Getting Started
This chapter examines the period of heightened racial violence in the United States between 1917 and 1921. Focusing on events at a national and local scale, it explores the causes behind this proliferation of white supremacist attacks, the specific characteristics of the "Red Summer" of 1919 and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, and the ways in which African Americans actively responded to this aggression. The core historical problem is understanding the intersection of post-war social tensions and systemic racism that led to widespread violence and its lasting consequences.
What You Should Be Able to Do
Explain the primary causes of the widespread racial violence between 1917 and 1921.
Analyze the specific events and consequences of the Red Summer and the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Describe the various ways African Americans resisted white supremacist attacks.
Connect racial violence to long-term economic impacts and demographic shifts like the Great Migration.
Key Developments & Analysis
Structural & Immediate Causes
The surge in racial violence in the early twentieth century was rooted in long-standing racial discrimination but was ignited by a specific set of post-World War I conditions.
White supremacy, the belief that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society, provided the foundational ideology for the violence. This belief system was embedded in the social and political structures of the era, particularly in the South, where a lack of economic opportunities for African Americans was systemic.
Several immediate factors between 1917 and 1921 transformed these underlying tensions into open, widespread conflict:
Post-War Competition for Jobs: The demobilization of millions of soldiers after World War I created intense competition for employment in urban centers, which white supremacists exploited to foment resentment against African Americans.
Discrimination Against Black Veterans: African American soldiers who had fought in World War I returned home expecting greater civil rights and respect. Instead, they faced continued and often intensified racial discrimination, and their demands for equality were met with violent resistance from white Americans determined to maintain the existing racial hierarchy.
Global Flu Pandemic: The influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 created immense social and economic strain across the country, contributing to a climate of fear and instability that exacerbated existing racial tensions.
These factors converged to create a volatile environment where white supremacist groups and individuals felt emboldened to incite hate crimes and mob violence against African American communities.
Effects & Impacts
Immediate Effects
The most direct effect of these tensions was a proliferation of racial violence. The acute period of this violence in 1919 is known as the Red Summer, a term describing the wave of white supremacist terrorism and racial riots that occurred across the United States. During that summer alone, more than 30 urban race riots took place, as white mobs attacked African Americans and their neighborhoods.
This pattern of violence culminated in events like the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. In this incident, a large mob of white residents, with the active participation and complicity of city officials, attacked the prosperous African American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as "Black Wall Street," Greenwood was one of the most affluent African American communities in the nation. The massacre resulted in the destruction of more than 1,250 homes and businesses, effectively obliterating a hub of Black prosperity.
In the face of these attacks, African Americans did not remain passive. They mounted a multifaceted resistance that included:
Armed Self-Defense: In many communities, African Americans took up arms to defend their families and property from white mobs.
Political Activism: Organizations and individuals engaged in political activism to demand justice, protection, and an end to the violence.
Published Accounts: Black journalists and community leaders published detailed accounts of the atrocities to expose the violence to a national audience and counter the narratives of white-owned newspapers.
Long-Term Significance
The long-term consequences of this period of violence were profound. The targeted destruction of Black-owned property, exemplified by the Tulsa Race Massacre, was a significant factor in preventing many African American families from building and passing down wealth. This destruction of capital had a lasting negative impact on the economic standing of Black communities for generations.
Furthermore, the combination of extreme racial violence and the persistent lack of economic opportunity, particularly in the South, spurred the beginnings of the Great Migration. This demographic shift involved large numbers of African Americans moving from the rural South to the urban North and West in search of safety and better economic prospects.
