MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English language and literature

The Racial Riots of the Red Summer of 1919

Bachelor thesis

Brno 2017

Supervisor: Author: Michael George, M.A. Michaela Klosová

Prohlášení

„Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, pouze za použití citovaných zdrojů.“

Declaration

“I proclaim that I have assembled this bachelor thesis by myself and that I used only sources cited in the bibliography.”

……………………………..

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank to my supervisor Michael George, M. A. for his kind guidance, encouragement, valuable advice, time and helpful remarks.

Annotation

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to present and examine the period of the racial riots of the Red Summer of 1919 to the reader and provide him/her with the deeper insight of selected racial riots, as well as the resistance of Afro-Americans against the white rioters. The first chapter provides the historical background that led to the rioting. The second chapter deals with five selected riots of Jenkins County, Longview, Washington, Chicago and the town of Elaine. The third chapter describes the three front of resistance to the white mobs.

Key Words: Red Summer, Riot, Lynching, Mob violence, Afro-American, Negro, Resistance, Rumors.

Anotace Cílem této bakalářské práce je představit čtenáři období rasových nepokojů tzv. Red Summer, které se událo v roce 1919 ve Spojených Státech Amerických a poskytnout relevantní informace k vybraným veřejným nepokojům. Dalším cílem je představit čtenáři vzdor Afro-Američanů proti davovému násilí. První kapitola se zabývá historickými souvislostmi, které vedly k rasovým nepokojům. Druhá kapitola se soustředí na představení a popis pěti vybraných rasových nepokojů, a to ve městech, Longview, Washington, Chicago, Elaine a Jenkins County. Třetí kapitola se zaměřuje na tři fronty odboje proti davovému násilí Američanů.

Klíčová slova: Red Summer, veřejné nepokoje, lynčování, davové násilí, Afro- Američané, Černoch, vzdor, fámy.

The List of Content

Introduction ...... 7

1. Setting the Roots to the Red Summer rioting ...... 9

1.1. The WWI participation of Afro-Americans ...... 9

1.2. The socio-economical changes in America ...... 11

2. The riots of the Red Summer ...... 13

2.1. Jenkins County, Georgia ...... 13

2.2. Longview, Texas ...... 15

2.2.1. The resistance in Longview ...... 16

2.2.2. The militia intervention...... 17

2.3. Washington, D.C...... 18

2.3.1. The response to the rioting ...... 20

2.4. Chicago, Illinois ...... 21

2.4.2. The police and the militia Intervention ...... 25

2.5. Elaine "massacre", Phillips County, Arkansas ...... 26

2.5.1. The Committee of Seven ...... 29

2.5.2. Victims of the massacre ...... 30

3. Three-Front fight of Afro-Americans ...... 31

3.1. The first front of resistance ...... 31

3.1.1. Fighting the White Mob ...... 31

3.1.2. The Afro-American Armed Self-Defense ...... 32

3.1.3. The New Negro ...... 32

3.2. The Second Front of resistance ...... 33

3.2.1. Negro Crime Stereotypes ...... 34

3.2.2. Radicalization – The Reds ...... 35

3.3. The Third Front of Resistance ...... 36

3.3.1. Haynes Report ...... 36

3.3.2. The NAACP ...... 38

3.3.3. The Lynching ...... 39

3.3.4. Fight for Justice...... 39

3.3.5. The end of rioting ...... 42

Conclusion ...... 45

Works Cited ...... 46

Introduction

The period of the Red Summer was called "the greatest period of interracial strife the nation has ever witnessed" by J.H. Franklin (480). It was the time of the racial unrest, mostly performed by white mobs that started rioting for various reasons against Afro- American community. The period of 1919 was a difficult one. The whole world was changing after the Great War. Many American soldiers were returning from Europe where they helped to fight for the democracy. Many of them were Afro-Americans hoping for "equality" since they had been living under Jim Crow segregation laws and the white majority did everything to keep Afro-Americans segregated at any manner possible. And some of them were victims of rioting that spread across southern and northern states of the United States. Even though the rioting of the Red Summer is one of the most "bloodiest" in the first half of the twentieth century, it has not been discovered by many or it seems to be forgotten. Therefore the aim of this bachelor thesis is to present the period of the Red Summer of 1919 to the reader and provide him/her with the deeper insight of selected racial riots, as well as the resistance of Afro-Americans against the white rioters.

This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the historical background that tracks the roots of rioting of 1919 and possible causes of the racial unrest within this period. The second chapter describes five major racial riots of this period and provides the narratives of the causes that led to the violence, as well as the responses from the local or governmental authorities and enables the reader to discover the racial relations in the United States in the 1920s. The third chapter is dedicated to the three front resistance of Afro-Americans against the white oppressors from three different points of view – the self-defense, the media and fight for true information and the justice and consequences that helped to fight for that.

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1. Setting the Roots to the Red Summer rioting

The Red Summer is a period of racial riots full of aggression, allegations, accusations, injustice, mob violence and lynching, from April to November of 1919, ranging from the South to the North of the United States. The term of Red Summer was first used by James Weldon Johnson, the field secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, with red as a metaphor for the bloodiness these riots represented (McWhirter 13). The historian J.H. Franklin called that summer of 1919 "the greatest period of interracial strife the nation has ever witnessed" (480). According to Jan Voogd, an author of the Race Riots and Resistance: the Red Summer of 1919, the "uniqueness" of the Red Summer lays in the number of anti-black riots within such a short period of time (18). The Red Summer counts approximately 25 major riots and mob actions. Hundreds of people, mainly black, were killed or injured and tens of thousands had to leave their homes or workplaces. Businesses lost millions of dollars to deconstruction. Lynching was nearly daily occurrence. It is estimated that at least 52 black Americans were lynched1 (McWhirter 13).

But in order to understand what caused such hatred against the black community in the summer of 1919, that had already lived for decades under the longstanding racism of Jim Crow, the roots of the riots need to be seen from two different angles that are bound together: the war experience of Afro-Americans and the socio-economical changes within the USA.

1.1. The WWI participation of Afro-Americans

The Afro-Americans had long been considered second class citizens from the time of slavery through the Jim Crow years. However; the First World War brought a change. More than 360,000 Black Americans, mostly from the South, joined the US Army in order to fight for democracy (Woodward 114). Approximately 200,000 Black men of those accepted for service were sent to France and one fourth of them participated directly in combat, whereas the others were part of the supply units. Nevertheless, t

1 The number of black people that were lynched is only estimated since no statistics had been officially recorded. The number was derived from the newspaper records, witnesses etc.

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service of Black Americans was stigmatized by the racial segregation within their own units (McWhirter 30). The US military segregation followed the principles of Jim Crow laws which practically meant that the blacks were either not accepted for service or allowed of the menial work only (the case of the navy) or intentionally segregated within the supply units that had been occupied by the majority of the active black soldiers (Krugler 16). It was Colonel E. D. Anderson of the General Staff of the War Department that claimed that "the blacks could serve the nation best with a shovel, not a rifle, in their hands since they were of the ignorant illiterate day laborer class" (Krugler 16).

Nevertheless, the minority of blacks were still able to see combat and proved well. This was the case of all four regiments of the Ninety-third Division of black troops that were serving under the French command which meant that the troops had American uniforms, however, they were issued French gear, rations and weapons (Krugler 18). These regiments did so well that three of them were awarded with the Croix de Guerre, the highest unit citation. Under the French command, the black troops experienced the equality with their war allies, something that Americans had been afraid of as they had warned French not to "spoil the Negroes" by treating them equally both in the front and in the civil life after the demobilization (Nash et al. 589).

With the war over, the whole experience brought a new ray of hope to the black troops. They believed the war participation as such, would improve their social status and finally earn them equal rights in the United States, since they helped to build a democracy overseas and hoped to build it in America for all black Americans, too (McWhirter 13). It was Emmett J. Scott, an assistant to Secretary of War Newton Baker and the highest- ranking black official in Wilson's administration that predicted that "the black soldiers would return home with a broader vision of American citizenship and an appreciation of what liberty and freedom really meant" (qtd. in McWhirter 12).

There had been many anti-black actions at the beginning of 1919. The violence rapidly increased with Black war veterans who were returning back to their nation. It was mainly in southern states where black soldiers were harassed, assaulted, or cursed and a riot even burst out against the black community that intended to welcome the black soldiers back home, in Norfolk, Virginia (Whitaker 45). The Congressman of South

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Carolina James Byrnes justified such treatment by his announcement that "for any Negro who has become inoculated with the desire for political equality, there is no employment for him in the South, nor is there any room for him in the South. This is a white man's country, and it will always remain a white man's country" (qtd. in Whitaker 45).

The war veterans were allowed to wear the uniform up to three months after their discharge. A uniform itself caused the tension as it was regarded as a symbol of the war contribution of Afro-Americans. Therefore, many veterans had been intentionally insulted as in April in Blakely, Georgia, where a war veteran refused to take his uniform off therefore a mob beat him to death (Krugler 41).

The Ku Klux Klan was very active in this period, as well. Having the base of more than million "Klansmen" in the beginning of 1919, the threats, "The war is over, negroes. Stay in your place. If you don't we'll put you there.", appeared on the doors of residences and churches in black's neighborhoods (qtd. in Krugler 41).

Many threats were fulfilled as in Star City, Arkansas. A black war veteran was hanged on the tree and shot dead with more then forty bullets due to his refusal to step off of the sidewalk. In Hillsboro, Texas, there was even a first public torture of black citizen being burned alive at the stake in January, 1919. The same occurred in other cities such as Eldorado, Arkansas, or Star City where a mob burned alive a "Negro" and consequently hung the remains of his body from the bridge with the sign that read: "This is how we treat lazy niggers" (Whitaker 47).

