# Red Summer

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span>**Red Summer**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> was a period in mid-1919 during which </span>[white supremacist terrorism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States#White_nationalism_and_white_supremacy "Terrorism in the United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span>[racial riots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_racial_violence_in_the_United_States "Mass racial violence in the United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> occurred in more than three dozen cities across the </span>[United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States "United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, and in one rural county in </span>[Arkansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas "Arkansas")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. The term "Red Summer" was coined by </span>[civil rights activist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement "Civil rights movement")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and author </span>[James Weldon Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Weldon_Johnson "James Weldon Johnson")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, who had been employed as a </span>[field secretary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_secretary "Field secretary")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the </span>[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Colored_People "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> (NAACP) since 1916. In 1919, he organized </span>[peaceful protests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_resistance "Nonviolent resistance")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> against the </span>[racial violence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_violence "Racial violence").[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[1\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-erickson-1)[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[2\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-cunningham-2)

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In most instances, attacks consisted of </span>[white](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Americans "White Americans")-on-[black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans "African Americans")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> violence. Numerous African Americans fought back, notably in the </span>[Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_race_riot_of_1919 "Chicago race riot of 1919")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span>[Washington, D.C., race riots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_race_riot_of_1919 "Washington race riot of 1919")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, which resulted in 38 and 15 deaths, respectively, along with even more injuries, and extensive property damage in </span>[Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago "Chicago").[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[3\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEThe_New_York_Times1919-3)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Still, the highest number of fatalities occurred in the rural area around </span>[Elaine, Arkansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine,_Arkansas "Elaine, Arkansas")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, where an estimated 100–240 black people and five white people were killed—an event now known as the </span>[Elaine massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_massacre "Elaine massacre").

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[anti-black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-black_racism_in_the_United_States "Anti-black racism in the United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">riots developed from a variety of post-</span>[World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I "World War I")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">socio-economic tensions, generally related to the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[demobilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demobilization "Demobilization")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">of both black and white members of the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[United States Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces "United States Armed Forces")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[following World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_in_World_War_I#After_the_war "United States in World War I")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; an</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[economic slump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-World_War_I_recession "Post-World War I recession")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; and increased competition in the job and housing markets between ethnic</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[European Americans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Americans "European Americans")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and African Americans.</span>[<sup style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[4\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPublic_Broadcasting_Service_(PBS)2018Part_3-4)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The period would also be marked by episodes of</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[labor unrest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unrest "Labor unrest")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, wherein certain industrialists employed black people as</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[strikebreakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikebreaker "Strikebreaker")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, further inflaming the resentment of white workers.</span>

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The riots and killings were extensively documented by the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_media_in_the_United_States "News media in the United States")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, which, along with the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[federal government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States "Federal government of the United States")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, feared</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[socialist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_the_United_States "Socialism in the United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[communist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Left "American Left")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">influence on the black</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[civil rights movement of the time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement_(1896%E2%80%931954) "Civil rights movement (1896–1954)")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">following the 1917</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[Bolshevik Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik_Revolution "Bolshevik Revolution")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in Russia. They also feared foreign</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[anarchists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_the_United_States "Anarchism in the United States")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, who had</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[bombed the homes and businesses of prominent figures and government leaders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings "1919 United States anarchist bombings")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span>

[![ChicagoRaceRiot_1919_wagon.png](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/chicagoraceriot-1919-wagon.png)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/chicagoraceriot-1919-wagon.png)

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Family leaving damaged home after the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[Chicago race riot of 1919](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_race_riot_of_1919 "Chicago race riot of 1919")

##### <span style="color: rgb(16, 20, 24); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Great Migration</span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">With the </span>[mobilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilization "Mobilization")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> of troops for </span>[World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I "World War I")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, and with immigration from Europe cut off, the </span>[industrial cities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_city "Industrial city")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the American </span>[Northeast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States "Northeastern United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span>[Midwest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States "Midwestern United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> experienced severe </span>[labor shortages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_shortage "Labor shortage"). As a result, northern manufacturers recruited throughout the South, from which an exodus of workers, many black, ensued.[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[5\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKennedy2004279,_281%E2%80%93282-5)

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">By 1919, an estimated 500,000 </span>[African Americans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans "African Americans")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> had emigrated from the </span>[Southern United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States "Southern United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest in the first wave of the </span>[Great Migration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American) "Great Migration (African American)")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> (which continued until 1940).</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[3\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEThe_New_York_Times1919-3)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> African-American workers filled new positions in expanding industries, such as the </span>[railroads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_railroad_history "American railroad history")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, as well as many existing jobs formerly held by whites. In some cities, they were hired as </span>[strikebreakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikebreaker "Strikebreaker"), especially during the strikes of 1917.[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[5\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKennedy2004279,_281%E2%80%93282-5)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> This increased resentment against blacks among many </span>[working-class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_class_in_the_United_States "Working class in the United States")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> whites, immigrants, and </span>[first-generation Americans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-generation_American "First-generation American").

