Atlanta Race Riot

Violent attacks by armed mobs of white Americans against African Americans in Atlanta, Georgia, began after newspapers, on the evening of September 22, 1906, published several unsubstantiated and luridly detailed reports of the alleged rapes of four local women by black men. The violence lasted through September 24, 1906. The events were reported by newspapers around the world, including the French '' Le Petit Journal'' which described the "lynchings in the USA" and the "massacre of Negroes in Atlanta,""Un lynchage monstre"
(September 24, 1906) ''Le Petit Journal'' the Scottish '' Aberdeen Press & Journal'' under the headline "Race Riots in Georgia," and the London ''Evening Standard'' under the headlines "Anti-Negro Riots" and "Outrages in Georgia." The final death toll of the conflict is unknown and disputed, but officially at least 25 African Americans and two whites died. Unofficial reports ranged from 10–100 black Americans killed during the massacre. According to the Atlanta History Center, some black Americans were hanged from lampposts; others were shot, beaten or stabbed to death. They were pulled from street cars and attacked on the street; white mobs invaded black neighborhoods, destroying homes and businesses.

The immediate catalyst was newspaper reports of four white women raped in separate incidents, allegedly by African American men. A grand jury later indicted two African Americans for raping Ethel Lawrence and her niece Mabel Lawrence. An underlying cause was the growing racial tension in a rapidly changing city and economy, competition for jobs, housing, and political power.

The violence did not end until after Governor Joseph M. Terrell called in the Georgia National Guard, and African Americans accused the Atlanta Police Department and some Guardsmen of participating in the violence against them. Local histories by whites ignored the massacre for decades. It was not until 2006 that the event was publicly marked – on its 100th anniversary. The next year, the Atlanta massacre was made part of the state's curriculum for public schools.Shaila Dewan, "100 Years Later, a Painful Episode Is Observed at Last"
''New York Times'', 24 September 2006; accessed 30 March 2018

Background

Growth of Atlanta

After the end of the American Civil War and during the Reconstruction era, there was violence of whites against blacks throughout the South, as whites reacted to emancipation of blacks, accusations of black criminality, and political empowerment of freedmen, specifically gaining the voting franchise which led to political power and representation. Having former slaves become equals was threatening to their ideals of racial supremacy. Increased tension also resulted from whites competing with blacks for wages, and the idea of paying for labor which had been free for centuries. Atlanta had developed rapidly, attracting workers for its rebuilding and, particularly from the 1880s as the "rail hub" of the South: workers from all over the country began to flood the city. This resulted in a dramatic increase in both the African-American population (9,000 in 1880 to 35,000 in 1900) and the overall city population (from a population of 89,000 in 1900 to 150,000 in 1910) as individuals from rural areas and small towns sought better economic opportunities. Steinberg, Arthur K. "Atlanta Race Riot (1906)." ''Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History'': ''An Encyclopedia''
edited by Steven L. Danver, vol. 2, ABC-CLIO, 2011, pp. 681–684

With this influx and the subsequent increase in the demand for resources, race relations in Atlanta became increasingly strained in the crowded city. Whites expanded Jim Crow segregation in residential neighborhoods and on public transportation.Mixon, Gregory, and Clifford Kuhn. "Atlanta Race Riot of 1906"
''New Georgia Encyclopedia'', 29 October 2015; accessed 26 March 2018

African-American advancements

Freedmen and their descendants had gained the franchise during Reconstruction, and whites increasingly feared and resented their exercise of political power. African Americans had established prosperous businesses and developed an elite who distinguished themselves from working-class blacks. Some whites resented them. Among the successful black businessmen was Alonzo Herndon, who owned and operated a large, refined barber shop that served prominent white men. This new status brought increased competition between blacks and whites for jobs and heightened class distinctions. The police and fire department were still exclusively white, as were most employees in the city and county governments.

State requirements from 1877 limited black voting through poll taxes, record keeping and other devices to impede voter registration, but many freedmen and descendants could still vote. But both major candidates played on racial tensions during their campaigning for the gubernatorial election of 1906, in which M. Hoke Smith and Clark Howell competed for the Democratic primary nomination. Smith had explicitly "campaigned on a platform to disenfranchise black voters in Georgia.""August 21, 1907: Literacy Test Proposed"
This Day in Georgia History, Georgia Info, University Libraries Howell was also looking to exclude them from politics. Smith was a former publisher of the '' Atlanta Journal'' and Howell was the editor of the ''Atlanta Constitution''. Both candidates used their influence to incite white voters and help spread the fear that whites may not maintain the current social order.Burns 2006:4–5 These papers and others attacked saloons and bars that were run and frequented by black citizens. These "dives", as whites called them, were said to have nude pictures of women. The ''Atlanta Georgian'' and the ''Atlanta News'' publicized police reports of white women who were allegedly sexually molested and raped by black men.

Events

''The Clansman'' and tensions

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