1.2. The socio-economical changes in America

The war brought a new opportunities for black people. Since there were more than 4 million people engaged in the war service and the immigration flow stopped with the war, there was a need to cover a labor shortage. For the first time the Afro-Americans had been recruited in large numbers by factories, mainly the southern blacks. This new possibility of better conditions had attracted more then 300,000 of black southerners who relocated northward, causing the shortage of cheap labor in the rural South. This period is known as the Great Migration (Nash et al. 592). Krugler points out that with the

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migration rose the racial tension in two fronts – in the North with so many new inhabitants of color entering new jobs or being close to the white neighborhoods, e.g. in the cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York or Pittsburg, and in the South, were the white southerners were angered by losing the cheap black labor (19). Returning veterans had troubles finding jobs in the North, since not many factories were hiring and southern black migrants had taken these occupations and they were not planning to return southwards since the working conditions and wages were much reasonable for them (McWhirter 19). According to Krugler, the white resentment of rising prosperity of black Americans also provoked the violence (20).

With the First World War, many Americans saw the social possibilities that the war had brought, so did the Afro-Americans. The progressive movement was at its peek with the constitutional amendment to women suffrage, but other changes were important for the American society, too. In the industry, the collective bargaining was supported, the eight-hour working day was introduced, as well as protection for women and children in industry (Nash et al. 593). On the other hand, more then four million workers staged 4,000 strikes for various reasons (higher wages, more control over workplace... ). Seattle experienced a general strike that paralyzed the city. Business owners blamed Bolsheviks (Nash et al. 602). Economically speaking, inflation was a problem in 1919, too. With prices rising, food cost increased by 84 %, clothing by 114 per cent and e.g. furniture by 125 per cent. The cost of living for an average American family rose by 99 per cent in 1919, compared to figures from 1913 which was one of the cause of postwar instability and unrest (Murray 7).

Simultaneously, the year of 1919 was stigmatized by the fear of the white majority that blacks, Bolsheviks, foreigners etc. were trying to devastate the American way of life and this fear turned into the tension and violence (Nash et col. 603).

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2. The riots of the Red Summer

The period of the Red Summer counted more than 25 major anti-black riots. Some of them were over in hours, whereas others were that brutal and intensive that immobilized cities such as Chicago, Washington, or a little town of Elaine2, for days. Almost every riot was initiated by the white mob, however, Afro-Americans, strengthened by their war experiences, as well as working experiences (in factories and the cotton fields) responded to such a violence by fighting back in large numbers (McWhirter 13,14).

It was in Shreveport Times where it was highlighted that: "If the black man will stay where he belongs, act like a Negro should act, talk like a Negro should talk, and study like a Negro should study, there will be very few riots, fights or clashes" (Whitaker 45). Nevertheless, the Afro-Americans had no intention to remain as second class citizens. Their resistance against the white rioters, though, caused even more hatred and violence (Woodward 114).

Each riot of the Red Summer was unique in it length, cause or location, however, there were many features these riots had in common. According to Jan Voogd, an author of Race Riots and Resistance: the Red Summer of 1919, each of the racial riots generally involved either: 1. a reaction to racial caste rupture 2. a relation to the local politicians or politics 3. a connection to the labor conflicts 4. a military personnel; or combination of these points (28).

2.1. Jenkins County, Georgia

The very first race riot of the "bloody summer" that was officially acknowledged under this period took place in Jenkins County on April 13, 1919. Jenkins County was a poor rural region, the majority of its inhabitants were Blacks. Most of them were sharecroppers renting land from white landlords, but growing number of them were

2 See Elaine Massacre

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owners of the properties. These owners formed a "respectable class" of the black community, having a good relations with white business owners and politicians Jenkins County was governed by whites only, since few blacks were allowed to vote (McWhirter 2). The riot started immediately after a prominent Black landowner, Joe Ruffin, got involved into dispute with two white policemen – W.C. Brown, and T.H. Stephens (McWhirter 5). On April 13, a black citizen Edmund Scott, was stopped in his car by the police in pretence of looking for bootleggers. After the car was examined, the police allegedly found an unregistered gun (Voogd, Race Riots 54). Subsequently, Edmund Scott, was arrested. Ruffin, Scott's friend, saw a police car with two white policemen and Scott inside. Ruffin offered to help Scott out of custody by paying the fine of 400 dollars, however, after a short dispute with a policeman, Ruffin was shot in his head. This all happened near the Carswell Grove Baptist Church where many of blacks had already been gathering for the fifty-second anniversary of the church. A large crowd immediately gathered in the place of shooting, including two of Ruffin's sons. It is said that one of them ran back to his car for a gun and shot one of the policemen. The story, and its various versions of the accident, was spreading fast along the black and white population (McWhirter 5,6). Nevertheless, Joe Ruffin, seriously wounded, managed to escape. An armed mob of white inhabitants formed, heading to Carswell Grove Baptist Church, whereas Blacks, afraid of lynching, hid at their homes. White men went to Ruffin's farm and got one of his sons (thirteen years old), other relatives managed to escape. They transported him to Carswell Grove where Ruffin's car, a symbol of prosperity, was burnt. The mob had already captured another Ruffin's son. Both of them were chained and tossed into the fire. The records also revealed that they were shot many times, though it is not certain whether that happened before or after being tossed into the fire. Meanwhile, the Carswell Grove Baptist Church, the symbol of black community, was burnt down, as well as another three churches in Millen3. After the riot, Joe Ruffin, surviving the accident, commented that, " ...there has been nobody suffered in this matter like I have. I did not do nothing at all to cause that riot" (McWhirter 10).

The information of lynching and rebellion reached the newspapers and the story of the Jenkins' riot was adjusted in the pro-white and pro-black manner. The white

3 Millen was a seat of the Jenkins County.

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newspaper covered the riot with moral justification of the lynching of Ruffin's sons whereas the Savanah Tribune, a black weekly, formulated the cause of the riot as the reaction to growing economical status of southern black farmers, and for example, the Defender blamed white policemen of the intentional disruption of the Carswell Grove annual celebration (McWhirter 8, 9). All in all, after few days the riot was over. It is estimated that at least 7 people died in Jenkins County, including two white policemen, Scott and two Ruffin's sons (Voogd, Race Riots 54). What is more, no white men were charged with any crime related to the riot, whereas Joe Ruffin, was charged with the murders of police officers (McWhirter 8), and in 1921, he was sentenced to death of murder of two policemen (Voogd, Race Riots 54).

2.2. Longview, Texas

Longview was a small rural town of 5,700 inhabitants, out of which 31 per cent were black, in 1919. It was the seat of the Gregg County with 16,700 in total, out of which 48 per cent were black. There were various reasons for racial tension in Longview, such as a black literature calling for the Negro equality or the circulation of the most powerful black weekly, the Chicago Defender. Among its contributors belonged a black teacher, Samuel L. Jones, who was said to cover a story of the murder of local black inhabitant – Lemuel Walters (Durham 1,2). Walters, who was allegedly discovered in the bedroom with a white woman, was arrested and jailed on June 16 in Kilgore, ten miles southwest of Longview. The Longview Daily Leader, covered the story claiming that Walters was put on a train to Louisiana and found dead the next day. Walters' dead was portrayed as "mystery" (Krugler 58).

It was Samuel L. Jones that learned the different and more probable story of what happened to Walters. Jones, delivering the copies of the Chicago Defender to black prisoners in the local jail, learned that a mob took Walters from jail and shared this information with prominent black leaders. They requested an investigation on the matter, however, they were asked to keep it quiet by the judge they complained to. Then subsequently, an article accusing a white mob of lynching, appeared. It was published in the Chicago Defender covering the story of Walters. First, it provided details of arresting Mr. Walters and taking him in jail. Then it was highlighted that later that night, a group

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of approximately 10 white men took Walters out of his cell. Eventually, Walters was found shot many times the next day near the railroad tracks south of Longview. It was pointed out that the offenders must have had the keys from his cell (McWhirter 82, 83). The article stated that: "Despite the fact that every effort has been made by officials here to keep the outside world from learning of the lynching... the news had leaked out" (qtd. in McWhirter 82). Durham points out that the article was the immediate cause of the riot since it provided the story from blacks' point of view highlighting that Walters’ only crime was that he was loved by a white woman, and it quoted her as saying that she would have married him if they had lived in the North (3). Even though the article's source was unanimous, Jones was considered to be its author. On July 10, three white men (two of them were brothers of the white "disgraced" woman) brutally attacked S.L. Jones, requesting to know the source of the article (McWhirter 82). Later that day a mob formed to punish an alleged author of the anti-white article, but before that, Jones had received a warning to run away from the town otherwise he would be lynched (Krugler 60).

2.2.1. The resistance in Longview

The white mob, counting some twelve to fifteen people, formed in order to punish the "Negro". This was the common practice in 1919. The authorities usually did nothing as in the case of upcoming lynching of Jones. He knew he would be lynched and sought help within the prominent black citizens of Longview. It was a black doctor Davis that officially asked the municipal authorities for help and protection, nevertheless, his claim was rejected (Krugler 60, 61). Later that day, Davis, a war veteran sergeant from the Tenth Cavalry, gathered with a group of black citizens at Jones's, in order to protect him. With his war experience Davis posted men where they could safeguard every side from which an attack could have been made (Krugler 61). The mob approached the Jones's house at slightly after the midnight, however, the group of about twenty-five armed blacks surprised them by heavy gunfire. Whites returned the shooting. Approximately 100 bullets were fired in total and 3 white men were injured, one killed. The mob ran away to downtown (Durham 6). Such resistance angered the whites and more people were summoned by the fire alarm bell. The group of approximately 100 men was formed. The mob planned the second attack on Jones's house, properly armed that time, but the group of Blacks had gone out. Nevertheless, the mob started to torch the houses of black

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citizens, starting with Jones's house, destroying several other houses. When a black businessman and his neighbor complained that they did nothing wrong, the mob beat them severely (McWhirter 87). A NAACP article published in its periodical the Crisis covered the Longview riot as "... a fair sample of the lawlessness which at present is stalking restlessly through the nation. Secondly, it is indicative of the attitude of which Negroes are determined to adopt for the future" (“The Riot at Longview, Texas.” 298).