[![Omaha_courthouse_lynching.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/omaha-courthouse-lynching.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/omaha-courthouse-lynching.jpg)

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Will Brown, victim of Omaha, Nebraska lynching</span>[<sup style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[31\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTELewis2009383-31)

##### <span style="color: rgb(16, 20, 24); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Racism and Red Scare</span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In the summer of 1917, violent racial riots against blacks due to labor tensions broke out in </span>[East St. Louis, Illinois](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis,_Illinois "East St. Louis, Illinois")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span>[Houston, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas "Houston, Texas").[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[6\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBarnes20084-6)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Following the war, rapid </span>[demobilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demobilization "Demobilization")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the military without a plan for absorbing veterans into the job market, and the removal of </span>[price controls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_controls "Price controls"), led to massive unemployment and inflation that increased competition for jobs. Jobs were very difficult for African Americans to get in the South due to systemic racism and employment segregation.[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[7\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-7)

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">During the </span>[First Red Scare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Red_Scare "First Red Scare")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> of 1919–20, following the </span>[1917 Russian Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_(1917) "Russian Revolution (1917)")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span>[anti-Bolshevik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Leninism "Anti-Leninism")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> sentiment in the United States quickly followed on the </span>[anti-German sentiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-German_sentiment "Anti-German sentiment")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> arising in the war years. Many politicians and government officials, together with much of the press and the public, feared an imminent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government to create a new regime modeled on that of the </span>[Soviets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union "Soviet Union")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Authorities viewed with alarm African-Americans' advocacy of </span>[racial equality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_equality "Racial equality")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span>[labor rights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_rights "Labor rights"), and incidents involving the deaths of whites furthered fears.[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[4\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPublic_Broadcasting_Service_(PBS)2018Part_3-4)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> In a private conversation in March 1919, President </span>[Woodrow Wilson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson "Woodrow Wilson")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> said that "the American </span>[Negro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro "Negro")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> returning from abroad would be our greatest medium in conveying </span>[Bolshevism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks "Bolsheviks")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to America."</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[8\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._56-8)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Other whites expressed a wide range of opinions, some anticipating unsettled times and others seeing no signs of tension.</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[9\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._19,22-24-9)

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In the autumn of 1919, following the violence-filled summer,</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[George Edmund Haynes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edmund_Haynes "George Edmund Haynes")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">reported on the events as a prelude to an investigation by the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_the_Judiciary "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. He identified 38 separate racial riots against black people in widely scattered cities, in which whites attacked black people.</span>[<sup style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[3\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEThe_New_York_Times1919-3)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Unlike earlier racial riots against African Americans in U.S. history, the 1919 events were among the first in which black people in number resisted white attacks and fought back.</span>[<sup style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[13\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMaxouris2019-13)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[A. Philip Randolph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph "A. Philip Randolph")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, a civil rights</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[activist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activist "Activist")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and leader of the</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Sleeping_Car_Porters)<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, publicly defended the right of black people to</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[self-defense](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-defense "Self-defense")<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span>[<sup style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[1\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-erickson-1)

##### <span style="color: rgb(16, 20, 24); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Government activity</span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">During the Chicago racial violence against people of color the press was incorrectly told by </span>[Department of Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice "United States Department of Justice")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> officials that the </span>[IWW](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World "Industrial Workers of the World")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, socialists, and </span>[Bolsheviks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks "Bolsheviks")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> were "spreading propaganda to breed race hatred".</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[55\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._159-66)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> FBI agents filed reports that leftist views were winning converts in the black community. One cited the work of the </span>[NAACP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAACP "NAACP")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> "urging the colored people to insist upon equality with white people and to resort to force, if necessary.</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[50\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._160-61)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>[J. Edgar Hoover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover "J. Edgar Hoover"), at the start of his career in government, analyzed the riots for the Attorney General. He blamed the July Washington, D.C., riots on "numerous assaults committed by Negroes upon white women".[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[22\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAckerman200860%E2%80%9362-22)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> For the October events in Arkansas, he blamed "certain local agitation in a Negro lodge".</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[22\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAckerman200860%E2%80%9362-22)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> A more general cause he cited was "propaganda of a radical nature".</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[22\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAckerman200860%E2%80%9362-22)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> He charged that socialists were feeding propaganda to black-owned magazines such as </span>[**The Messenger**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Messenger_Magazine "The Messenger Magazine")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, which in turn aroused their black readers. He did not note the white perpetrators of violence, whose activities local authorities documented. As chief of the Radical Division within the U.S. Department of Justice, Hoover began an investigation of "negro activities" and targeted </span>[Marcus Garvey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey "Marcus Garvey")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> because he thought his newspaper </span>[**Negro World**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_World "Negro World")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> preached Bolshevism.</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[22\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAckerman200860%E2%80%9362-22)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> He authorized the hiring of black undercover agents to spy on black organizations and publications in Harlem.</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[55\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._159-66)

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On November 17, Attorney General </span>[A. Mitchell Palmer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Mitchell_Palmer "A. Mitchell Palmer")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> reported to Congress on the threat that anarchists and Bolsheviks posed to the government. More than half the report documented radicalism in the black community and the "open defiance" black leaders advocated in response to racial violence and the summer's rioting. It faulted the leadership of the black community for an "ill-governed reaction toward race rioting.… In all discussions of the recent racial riots against blacks there is reflected the note of pride that the Negro has found himself. That he has 'fought back,' that never again will he tamely submit to violence and intimidation."</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[56\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._239-241-67)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> It described "the dangerous spirit of defiance and vengeance at work among the Negro leaders."</span>[<sup><span class="editor-theme-superscript">\[56\]</span></sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Summer#cite_note-McWhirter_p._239-241-67)

[![Chicago_Race_Riot_1919_stoning.png](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/chicago-race-riot-1919-stoning.png)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-04/scaled-1680-/chicago-race-riot-1919-stoning.png)

<span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">African American being stoned by whites during 1919 Chicago race riot</span>