A black man is confronted by white soldiers during the red summer.
“The summer of 1919 was a period of horrifc racial violence and terror on a national scale. It occurred in the wake of more than 350,000 Black Americans returning from World War I, and working to exercise their rights to full citizenship. In 22 American cities and towns, whites instigated violence against both Black veterans and civilians. According to NAACP records, at least 25 major riots occurred, and more than 70 people were lynched, at least 10 of whom were Black veterans in uniform. Hundreds more people were killed, the majority of whom were Black, and thousands were injured. Tens of thousands more were forced to flee their homes or saw their homes destroyed, and millions had their lives disrupted, fnding it diffcult to go to work, or even to feel a modicum of safety.”
~ from “Chicago’s Red Summer of 1919”
Photo credit: Jun Fujita / Chicago History Museum / Getty
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