living in this time. I think I’m going to ask my grandparents and great-grandma about this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer_of_1919 http://www.africawithin.com/maafa/a_killing_season.htm http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Red_Summer_of_1919
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