2.2.2. The militia intervention

The mayor of Longview, Mr. Bodenheim, followed two ways of ceasing the riot. First, he urged for the militia intervention. Second, he searched for the author of the article that provoked the racial clash. His intention was to provide the author's name to the mob, ceasing the riot itself. Bodenheim contacted the Chicago Defender, requesting an immediate response with the author's name in order to protect lives of black citizens, as he put it. Nevertheless, the author remained unknown. On the other hand, Bodenheim realized the situation might have got out of the control and requested outside military assistance to intervene the next day after the riot on July 11. The situation became critical after a killing of a black man, Marion Bush, Davis's father-in-law. The authorities intended to protect Mr. Bush by taking him in custody since as a member of Davis family might have been a mob's target for lynching (McWhirter 87,89). It was Sheriff Meredith that approached Bush's house. First, Bush accepted the protective custody, but than he rejected it as he probably recalled the Walter's case that proved that any jail is not safe for a Negro. Instead, he armed himself with a revolver, ran away shooting at Sheriff Meredith who fired back at him. Later on, Bush was shot dead by his white neighbor whom Sheriff Meredith telephoned in order to stop him (Durham 10,11). A killing of a black man by a white man in this situation meant an immediate action as there was a fear of another outbreak of violence (McWhirter 89). Following steps were applied by Governor Hobby and county's authorities on July 13:  The martial law was proclaimed over the whole Gregg county,  troops and Texas Rangers were in charge to protect the town of Longview (more then 260 men in total),

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 all citizens of Longview and Kilgore were requested to provide their personal firearms to be deposit until recalled – approximately 7,000 firearms were gathered,  more then three people were not allowed to gather in the streets in Longview (Durham 10,11).

All steps applied to cease the riot were successful and no more violence was recorded (Durham 11). The riot was over on July 18. Texas Rangers in charge arrested twenty-six white men for attacks on black homes and twenty-one black men on charges of attempted murder for the defense of Jones's home (McWhirter 89). Nevertheless, Durham points out that eventually no white men were tried with any charges, as well as no black men were tried with any charges in order to maintain back the race balance in Longview (15).

2.3. Washington, D.C.

The population of Washington, D.C. was 455,000 in 1919. One fourth of the city's populations were blacks. From the beginning of the century, the general attitudes towards the black community as a whole had been constantly changing towards the southern Jim Crow's segregation system, adopting the segregation of black inferiority and white superiority (Voogd, “Washington (D.C) of 1919.” 682). Nevertheless, the country's capital still had been the Afro-American leading and cultural center as many Afro- Americans held relatively good-paying jobs in the state administration (e.g. governmental clerks), as well as they formed few relatively conservative, political groups (McWhirter 96-97). Krugler points out that in 1919, Washington, D.C. had to cope with the post-war growing struggles such as the capital's rise of population (since 1914 the population gained more than 100,000 new inhabitants) causing the housing shortage and keeping the rent prices high. The arrival of the hundreds of white veterans, demobilized from nearby camps or forts in Virginia and Maryland, caused another problem. These veterans were searching for jobs, wandering thorough the city, many still in uniforms. Only few found jobs and the economic competition also produced the racial tension (Krugler 68).

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There were approximately four sexual attacks on women, both black and white, reported to the police Washington until mid-July. The suspect should have been black, five feet, six inches tall, 150 pounds, wearing a blue coat and pants. The police interrogated more than 100 black men, few suspects were arrested and later released. The media also supported the threat of a black rapist, making a high racial tension (Krugler 70-72). Another violent act against the woman was reported on Friday night of July, 18. A white woman, Elsie Stephnick, returning home from work had been (allegedly) sexually interfered by two Negro boys who ran away while some whites came to help her (McWhirter 98). According to Krugler, it is not clear whether these vigilantes intended to sexually attack Stephnick, or whether they were trying to rob her or what their intention might have been (72). Stephnick had a military connection since her husband was a soldier stationed in Washington. The news of another insult spread fast. According to the State Democrat moving spirits in the riot were soldiers infuriated by the Friday's attack. When they learned about the probable suspect of the attack, they formed a mob in uniform heading to the black residential area in Washington with shotguns, bricks, clubs and revolvers. The mob moved to the area where the alleged assailants of the co-soldier's wife should have been found. The riot had just started ("Attacks on White Women").

By night of July 19, a white mob, joined by the war veterans and civilians attacked many blacks who suffered severe beatings. Then they headed to the house of Charles Ralls who had been interrogated by the police in Stephnick's case. When the mob spotted Ralls walking with his wife, the beating started. The couple managed to escape and hid at their home. The mob tried to get in but the defensive unit formed out of Ralls' neighbors. Many shots were exchanged. The mob dispersed after the police made a deal not to arrest anyone if the mob members leave the black residential area. All in all, few troublemakers were arrested, both black and white (Krugler 73-75).

The rioting seemed over after the police intervention. Nevertheless, the rioting went on. Groups of white servicemen attacked blacks, assaulting them on sidewalks or pulling them from the streetcars. Many were severely beaten. Shots were fired. As a consequence ten people were arrested. Eight black civilians and two white soldiers, despite the fact that all reports stated that only whites were rioting (McWhirter 98). According to the Washington Post contributor Peter Perl, the violence escalated on July 20. The white mob continued on attacking Afro-American. For instance, couple of blacks

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were beaten in front of the White House. Perl provides the story of the Dean of Howard University, Carter G. Woodson, who experienced the mob rampage in the streets of Washington. Woodson eye-witnessed the execution of a Negro hunted by a white mob. "They had caught a Negro and deliberately held him as one would a beef for slaughter, and when they had conveniently adjusted him for lynching, they shot him" (qtd. in Perl, "Race Riot of 1919 Gave Glimpse of Future Struggles"). On July 21, the large white mob formed in the streets of Washington again since a fictional mobilization call was published in the Washington Post. All servicemen available were called for "clear-up" action that night. Blacks were preparing for the self-defense. It was estimated that approximately 500 guns had been sold that day to Afro-Americans. What was more, some blacks started the offensive action – they sped up in automobiles in the streets of Washington, randomly shooting white citizens. Ten whites and five blacks were killed or mortally wounded that night. Finally, the massive rioting was over on July 22. The approximate death toll was estimated up to 40 people and about 150 people injured (Perl, "Race Riot of 1919 Gave Glimpse of Future Struggles"). A black newspaper observed the situation of the riot as "Hell seems to have broken loose in Washington, D.C." (Kerlin 77), whereas The Atlanta Independent commented on the situation in Washington:

One of the most brutal oppression is the punishment of a whole race for the crimes of individuals. For many years this has been and it still is a practice in American states that do not recognize the citizenship of the Negro ("Riots in Washington: America's Subject Race").

2.3.1. The response to the rioting

By the fourth day of rioting, city leaders and members of Congress realized the situation in Washington was unbearable therefore 2,000 troops were mobilized in order to stop the rioting – cavalry from Fort Myer, Marines from Quantico, Army troops from Camp Meade and sailors from ships in the Potomac, since the police, counting 700 policemen, had not been able to maintain the situation (Perl, "Race Riot of 1919 Gave Glimpse of Future Struggles"). President Wilson was aware of the violence in the nation's capital, nevertheless, he made no public remark (McWhirter 105). The troops restored the order even though some minor racial clashes still prevailed. Finally, on July 27, all troops were withdrawn from Washington. The federal and District governments never

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investigated on the riot. Some Republicans in congress declared it as "national scandal", others called for restriction on the gun sale or further segregation of black citizens (McWhirter 109,110).

2.4. Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago's race riot is considered as one of the most violent of the Red Summer period. In 1919, Chicago was the second largest city in the USA with the 2,7 million inhabitants (McWhirter 114). The Afro-American population was estimated of 125,000 (Sandburg 7). In 1919, at least 30 per cent of the population were immigrants mainly from Europe (Poles, Germans, Jews, Italians, Czechs etc.). The city's neighborhoods were mostly divided according to the ethnicity of their inhabitants and many of these neighborhoods were protected by gangs, so-called "athletics clubs" (McWhirter 115).

The most of Afro-Americans (approx. 90 per cent) lived in the Black Belt neighborhood. The race tension strengthened the attempts to keep the black community within the overcrowded Black Belt, whereas black Chicagoans tried to find better or more reasonable place to live, entering the near-by white neighborhoods. A series of bombing occurred within the March 1918 until July 1919, targeting the homes of Afro-Americans and homes of black and white realtors to prevent blacks buying the residences out of the Black Belt (Krugler 101).

Chicago was highly industrial city. McWhirter points out that Chicago industries welcomed black workers since they were willing to work for lower wages and they were considered as an optimal solution to the shortage of labor during the strikes in very unionized Chicago. There were tendencies to ban the Blacks from Unions (116).

Carl Sandburg, the author of The Chicago Race Riots: July 1919, claims that at least three conditions influenced the violence in Chicago and marked its difference from other riots of the Red Summer:  The population of Afro-Americans living in so-called "Black Belt" rose more than two times within the period of the WWI. From approximately 50,000 to 125,000.

