The Red Summer of 1919: Social Disorganization, Anomie and White Racism

• In Event: 30420 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Racial Politics, Whitelash

Abstract

During and after World War I, a series of riots took place all over the country. These riots were marked by murderous violence, which were sometimes massacres of blacks by whites, but other times open race war, with both blacks and whites armed and angry.Social disorganization was embodied by several events, such as:
• Political disputes between Democrats and Republicans, similar to those of today;
• Woodrow Wilson, the avowed racist and State and Federal Government enforcement of discriminatory policies and practices;
• Irresponsible journalism and reporting, which sensationalized any and all racial and other disputes and conflicts;
• A worldwide glut of labor supply consisting of returning soldiers looking for jobs, that they did not immediately find. This led to anger and frustration among the unemployed, and many men without work roaming the streets looking for trouble; and
• White racism and the rise of Jim Crow, The KKK and Eugenics, which is the focus of this paper.

Authors

• Clifford L. Broman, Michigan State University

• Shikha Bista, University of Minnesota