Chicago, Illinois Race Riot – 1919
When the United States entered into the Great War, black men were not permitted to join the military. Instead, they had to wait to be drafted. Military units were segregated based upon race and many black outfits fulfilled ancillary roles as white units engaged in battle. The segregated units represented neighborhoods back home; most were segregated with the unwritten rule that no white person would enter a black neighborhood and no black person would enter into a white neighborhood. Even beaches along Lake Michigan adhered to the unmarked boundaries between white and black.
As men mustered out of the military at the end of the war, a flu pandemic broke out. In Chicago, rumors swirled that black soldiers stationed in France returned home and intentionally infected whites who were attempting to keep black families contained in a small area called the Black Belt. Every day there were skirmishes between the ethnic groups that bordered Chicago’s Black Belt.
On July 27, 1919, a young black boy swam into what was considered the white part of Lake Michigan. A white boy threw a rock, hitting the black boy on the head. As the black boy drowned, violence broke out on the beach and then spilled into the segregated neighborhoods on Chicago’s near south side. When the violence began, the city shut down the street cars, stranding workers and forcing them to walk home. For four days, blacks and ethnic whites were engaged in a full-fledged riot with street fighting and setting buildings on fire. Fueling more violence were rumors of plans to set the Black Belt on fire and to force all blacks from the city. Big Bill Thompson, mayor of Chicago, refused the governor’s offer to send the National Guard to quash the violence.
In the end, 23 blacks and 15 whites were killed, hundreds injured, numerous buildings destroyed or damaged, and over 1000 African Americans left homeless. Although he never admitted or denied participation, former long-time Mayor Richard J. Daley was 17 years old and a member of an Irish Athletic Club with many known participants in the riot. During his terms as mayor, Chicago’s Black Belt was turned into the largest high-rise housing project in the world.