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The increase of population brought the housing crisis – no new houses had been built since the 1915.  Chicago's Black Belt was considered as the strongest effective unit of political power in the USA – Blacks had the right to vote.  Labor organization – tension between colored union men against white union men (3).

It was Walter White, the NAACP's activist that presented his four week research on the causes of the Chicago rioting. His finding were published as "Chicago and its Eight Reasons" in 1919 in the magazine – The Crisis.  Race Prejudice  Economic Competition  Political Corruption and Exploitation of Negro Workers  Police Inefficiency  Newspaper lies about Negro Crimes  Unpunished Crimes against Negro  Housing  Reaction of Whites and Negroes from War (White 293).

The riot became on Sunday, July 27. A group of five black youngsters went to beach of Lake Michigan. When swimming on their homemade raft they might have crossed an imaginary line of the white beach at 29th Street that angered a white man, George Stauber, who started to threw rocks at them (McWhirter 128). The boys had no idea there had been a racial clash beginning earlier that afternoon. Whites and blacks had an violent dispute when a group of blacks had entered the 29th Street beach reserved for white only and announced they were going to swim there. A group of white men requested them to leave their "white-only" beach. Blacks left but later on came back in higher quantity and they started to throw rocks and stones at whites as a revenge. Meanwhile, the group of five youngsters became the target of George Stauber. He hit one of the boys, Eugene Williams, into his forehead and he was consequently found drowned. Black youngsters tried to find him under the water but with no success. Therefore, one of the boys ran to the 25th Street beach – segregated for the blacks only – to seek a help for Williams. The black boys identified the attacker G. Stauber (Krugler 107,108). The

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tension grew when a white patrolman rejected to arrest the alleged murderer and what was more he refused to permit to have him arrested by the black policemen. In the meantime, the rumors of what happened spread around the Black Belt mixing the true and false information of accident, as well as in the South Side, a white area, where the rumor spread very fast, portraying the situation as the tragedy of a white man being drowned by a black man. The rumors helped to form a large group of angered black and white Chicagoans who gathered at the beach throwing stones and rocks at first. Then a black man, James Crawford, fired with his revolver at the group of policemen, wounding one of them. They returned fire, killing Crawford. The race riot had just started (Tuttle 7,8). The violence spread within the night of July 27. The riot went on as white gangs, so-called athletics clubs, started to attack any black person passing via white neighborhoods. Until the morning of July 28, at least 27 blacks were seriously beaten, 7 were stabbed, and 4 were shot as a response of white gangs to the beach incident. On the other hand, the riot seemed to be over, as proclaimed by the mayor of Chicago. Within the day, scattered fighting broke out on both sided – blacks attacking whites and vice versa. The white mob grew larger as well as the anger against the black community. The white mob was formed mostly by young men aged 16-22. These men were of various ethnic groups (Slavs, Jews, Germans etc.) that merged together in order to fight against the blacks (McWhirter 129-131).

According to Krugler blacks had no problem to get to work the day after the riot, however, on the way back, the white members of various gangs, were chasing them (110). Blacks were attacked by white mobs when traveling in the street-cars, dragged out and beaten, 4 black men were killed, and about 30 severely beaten, nevertheless, police seemed powerless to act in this situations. The automobiles rioting was another way of aggression. Whites drove cars in a very fast speed within the Black Belt shooting randomly at Afro-Americans. They responded by firing at them from barricades the resistance had formed (Chicago Commission 6).

It was on July 28, when an organized black resistance formed. Harry Haywood, a Black veteran of the Eighth Illinois (370th Regiment, Ninety-third Division) disembarked in Chicago on July 28 (Krugler 114). Haywood, with his war experience described the battle field he saw in Chicago in his autobiography:

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On July, 28, I literally stepped into battle that was to last the rest of my life. I had been fighting the wrong war. Exactly three months after mustering out of the Army, I found myself in the midst of one of the bloodiest race riots in U.S. History. It was certainly a most dramatic return to the realties of American democracy. It came to me that I had been fighting the wrong war. The Germans weren't the enemy – the enemy was right here at home. These ideas had been developing ever since I landed home in April, and a lot of other Black veterans were having the same thoughts (1).

Then black war veterans united in order to protect black civilians. For example, when they learned that west-of-Wentworth gangs planned an offensive attacks in the Black Belt on 51st Street, the veterans formed the unit that remain in defensive positions, ready to act when necessary. They, indeed, gathered an extensive collection of ammunition and firearms ready to be used, so did the civilians. The major defensive unit could be seen at the night of July 28. It was the second day of rioting, when white gangs from various neighborhoods were attacking Blacks. Thousands of Afro-Americans lined the street of the Black Belt. It is estimated that the crowd might have been of 1,500 to 25,000. Armed black men formed squads and communicated on situation by telephones when necessary. The squad were led by the war veterans. Nearly every major corner of the Black Belt, where any clash could have burst out, was under control of police during the night of July 28. However, this duty was "unofficially" shared with thousands black civilians and veterans. The Black patrol over the Black Belt went on the other days of the rioting (Krugler 115,116).

Another aspect of the rioting that multiplied the race tension was the power of the false rumors. There was a false rumor that a sniper was firing from the white-occupied building, the Angelus, at the edge of the Black Belt. The sniped should have killed a black boy. Approximately 1,500 Afro-Americans gathered in front of the house – the Angelus, requesting the sniper. Approximately 100 policemen arrived to solve the situation (McWhirter 133). After a brick was thrown at police, the volley was fired at the black mob. There were four Afro-Americans dead and many wounded (Chicago Commission 6).

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The third day of the rioting went on in streets. Blacks were attacking whites in the Black Belt and they even fired at police or firemen. What was more, the street-car workers went on general strike and walked off the job which, in fact, paralyzed Chicago and hundreds of thousands of workers had problems to find an alternative way to get to their jobs, making the situation even worse. Many workers trying to walk at their work place, were still threaten of being beaten or killed on their way. On the other hand, Armour packing company reported only 19 Afro-Americans at the shop floor out of 1,500 (McWhirter 133-135). Many houses of Afro-Americans were destroyed or burnt down. The situation became critical after four days of rioting, the mayor of Chicago, asked for the military help. With military aid, the riots slowly ceased (Chicago Commission 7). By August 6, the stockyard owners finally convinced their black workers to return back at work, however, under protection of police and militia. With the return of the black workers, 10,000 of white workers walked of a job, proclaiming being on strike which increased the racial tension (Stolz 105). Eventually, with the military supervision, the rioting was over on August, 8. There were thirty-eight people dead, (twenty-three black and fifteen white). It is estimated that 537 men and women were injured, out of these figures: 342 were black, 178 white and 17 of unknown race, only 10 women were injured. Approximately 1,000 people must have left their homes due to the rioting (Krugler 108).

2.4.2. The police and the militia Intervention

According to the Chicago's Commission of Race Relations there had been much criticism of the way the authorities handled the rioting. First, the police lacked sufficient number of its staff to cope with the rioting. The Chief of Police, Garrity, estimated the shortage of 1,000 policemen that would fulfill the need of Chicago. Second, there had been an overall problem of distrust of white policemen by all Afro-Americans and this distrust rapidly increased within the period of rioting (Chicago Commission 33-34). Tuttle points out the complaint of the treatment of the police by an Afro-American, Horace Jennings, who was one of the riots victims. When lying on the street, seriously injured, Jennings saw a patrolman walking toward him. Jennings thought he was safe for the moment, instead the patrolman was yelling at him: "Where is your gun, you black son of – ? You damn niggers are raising hells" (qtd. in Tuttle 43).

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Out of the 3,500 police staff, 2,800 policemen had been in the Black Belt. After four days of rioting, the state militia was requested. On the other hand, it was the Chief of Police Garrity, who had refused to ask for the troops, even thought, complaining on the staff shortage. Garrity later explained that he feared the inexperienced military men would have caused more violence and dead people. This decision was supported by the city's mayor and the Governor. It is estimated that between 5,000-6,000 troops were in duty in Chicago, under the command of the police and most of them were withdrawn on August 8 (Chicago Commission 36-41).

2.5. Elaine "massacre", Phillips County, Arkansas

The population of rural Phillips County was 44,530 inhabitants, in 1919. 75 per cent were blacks. There was an active black middle class, made of lawyers, doctors, teachers and clergy in Phillips County, however, the majority of black population there was engaged in sharecropping (McWhirter 211). The agricultural system in the south countries was structured in the way in which black sharecroppers and farmers leased the land from landlords, receiving in payment a share of the season's crop. However, the system of sharecropping was set up in the way, that most of the black farmers and sharecroppers would remain in dept (Voogd, "Red Summer Race Riots of 1919" 556). The article In October 1919, the British Guardian published an article that likened this system as "systematic robbery at colored farmers and tenants" ("Landlords Take All Products to Keep Tenants Always in Debt"). Therefore, the black farmers began to unionize in order to improve their conditions. They formed a Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America which threatened white landlords and businessmen. At the same time, the rumors spread across the Phillips County that blacks were about to unionize and organize a rebellion against white (Voogd, "Red Summer Race Riots of 1919" 556).

According to Terry A. Knopf, the author of the Rumors, Race, and Riots, the rumor of the Negro armed uprising was an initial cause of the riot at the end of September as southern sheriffs and politicians called for the federal troops to quell this "upcoming" uprising against the white population (32).

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The riot started at the evening of September 30. Two white men, deputy sheriff Charles Pratt, a special detective, W.A. Adkins, and a Negro prisoner from the local jail, Kid Collins, whom the local authority "trusted4" to help out with a "Negro union problem", stopped their car by the Hoop Spur Church, near Elaine. Their intention was to break the secret meeting of a Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America who were about to strike for better cotton prices and conditions, as well as to get more members of their union (Whitaker 80-81). The local blacks had received many warnings not to unionize. As a result, the president of local union lodge, Jim Miller, stationed armed guards whenever any meeting was held. Many of black participants also brought their guns for protection to such meetings (McWhirter 216).

