Compare And Contrast The Red Summer And The Awakening Of Black America

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The Red Summer of 1919 And The Awakening Of Black America The Red Summer refers to the summer and fall of 1919, in which race riots exploded in a number of cities in both the North and South. The three most violent episodes occurred in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Elaine, Arkansas. The race riots took place between April and November of 1919, the summer following the end of World War I. During this time, an issue between blacks and whites began after a black youth mistakenly swam into territory claimed by whites. Blacks were hated during this time and accused for many things. Lynchings and race riots began to break out; the nation’s black communities now included soldiers returned from France who were determined to resist mob violence…show more content…
A large amount of whites cornered four blacks at one point, but the black men were armed and a gun battle ensued. When police arrived and drove back the large group of blacks had escaped. Blacks were ordered to stay off the streets while the police patrolled in full force. Blacks were thankful for the collective courage they had shown during the year of 1919. On November 27th, Reverend Francis Grimke delivered a sermon on “The Race of Problem…in light of development of the last year.” Grimke was born into slavery and knew what it was like, he felt blacks had won a great victory. The next year the House of Judiciary Committee brought people together for a hearing to review three federal anti-lynching bills. The meeting was called by one of Congress’s most powerful committees, but none of the bills passed. But the occasion gave a coalition of black leaders and white allies, led by NAACP, that tried to stop such mass antiblack violence from ever occurring again. The hearing, was a beginning, although a moderate one, of a political effort that would one day result in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The black and white speakers before the committee, however, were of one

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