Chicago Race Riots

     When i was assigned the Chicago Race Riots i was excited because i already had an idea of what it was about because earlier in the year we discussed race problems in Alabama. I am also interested in exploring how the riots were spread in Chicago during the WWI era. Also in the process of researching i expect to find who started the riots and why they were started. So for now, ill just talk about the riots in Chicago, so enjoy!!!!!!!!
   
     The first thing i wanted to look up was who started the riots in Chicago. I discovered that the African-Americans were heavily segregated in the South part of Chicago and residential areas engaged in sort of a civil war between them and the whites. The interesting thing about this was that there were more than just one massive riot, there were 25. What i also wanted to know was how people looked at Chicago after these riots. Chicago earned a reputation of large violence during this time. This website was very useful to my research and served to answer a a few of my questions going into this topic.

     
      I also wanted to learn why the riots started and i found a lot of sources with information that answers this question. Many of the whites were determined to keep blacks away from being equal to them in almost every way such as employment, housing, etc. There was also a lot of tension after the war due to political changes in the government. President Wilson said that the white-race was the reason for riots and efforts were made to promote peace between the the races. 

     What actually triggered the riots to break out? Earlier I mentioned that African-Americans sought out equal rights, but is that the whole reason for the riots? No. Many of these riots were caused by a disturbance in politics and the economy but the most famous of the riots took place on a July afternoon. This riot was caused from a drowning of Eugene Williams. Eugene was an African-American that was hit by a stone thrown by a white man. This angered many African-Americans and once the riots started armed gangs piled up and opened fire with the whites. 

     Gangs played a big role in these racist riots during this time. For over a month immense and brutal fighting was going on between African-Americans and whites. The whites took a lot of the African-Americans out of work and many out of a place to live. When the riot was over, many causalities occurred for the African-Americans. Over thirty-eight people were dead, 537 were injured and about 1,000 ended up homeless. As you can see, the African-Americans were greatly effected by these riots and racial incidents.

     After reading and discussing the topic of the Chicago race riots, it really opened my eyes and changed my viewpoint on the issue. This shows that African-Americans literally had to fight for their rights and their freedom. The amazing part about this whole issue is that the African-Americans would not settle for anything less than they already had, they wanted to be treated equally as a white citizen was treated.