According to Knopf, there were two entirely different versions of what had happened in the Hoop Spur Church. The "white" version supported by the press claimed that the car with the local authorities and the black "trusty" stopped by the Hoop Spur Church due to the flat tire and that the guard had fired upon them as the secret meeting preparing the killing of whites had been discovered. The deputy sheriff Pratt had been traveling there but he claimed the reason of his journey had nothing to do with the union meeting as they had not been aware of such a meeting (32).

The "black" version of the beginning of the riot, however, insisted on the fact that no such plan of killing whites had ever existed and that the white deputies had panicked when learned that blacks were about to demand better conditions from the plantation owners, therefore they had been attacked by the local authorities and the gunshots were exchanged. The white authorities initiated the shooting. The whole evidence in Hoop Spur Church was destroyed the following day since the church was burnt out and all evidence was destroyed by whites who deliberately blamed the Negro farmers of attacking them (Knopf 33). The white newspaper across the whole country reported the Elaine riot as the "Negro uprising" providing false evidence. For example the headline of the Dallas Morning News read "Massacre of Whites Planned by Negroes". The article provided one sided view of the situation in Elaine blaming the Negroes from conspiracy ("Massacre of Whites Planned by Negroes"). McWhirter points out that such narratives meshed with nationwide white fears of any kind of radicalism, such as Bolshevism (224).

4 A prisoner who helps officers in return for privileges.

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All in all, Knopf points out that the gathered evidence and witnesses confirmed the black version as the sequence of what had really happened, whereas the version of whites was false and initiating the racial hatred. This theory also confirms the immediate attempt of whites to destroy all of the evidence in the Church (33), as well as the black "trusty" later confirmed that sheriff Pratt and detective Adkins, had stopped in Hoop Spur to ambush the participants in the meeting (Krugler 171).

Whitaker provides more detailed narrative that confirms the "black version" of the situation in the Hoop Spur Church as it should have happened. Whitaker points out that when the car, including Pratt, Adkins and Collins, stopped by the Hoop Spur Church, Pratt and Adkins took their guns and approached the church. It was Adkins that started a gunfire against the black armed guards outside the Hoop Spur Church. One of the guards returned the gun shots and shooting became general which approximately one hundred men, women and some children inside the church. When hearing the shooting, men with guns inside returned the shooting protecting the black community gathered in the church in order to get safely away (87). Nevertheless, the question who fired first will likely never be answered. All in all, after the shooting no Afro-American was seriously wounded. Nevertheless, Deputy Sheriff Pratt was shot into his knee, and detective Adkins was shot dead. The killing of a white men spread across the Phillips County. As a reaction to the dead white officials, the mayors of Helena and Elaine called for the posses to chase the murderers of a detective Atkins. All public venues were closed and civilians were ordered to stay in their homes. A mob of approximately 300 white men had formed and others, including the war veterans, were coming from the surrounding areas in order to hunt for Negroes (McWhirter 216-218).

It was Frank Moore, a black sharecropper, who organized a military-like formation of approximately forty black armed men in preparation to defend themselves in Hoop Spur. Similarly, the whites created smaller group formations heading into the countryside searching for the sharecroppers. Such missions resulted into numerous armed confrontations such as the clash between a group of white veterans, led by H. Thomson and black sharecroppers. As a result, two white veterans, J. Tappan and C. Lee, were shot dead, and it is unclear how many blacks were killed (Krugler 173).

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The killing of Tappan and Lee infuriated the vigilantes from Mississippi, who joined the posses in order to help with the fight against the Negroes. The Mississippians claimed to kill in revenge any men, women or children, guilty or innocent of any connection to the unions members and proved they words with the killing of a black woman – Fances Hall. Hall was killed, her dress was pulled over her head and her body was left on a road as a warning to Negroes about dangers of questioning the white supremacy. By the night of October, 1, the black self-defenders were outnumbered by the white mobs, who were constantly patrolling the roads. Therefore blacks were forced to remain hidden. Many of them had been killed by a white posses, however, the exact figures of victims are not available (Krugler 175). The hunt for Negroes went on. Four black brothers from a prominent family were shot to death and left in a heap in the road. All of them were bound together and shot so many times that their bodies were unrecognizable. They had no connection to riot. They went only on squirrel hunting into the woods near the Elaine. Many other blacks were killed. The testimony of posse members confirmed that many blacks were killed when they surrender with their hands in the air and few were hanged from a bridge (McWhirter 219).

The army troops were requested by local authorities on October, 1, due to the prevailing fear that blacks were "massing for attack" (Krugler 175). Three urgent telegrams were sent to the Governor Brough, requesting the militia troops be sent to Elaine. As a response, approximately 500 troops arrived into Phillips County in order to prevent potential black uprising. With the arrival of the troops, the white mobs began to depart from Elaine. The riot was over on October 4 (Stockley, "Elaine Massacre").

2.5.1. The Committee of Seven

In order to investigate the causes of disturbances, the Committee of Seven, made of white influential planters, businessmen, and elected officials, was set up (Stockley, "Elaine Massacre"). The committee, however, had a dilemma. They agreed on the death penalty for the union leaders – charging them with the murders of white men – Adkins, Tappan and Lee. On the other hand, it was not clear what a union as an organization, had done that would be illegal. Given the fact that the sharecroppers had organized the meeting for the equal rights (not to be exploited by the white landlords), preparing the strike for better prices, or attempt to hire an attorney to sue plantation owners, nothing of

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these was against the written law, except the "made-up" murderous conspiracy that was supported by rumors only (Whitaker 133).

It is estimated that more then 400 black men were taken into custody in Elaine, and another 60 blacks were taken into custody in Helena (McWhirter 222); however, it was not clear what they should be charged with (Whitaker 134). No proper investigation had been done. Instead, many narratives of jailed black sharecroppers identically confirmed that they had been tortured by in order to plead guilty of white conspiracy. Many of them agreed to testify for the prosecution of an alleged plot (McWhirter 226). As a result, the first twelve black men given trials had been convicted of murder and sentenced the death penalty. As a result, another seventy-five Afro-Americans pleaded guilty, accepting sentences ranging from five to twenty-one years for second-degree murder. Generally, the trials lasted between six or seven minutes. No witnesses for defense were questioned. Others had their charges either dismissed or were not prosecuted (Kerlin 93).

2.5.2. Victims of the massacre

The estimates of number of the Elaine victims vary widely. Each source provides different number of people killed or wounded. According to Lee E. Williams, a Professor of History at the University of Alabama, the estimated death toll of Afro-Americans ranged from 20 to 856. There were at least 103 burial claims after the riot (197). McWhirter points out that the authors of the books on Elaine incident, G. Stockley and R. Whitaker, both estimated that hundreds of blacks were killed, whereas a white Arkansas journalist claimed that most victims were killed by the troops and the total number listed 856 killed Afro-Americans (224-225). The historian Grif Stockley also suggests that the troops might have participated into Negro slaughter (Stockley, "Elaine Massacre"). In addition, Krugler points out that it is difficult to distinguish the exact numbers of dead people, since a coroner's inquest was never held, as well as the newspapers did not identify the black victims by name. All in all, there were identified five white people killed, all of them initiated attacks on the blacks and also there are twenty confirmed Afro-Americans who died in the riot (177).

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3. Three-Front fight of Afro-Americans

According to David F. Krugler, a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Afro-Americans were under the three-front war against the white mob violence during the Red Summer period. The first front was the one of the self- defense of ordinary Black Americans in order to stop the white violence organized against them for whatever reason. The second front was on the side of the truth of the riots since the white media covered the riots generally in an anti-black manner so that the black media fought back against that, providing the real evidence, facts, etc. Finally, the third front was the fight for the justice since black "defenders" were very often incorrectly charged when protecting against the white mob violence, whereas the white rioters were left free (4,5).

3.1. The first front of resistance

The self-defense of ordinary Afro-Americans or those strengthened with the war experience, or working experience, could be seen in all examined racial riots in this thesis, as well as in the majority of the remaining riots of the Red Summer. There is a general consensus that this period of violence counted at least twenty-five major riots such as, the riots of Chicago, Washington, D.C., Knoxville, Longview, Omaha or Elaine (McWhirter 13). All these riots had one common feature and that is the violence performed by the white mob against black community as a whole.

3.1.1. Fighting the White Mob

The paradigm that kept repeating in each of the Red Summer's riots was the formation of a white mob. The reason of such formation differed from one riot to another, however, the intention was the same, i.e. either to provoke or act in a violent way, or to execute so-called rough justice against the black individual or the black community as a whole. Jan Voogd suggested in her publication, Race Riots and Resistance: the Red Summer of 1919 that the white mob rioting should be seen from the perspective of a criminal act. Criminology can provide an understanding of who, how, and why certain people would riot, as well as provide a framework for their actions. Voogd provides the Algebraic Theory of Mob Violence, as follows (20):

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[criminality {racism as motivator} + opportunity {some excuse of a trespass}] + [critical mass of usually normal people + temporary removal of normal social restraint + hysteria ] = pattern of mob violence

According to Voogd, the criminality and opportunity would always produce a racial incident throughout time. The second line of the formula shows unusual, or unlikely factors necessary for a wave of racial violence to develop. Considering the Red Summer, the critical mass of usually normal people consisted of Americans who had temporarily lost their morality on account of the war in combination with the hysterical racists who formed the core of the mob (Voogd, Race Riots 20).