Data & Organization Tools
Timeline of Escalating Violence (1917–1921)
| Year | Event/Development | Scale | Contributing Factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | Beginning of the period of proliferating racial violence. | National | Entry into WWI, early migrations to industrial centers. |
| 1919 | The "Red Summer" | National | Over 30 urban race riots across the country. |
| 1921 | Tulsa Race Massacre | Local | A mob of white residents and city officials attacks Greenwood. |
Perspectives & Sources
| Perspective | Source/Scholar/Work | Core Claim | Relevance to this Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| African American Resistance | Published accounts by Black journalists and activists | Documented the scope of white supremacist violence and called for self-defense and political action. | Demonstrates that African Americans were active agents in responding to attacks, not passive victims. |
| White Supremacist Aggression | Accounts of mob actions and official complicity (e.g., in Tulsa) | Violence was a necessary tool to maintain racial hierarchy and control economic competition. | Highlights the organized and often state-sanctioned nature of the violence, refuting the idea of spontaneous "riots." |
| Economic Impact | Analyses of wealth in communities like Greenwood | The destruction of Black-owned property and businesses was a deliberate act to cripple Black economic progress. | Explains the long-term consequence of preventing the intergenerational transfer of wealth in African American families. |
Evidence Bank
Legal/Policy
- Actions of city officials in Tulsa (inciting and participating in the massacre)
Organizations/Movements
- The Great Migration (as a response to violence and lack of opportunity)
Scholars/Texts
- Published accounts documenting white supremacist attacks
Data/Demographics
More than 30 urban race riots (Red Summer, 1919)
More than 1,250 homes and businesses destroyed (Tulsa, 1921)
Key Events & Concepts
Red Summer (1919)
Tulsa Race Massacre (1921)
Greenwood District / "Black Wall Street"
Skill Snapshots
Causation
The return of WWI veterans and competition for jobs → Heightened racial tensions incited by white supremacists.
The destruction of Greenwood in the Tulsa Race Massacre → The prevention of intergenerational wealth transfer for hundreds of Black families.
Pervasive racial violence and lack of economic opportunity in the South → Spurred the beginnings of the Great Migration.
Comparison
The Red Summer involved dozens of riots across the nation, whereas the Tulsa Race Massacre was a singular, concentrated assault on a specific, affluent Black community.
Armed self-defense was an immediate, physical response to an attack, while political activism and published accounts were resistance strategies aimed at achieving long-term legal and social change.
CCOT
Baseline: A post-Reconstruction society with entrenched racial discrimination and sporadic racial violence.
Changes: The period from 1917-1921 saw a dramatic escalation in the scale and frequency of urban racial violence; African American communities increasingly organized for armed self-defense in response to attacks.
Continuity: The ideology of white supremacy remained a consistent motivating factor for violence against African Americans.
Common Misconceptions & Clarifications
Misconception: The term "race riot" implies that both Black and white groups were equally responsible for the violence.
Clarification: In the context of the Red Summer and similar events, these were overwhelmingly instances of white mobs initiating violence against African American individuals and communities. The term "massacre" or "pogrom" is often more historically accurate.
Misconception: African Americans were passive victims of this violence.
Clarification: African Americans actively resisted white supremacist attacks through various means, including organized political activism, publishing accounts to expose the truth, and engaging in armed self-defense to protect their communities.
Misconception: The violence was a series of spontaneous, unorganized outbursts.
Clarification: The violence was often incited by white supremacists and, as seen in the Tulsa Race Massacre, could be highly organized and even involve the complicity of local government officials.
Misconception: The economic damage of events like the Tulsa Race Massacre was temporary.
Clarification: The destruction of homes, businesses, and community infrastructure had devastating, long-term effects, preventing African American families from passing down wealth and property and crippling community economic development for generations.
One-Paragraph Summary
The period from 1917 to 1921 marked a severe escalation of white supremacist violence against African Americans in the United States. Fueled by post-WWI tensions, including job competition, a global pandemic, and discrimination against Black veterans, this era witnessed the "Red Summer" of 1919, with over 30 urban race riots, and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which destroyed the affluent Black community of Greenwood. The long-term effects included the prevention of intergenerational wealth transfer for Black families and the acceleration of the Great Migration. In response, African Americans resisted through multifaceted strategies, including political activism, published accounts of the atrocities, and armed self-defense, demonstrating their agency in the face of systemic terror.