3.1.2. The Afro-American Armed Self-Defense

Within the period of the Red Summer, the Afro-Americans responded to white mob oppressions by their resistance. In 1919, there were many reports confirming the fact that Negroes in the South were buying guns and that they were preparing for a self- defense of their lives, the lives of their families, as well as their properties. This could be seen as a message spread across the white majority that Negroes would no longer stand the unlawful violence against their community and that they were preparing to defend themselves, if attacked, which they proved within the rioting of the Red Summer (Whitaker 49). Krugler claims that the self-defenders came from the whole spectrum of the black population. There were either Black veterans, or active-duty servicemen who consistently repelled anti-black collective violence or resisted the assertion of white supremacy. The resistance efforts were also organized by working class and professional black men, such as the sharecroppers from Arkansas. Whether coordinated or unplanned, resistance to mob violence brought together diverse section of the black population (3,4).

3.1.3. The New Negro

The post-war experience and the experience at the battlefield of nationwide rioting strengthened an ideology, so-called the "New Negro". It was the New Negro who

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was not going to be pushed around and who would find for his rights. This message was spread by black writers, as well as black press (Whitaker 48). Claudia Stolz describe the New Negro as strengthened Afro-American who was encouraged to believe in him-self and his race. Among his goals was the demand for the full citizenship that had already been granted by the U.S. Constitution. The New Negro also stood for himself and showed that any physical aggression against him would be fought back in order to defense lives and properties. This was the message to the white population that the New Negro would no longer tolerate grievances against him. This new approach, though, served to increase fear of revenge in whites and, therefore, it caused the further tension between both races, but on the other hand, it strengthened the black resistance against white superiority (104).

3.2. The Second Front of resistance

In 1919, there were approximately 450 periodicals being published for or by Afro- Americans, including 220 newspapers. Some of the periodicals reached a large audience, such as the Chicago Defender with the circulation of 150,000, or the NAACP's magazine, the Crisis, with a circulation of 100,000 (Whitaker 48).

The media had undoubtedly a significant role covering the Red Summer's riots since it is a powerful instrument to influence general opinions.

The media, mainly those targeting white readers, were often providing incomplete or even false information based on rumors, putting constantly blame on the targeting black community, instead of the white offenders (Voogd, Race Riots 2-3). Such media release was very often exaggerating the racial tension and hatred. This was most obvious in the case of Elaine rioting where the press nationwide highlighted the Negroes conspiracy and their intention to massacre the whites. However, the "black" versions were very different from those reported by white media. For instance, the headline of the Savannah Tribune read: "Systematic Robbery Cause of Riots – Arkansas Negroes had not Planned the Massacre" (Kerlin 87-92), compared to the pro-white headline of the Dallas Morning News that – "Massacre of Whites Planned by Negroes" ("Massacre of Whites Planned by Negroes").

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Walter F. White, a NAACP civil right movement activist, investigated on the Chicago rioting and his findings included the press release, as well. White concluded that white mainstream media were providing misleading or false information, or information based on racial prejudice. For example, one of the newspapers articles within the rioting stated that Negroes were torching houses down and that they torched approximately one hundred houses. Such information was provided by the Fire Marshall John R. McCabe. Later it was confirmed by the office of the State Marshall Gamber that no Negroes had caused any fire, but whites. Such releases supported negative image of Afro-Americans (White 295).

3.2.1. Negro Crime Stereotypes

White media often referred to Negro crime, especially that of rape, with front cover release, providing the general stereotype of the Negro as a criminal, however, the same crime conducted by a white man against white/colored women did not receive such attention in media ("The Riot-Mill" 306). According to Chicago Commission on the Race Relation findings, the race relation were at all times dependent upon the public opinion of the community. For a public which depended upon newspapers for its information an one-sided picture of a black community was presented. This emphasis on individual crimes specifying Afro-Americans in each offense labeled entire Afro-American group as criminal. The following headings in white newspapers suggested such stereotype: "Police Hunt for Negro who Held up Woman", "Girls flee from Negro", "Austin Woman Attacked in Own Home by Negro" (Chicago Commission 525).

Such negative and frequent release of Negroes crimes or any connection with crime by the white press had the following effect:  Criminal Stereotype – Afro-Americans were seen as naturally criminal  The constant recounting of crimes of Negroes, always naming the race or the offender, resulted in an association of Afro-Americans with criminality.  Referring to sex matters which provides a powerful stimulant to public interest (Chicago Commission 525, 526).

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According to the findings of the Commission, police officers, judges and other public officials were affected, either consciously or unconsciously, in similar way by being provided by these beliefs and the constant mentioning of Negroes in relation to crime. This resulted into arresting on suspicion, conviction on scanty evidence, or severe punishments by judges (Chicago Commission 526). What was more, in some instances, the alleged act of rape was a cause of the riot during the Red Summer. It was undoubtedly the case of rioting in Washington, as well as the case of Ellisville (Mississippi) riot. A black man, John Hartfield, had allegedly assaulted a white woman. When charged, Hartfiled was seriously beaten and in this connection, he was said to "partially" confess to raping. A white mob proclaimed the lynching which was announced in newspapers of New Orleans, Louisiana and Jackson (Hagedorn 267). The Jackson Daily News' front page headline read: "3,000 WILL BURN NEGRO" and the front page cover also contained two following articles with headlines "John Hartfield Will Be Lynched by Ellisville Mob at 5 O'clock this Afternoon" as well as "Negro Jerky and Sullen as Burning hours Nears" ("3,000 Will Burn Negro").

3.2.2. Radicalization – The Reds

The media kept connecting black population with the Bolshevism. As observed by Stephen Graham, a British journalist, researching on the race relations in the United States during 1919 commented on relation of Afro-Americans to Bolshevism as: "Much is said about "poor Whites" or "poor white trash" as the white proletariat is called by black proletariat. The Negro is afraid of Bolshevism and Socialism because he knows the common white people, ‘those who have noting and are nothing’, are the last people to give him justice" (Graham 109). The attitude towards the bolshevism and radicalism of Afro-Americans was rather negative, and only few were recruited. Nevertheless, McWhirter points out that press spread the idea that left-agitators caused the race rioting and lynching. In fact, the majority of the riots were provoked or initiated by white mobs (160). In 1919, the Bolsheviks were spreading the message of worldwide revolution therefore many Americans feared that Communists planned to take over the United States and since such ideas had been supported by the press within 1919, so-called the Red Scare became a threat (Nash et al. 602). The fear of radicalism grew rapidly after the bombing of a house of A. Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson's attorney general. The bombing was an action of Italian anarchists, with no connection to Afro-Americans. All

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in all, after the bomb attack, Palmer and his agents came to believe that Afro-Americans were suggestible to Communists and anarchist due to their subservient status and such conclusions were "exaggerated" by media, as well (McWhirter 55, 56). According to Murry, the general media suffered a temporary lapse of accuracy and did not fulfilled its function in a democratic society, such as providing the truth to the public (67).

3.3. The Third Front of Resistance

According to Whitaker, the United States was on the edge of a racial civil war in the Red Summer of 1919. The United States had become a nation that espoused democratic values, but on the other hand, it was also a nation where the fundamental rights of blacks were segregated in every manner possible. Many blacks still labored in a peonage system (e.g. an exploitation of sharecroppers etc.) which was only a step removed from slavery. Consequently, the white racial violence had risen to such extend that lynching was a regular feature of American life (Whitaker 310). The resistance performed by Afro-American community in 1919, needed legal action for those arrested for riot-related crimes in order to receive a fair trial and remove the charges against them. Another important goal was to pressure authorities to charge and try white rioters, since the United States could not be considered as a model democracy as long as local, state and federal authorities failed to protect all citizens, regardless of race, without punishing the lawbreakers (Krugler 213).

3.3.1. Haynes Report

The Haynes Report, a call for national action, is a study conducted by Dr. George Edmund Haynes, the director of Negro Economics for the U.S. Department of Labor, who examined in detail the period of the Red Summer. This report had been publish in 1919 in the New York Times (and other periodicals). (Boundles.com "Haynes Report"). According to the Haynes Report findings, the Federal Government had not provided any solution to end rioting. There were only isolated attempts to cease the rioting. It was Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas that introduced a resolution calling for the appointment of a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Judiciary to investigate recent riots and

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lynchings and to report what remedies should be employed in order to prevent their recurrence.

Haynes summarized the overall situation of race relation. He listed the War's responsibility that out of the war a new Negro leaders emerged – the militant ones (W.E.B. Du Bois) calling for the self-defense, compared to pre-war black leaders (e.g. Booker Washington) that had been in accord with policy of conciliation. Haynes also pointed out possible impact of radicalism on the Negro population and concluded that based on such racial riot experience, many Afro-Americans had armed themselves until some carefully considered policy would be applied to solve the rioting and lynching. The report stated that one approach of betterment of conditions could have been done through the black leaders who were in opposition to militant method. However, Blacks would request "full justice, manhood rights and full opportunities for the Negro American". Another factor that caused the racial tension was the occupational competition between two races ("For Action on Race Relation Peril").

Haynes report points out the failure of the Sates since the States had proven being unable or unwilling to stop lynching, since in the period of 1889-1918, there had been 2,472 colored man lynched, fifty colored women and to contrast 691 white man. It is said that 24 per cent of these lynchings were due to the attacks on women. The report states the consequences of lynchings as such lead to:  racial riots – unpunished lynching of Negro led to the white lawlessness violence  industrial and financial losses on properties and businesses  psychological – torture of people lynched  political – weakening position of the United States in foreign affairs – no ability to solve its domestic matters such as the protection and fair trial of its own citizens.

Haynes concluded that disregarding legal process and law would resulted into racial clashes and rioting as well as that unchecked mob violence created more hatred and intolerance between races ("For Action on Race Relation Peril").

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3.3.2. The NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was a civil rights organization that was established on February 12, 1909, partially as a response to the common practice of lynching, as well as the response to the race riot held in Springfield in 1908 (“Oldest and Boldest.”) The NAACP's main aim was to fight against discrimination in all areas of American life. The organization protested against the lynching and worked toward the discrimination in voting, education, employment, housing, and transportation (Jim-Crow cars) which had been common features of segregation system in America. The foundation of the NAACP was initiated by sixty white and black Americans, such as Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, or Henry Moscowitz. Du Bois, an Harvard-educated black scholar, was an editor of the movement's magazine – The Crisis (Wormser, “NAACP.”).

The importance of the civil right movement and its agenda could be seen in the rise of its members and branches. According to the results of the Eleventh Annual Report of the NAACP published in its magazine the Crisis, the organization had only 3 branches in 1912 and 329 members. In 1918, the figures grew rapidly as there were 165 branches and the membership rose to 43,995. However, in 1919, in the year of racial violence, the membership doubled. The number of branches rose up to 310 across the United States, and the membership counted 91,203 active members. Also the fund-rising rose from 1913 figures of approximately five million dollars to more then forty-seven million dollars (“The Battle of 1920 and Before.” 203).

Within the Red Summer, the NAACP main goal was to shame government – either the local, state, or federal – into action. It was James Weldon Johnson who had been delivering speeches, raising money, fighting for anti-lynching legislation and lobbying Congress. Weldon also commented on race riots providing the accurate information and urging the authorities for any legal action. One of his speeches on self- defense within the Red Summer period stated:

I know we can't settle this race troubles by taking a shotgun and going out and shooting up people, but I will say it will go a long way toward settling this thing if we shoot back when are shot at! ...We need an

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organization of the white people and the black people to save America from mob violence. We must have organization, a militant organization (qtd in McWhirter 237).

3.3.3. The Lynching

According to Whitaker, there were more then hundred black men lynched each year since 1890s (37). However, most lynching occurred in southern states, only 219 people were lynched in northern states, and 101 of them were black (McWhirter 35). W.E.B Du Bois stated the need for anti-lynching bill "In is time that we should wake to the need of action, and that public opinion, irresistible when aroused, should be enlisted against this bar•barism in our midst" ("The opinion of W.E.B. Du Bois", 59). It was one of the crucial goals of the NAACP to fight for the anti-lynching bill that was first introduced by Congressman L. Dyer of Missouri. The NAACP had raised an Anti- lynching fund, which was first use to held an anti-lynching conference ("The battle of 1920 and Before"). Within the Red Summer, the lynching was nearly daily occurrence. However, the The Dyer Bill was not passed until January 1922. It passed by the House of Representatives, however, it was halted by the Senate ("NAACP History: Anti-Lynching Bill", Naacp.org).

3.3.4. Fight for Justice

In November 1919, most of the trials with the charged "rioters" of both races were to be finished. McWhirter claims that the America's legal system began a transformation after the Red Summer. Where evidence available, and if prosecutors had the "will", rioters, either black or white, were punished, but on the other hand, most of those who committed crime within the rioting and lynching, remained unpunished or escaped any prosecution. This generally applied mostly to the Southern countries (McWhirter 256).

Case Ruffin: Jenkins County Joe Ruffin, a main protagonist of the Jenkins County riot, was sentenced the death penalty in 1921 and expected execution in the jail (Voogd, Race Riots 54). When prosecuted, the trial was moved away from Jenkins County, but since the jury consisted

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only of white jurymen, Ruffin was sentenced to death. However, the retrial was sought and the judge granted the stay of execution. A new trial was held in Savannah, with charges of killing of two officers and Ruffin was acquitted by the jury. However, the prosecutor did not give up. Next a Jenkins County grand jury indicted Ruffin for murder of the officers, but Ruffin was acquitted again by the jury. Consequently, Ruffin was fined 500 dollars and left free (McWhirter 259-260).

Case: Longview The Longview Riot had been suppressed by the militia intervention and due to the strict restriction on collective gathering, the guns deposition etc. There were arrested twenty-six white men for attacks on black homes and twenty-one black men on charges of attempted murder (McWhirter 89). Eventually no white men and black men were tried with any charges in order to maintain back the race balance in Longview (Durham 15).

Case: Washington James Weldon Johnson visited Washington during the riots and then reported his actions and feelings from the riot in the Crisis. He praised the black population of not running away, but fighting the mob, fighting in defense of their lives and homes. He stated that without the self-defense the rioting could have been even worse such that of St. Louis5 of 1917 ("The Riots – The N.A.A.C.P investigates" 243). Krugler points out that Washington's branch of the NAACP initiated legal efforts to aid black self-defenders and provided them with the legal attorneys. They task was to defend the dozens of black main jailed during rioting for carrying weapons. Most of them were left free with a minor bonds, even thought "technically guilty" of carrying concealed weapons. However, these had been concealed due to their own protection (Krugler 226-228).

Case: Chicago According to the Chicago Commissions on Race Relations and its finding, the Negroes were more frequently arrested, subjected to police identification and convicted compared to whites offenders. The black offenders were given longer sentences and convicted for more serious charges for the same crimes as white offenders. The Committee pointed out that such practice is not only unfair to black community, but it

5 The riot of St.Louis of 1917 - nearly the whole Afro-American neighborhood was burnt out.

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also weakened the machinery of Justice. The Committee recommended that police, state's attorney, judges, and the jury would consider these findings in order to act without discrimination with all person charged with crime, regardless their race (Chicago Commission 641). According to Krugler, there were forty two accused white men related to the rioting, out of which only seven stood the trial by 1920. One of them was George Stauber, who helped to spark a riot by throwing stones towards the group of Negroes boys at Lake Michigan. Stauber was acquitted in June 1920. The athletics clubs were also not taken to responsibility of rioting. On the other hand, many judicial victories had been won on charges of Afro-Americans, proving that a well-organized legal team, supported by donations (the NAACP fund-rising), pushing for fair trail would be the path to drop charges of rioting. Another victory was a compensations of 4,500 dollars for each black family whose relatives were killed within the rioting (234,235).

Case: Elaine After the Elaine massacre, the Committee of Seven was appointed. Without proper defense and investigation, the first twelve black men (later known as the "Arkansas Twelve") given trials by committee had been convicted of murder and sentenced the death penalty without proper investigations, no witnesses were introduced and the decision was made by the only-white jury (Kerlin 93). Kerlin pointed out that each trial took between six to seven minutes and many other accused Afro-Americans rather pleaded guilty so as not to be sentence the death penalty, as well (93).

The NAACP played an important role in the court battle for the fair trial of the "Arkansas Twelve" that were supposed to be electrocuted on December 27, 1919. The NAACP handled actions, petitions and fund-rising requesting a new trial (Williams 200). Frank Moore, a black sharecropper, who organized a military-like formation of approximately forty black armed men in preparation to defend themselves in Hoop Spur case was one of the "Arkansas Twelve" convicts (Krugler 173). Within the trial the mob surrounded the court building, proclaiming the rough justice if the defendants would be acquitted. The defendants' attorneys questioned that the presence of the mob outside the court during the trial as the violation of a fair trial, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court (Wormser, “Moore v. Dempsey”).

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The case is known as Moore v. Dempsey and it was considered as an important step in defending the rights of black defendants. It stated: "... under the practice which prevailed in the State, only white men were summoned to sit on the grand jury or the jury, and that, by this discrimination, the defendants were deprived of their rights under the Constitution of the United States..." ("Moore v. Dempsey," supreme.justia.com,). Eventually, all of the "Arkansas Twelve" were freed by lower instances court (Wormser, "Moore v. Dempsey").

3.3.5. The end of rioting

The rioting of the Red Summer stopped within November 1919 and it provided many questions. What should be the following steps to prevent such violence that paralyzed many cities, towns or counties? Considering the previous chapters the authorities, either local, state or federal seemed not to be willing to prevent the mob violence, or was it a consequence that one of the most brutal riots of the Red Summer – the Elaine Massacre – took place at the very end of the Red Summer?

There were many suggestions that should be implied in order to prevent such violence. According to the Haynes Record, disregarding of the legal process and law would have resulted into racial clashes and rioting as well as that unchecked mob violence created more hatred and intolerance between races ("For Action on Race Relation Peril"), which proved to be correct. Therefore, it would be necessary to follow the legal process and to charge and prosecute the people responsible of the rioting in order to show that illegal behavior would be punished.

According to the National Urban League A Suggested Solution of the Problem of Race Relations, implementing for basic steps could improve the conditions in cities where Whites and Afro-Americans live. However, the National Urban League claimed that the solution to the problem could be reached only if the Afro-Americans were included to such process. Without their participation, the problem may remain unsolved. The possible solutions were:  the working and living conditions of Afro-Americans need to be fair and decent  a fair treatment, and be protected in buying and selling  adequate educational opportunities

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 equality in transportations ("A Suggested Solution of the Problem of Race Relations").

On the other hand, the racial prejudice or belief – the "Negroes" were criminal was a problem, not only within the Red Summer ("For Action on Race Relation Peril"). It was more likely that a "Negro" would be arrested for self-defense rather that a white rioter. Such statement was also confirmed by the Chicago Commission for the Race Relations that, police officers, judges and other public officials were affected, either consciously or unconsciously, in similar way by being provided by these beliefs and the constant mentioning of Negroes in relation to crime, which resulted into arresting on suspicion, conviction on scanty evidence, or severe punishments by judges (Chicago Commission 526). After the rioting the white mob rioters were often either not arrested, and if so, they were very often released free (McWhirter 256). On the other hand, arrested Afro-Americans in connection with rioting had to less chances for the fair trial. Joe Ruffin, a black businessman of Jenkins County, being a victim of the riot that was consequently accused of two murders (later changed to killing). Later he was sentenced the death penalty for something he had not done and later and after for years in prison, he was released free (McWhirter 259-260). The question arise what can be done to prevent such cases? On of the milestones was the decision of the Supreme Court decision of Moore v. Dempsey that acknowledged the constitutional rights for the fair trial of every citizen of the United States.

The narratives in the second chapter provide the example that appropriate and timely reaction from the authorities was very important. For instance, in Longview, Texas, the local authorities ceased the rioting with the help of the state militia and by proclaiming the martial law. Consequently, both Afro-Americans and Whites were arrested there due to rioting. However, in order to maintain the racial balance again, no one was charged (Durham 15). Even thought, Longview was a small rural town, such riot handling helped to restore an order and might have been consider as an model of coping with the rioting in other destinations. The Elaine Massacre, on the other hand, shows the different attitude of the authorities. It was the authority that called posses in order to hunt for "Negro" for alleged uprising. And it was the authority that set up the Committee of Seven and agreed on the death penalty for the union leaders (Whitaker 133).

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The Red Summer ended in November 1919. Within these period many people lost their lives, others were wounded, plenty of people remained homeless, however; Afro- Americans proved that their self-defense had been strengthened with the Great War experience. This confirms the finding of the Chicago Commission on the Race Relation that claims that the war created a new type of sentiment of disillusion and disappointment but it also stimulate their patriotism (Chicago Commission 634).

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Conclusion:

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to present the period of the Red Summer of 1919 and to provide a deeper insight of selected racial riots, as well as the resistance performed by Afro-Americans against the white rioters.

The changes after the WWI affected the whole world. Bolshevism became a threat. The inflation rose and the labor market experienced the job competition among Whites and Afro-Americans. The lynching was nearly a daily occurrence. Afro- Americans had their place in American society and they were suppose to stay there, however, being broaden not only with the Great War experience, they did not intended to stay as second-class citizens. In 1919, all these changes mingled and threatened a white superiority and democratic principles that had been mostly in favor of white Americans. This all resulted into the period known as the Red Summer.

The rioting of the Red Summer, however, moved the race relations in the United States. First, the white superiority was threatened since Afro-Americans no longer accepted being segregated in any manner possible and began to fight for their rights that had already been granted to them by the U.S. Constitution, such as, for instance, the unionization of sharecroppers from Elaine. Such attitude, however, was considered as a sign of radicalism, the blame came on Reds. Second, the Afro-Americans were ready to defend themselves against the white mob violence, even thought they would be most likely persecuted for such self-defense. Third, Afro-Americans intended to defend themselves legally, which in 1923 resulted into the Supreme Court case of Moore v. Dempsey that acknowledged the constitutional right for fair trial for Afro-Americans (Arkansas Twelve).

In 1919 Afro-Americans did not obtain all the rights of the first class citizens however, they resisted the white oppression. Such resistance was considered as radicalization and generally speaking, Afro-Americans had been very often falsely connected with Bolshevism and Communism. As the civil right movement activist Ida Wells-Barnett commented on the Red Summer saying: " If this is democracy, what is bolshevism?" (qty. in Schechter 164).

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Works Cited:

Books: Chicago Commission on Race Relations. Negro in Chicago, a Study of race relations and a race riot. The U of Chicago press, 1922.

Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom, A history of Negro America. 3rd ed., Knopf, 1967.

Graham, Stephen. The Soul of John Brown. Macmillan, 1920.

Hagedorn, Ann. Savage peace: hope and fear in America, 1919. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008.

Haywood, Harry. Black Bolshevik: Autobiography of an Afro-American Communist. Liberator Press, 1978.

Kerlin, Robert T. The Voice of the Negro, 1919. New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1920.

Knopf, Terry Ann. Rumors, Race, and Riots. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 2006.

Krugler, David F. 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back. Kindle ed., New York, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

McWhirter, Cameron. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Kindle ed., New York, St. Martin's Griffin, 2012.

Murray, Robert K. Red scare; a study in national hysteria, 1919-1920. Minneapolis, U of Minnesota Press, 1955.

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Nash, Gary B., et al. The American people creating a nation and a society. 3rd ed., Vol. 2., New York, Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.

Sandburg, Carl. The Chicago Race Riots: July,1919. Kindle ed., Mineola, New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 2013.

Schechter, Patricia A. Ida B. Wells-Barnett and American reform, 1880-1930. U of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Tuttle, William M., Jr. Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919. Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1970.

Voogd, Jan. Race Riots and Resistance: the Red Summer of 1919. New York, Peter Lang Publishing, 2008.

Whitaker, Robert. On the laps of gods: the Red Summer of 1919 and the struggle for justice that remade a nation. Kindle ed., New York, Crown Publishers, 2008.

Woodward, C. Vann. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. 3rd ed., New York, Oxford University Press, 1973.

Encyclopedia: Rucker, Walter C., and James Nathaniel Upton. Encyclopedia of American race riots, Volumes 1 & 2. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2007.

Stolz, Claudia M. "Chicago (Illinois) Riot of 1919.” Encyclopedia of American race riots, Volumes 1 & 2. Ed. Rucker, Walter C., and James Nathaniel Upton, Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2007, pp. 100-106.

Voogd, Jan. “Washington (D.C) of 1919.” Encyclopedia of American race riots, Volumes 1 & 2. Ed. Rucker, Walter C., and James Nathaniel Upton, Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2007, pp. 681-683.

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Voogd, Jan. “Red Summer Race Riots of 1919.” Encyclopedia of American race riots, Volumes 1 & 2. Ed. Rucker, Walter C., and James Nathaniel Upton, Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2007, pp. 551-559.

Williams, Lee E.. " Elaine (Arkansas) Riot oF 1919” Encyclopedia of American race riots, Volumes 1 & 2. Ed. Rucker, Walter C., and James Nathaniel Upton, Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 2007, pp. 191-203.

Journals: Durham, Kenneth R. “The Longview Race Riot of 1919.” East Texas Historical Journal , vol. 18, ser. 2, 1980, pp. 2–16. 2, www.texasranger.org/E- Books/Longview_Race_Riot.pdf. Accessed 8 Feb. 2017.

Magazines: Du Bois, W.E.B. "The opinion of W.E.B. Du Bois". The Crisis, June 1919, pp. 59-62, www.marxists.org/.../crisis/0600-crisis-v18n02-w104.pdf. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

“The Riot at Longview, Texas.” The Crisis, 10 Oct. 1919, pp. 297–298, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/1000-crisis-v18n06-w108.pdf. Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.

“The Riot-Mill.” The Crisis, 10 Oct. 1919, pp. 306, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/1000-crisis-v18n06-w108.pdf. Accessed 18 Mar. 2017.

“The Riot at Longview, Texas.” The Crisis, 10 Oct. 1919, pp. 297–298, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/1000-crisis-v18n06-w108.pdf. Accessed 18 Jan. 2017.

“The Riots – The N.A.A.C.P investigates.” The Crisis, 10 Oct. 1919, pp. 241-244. https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/0900-crisis-v18n05- w107.pdf. Accessed 18 Mar. 2017.

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White, Walter. “Chicago and its eight reasons.” The Crisis, 10 Oct. 1919, pp. 293–297, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/1000-crisis-v18n06-w108.pdf. Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.

Newspaper Articles: “Attacks on White Women Cause Riot in Washington.” The State Democrat, 21 July 1919, visualizingtheredsummer.com/?dhp-project=archive. Accessed 17 Mar. 2017.

Haynes, E. George. "For Action on Race Riot Peril." The New York Times, 5 Oct 1919. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9C04E7D61F30E033A25756C0A96 69D946896D6CF.

"Landlords Take All Products to Keep Tenants Always in Debt." The Guardian. 25 Oct. 1919, visualizingtheredsummer.com/?dhp-project=archive. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017.

"Massacre of Whites Planned by Negroes." The Dallas Morning News. 5 Oct. 1919, www.clt.astate.edu/sarahwf/elainrt/jjmeals/jjmdmn10061919.jpg. Accessed 16 Mar. 2017.

Perl, Peter. "Race Riot of 1919 Gave Glimpse of Future Struggles." The Washington Post. N.p., 1 Mar. 1999, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/2000/raceriot0301.htm. Accessed 18 Mar. 2017.

"Riots in Washington: America's Subject Race." The Atlanta Independent. 08 Feb. 1919, visualizingtheredsummer.com/?dhp-project=archive. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.

“3,000 Will Burn Negro.” Jackson Daily News, 26 June 1919, recordsofrights.org/records/342/john-hartfield-will-be-lynched. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

Web sources: “Haynes Report.” Boundles.com, www.boundless.com/definition/haynes-report/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

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“Moore v. Dempsey, 261 U.S. 86 (1923).” Justia U.S. Supreme Court, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/261/86/case.html. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017.

“Oldest and Boldest.” NAACP, www.naacp.org/oldest-and-boldest/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

Stockley, Grif. “Elaine Massacre.” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, 8 Jan 2016, www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry- detail.aspx?entryID=1102#. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

"NAACP History: Anti-Lynching Bill", NAACP, http://www.naacp.org/oldest-and- boldest/naacp-history-anti-lynching-bill/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2017.

Wormser, Richard. “NAACP.” The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Stories, www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_naacp.html. Accessed 22 Mar. 2017.

Wormser, Richard. “Moore v. Dempsey.” The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Stories, www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_naacp.html. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017.

Others - Report:

“A Suggested Solution of the Problem of Race Relations.” University of Chicago Library, Chicago, 18 Oct. 1919. Chicago. http://visualizingtheredsummer.com/?dhp- project=archive. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

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