How The Houston Riot of 1917 and World War I Began The Civil Rights Movement

• In Event: War and Race Relations, 1865-1955

Abstract

World War I changed the black veterans of America, they came back to the country changed men and they would change not only their communities but the country. No longer would blacks be discriminated against or mistreated without standing up for themselves. Just as the soldiers of the Twenty-Fourth Infantry refused to be called niggers and sit in the colored section of streetcars; blacks had enough and now would fight for and demand their rights of full citizenship. The riot in Houston and its aftermath brought considerable attention to the plight of black soldiers and racism in the South. When those black soldiers stood up for themselves and the black Houstonians their actions expressed the willingness of blacks to stand up for themselves and their rights. Even though the Civil Rights Movement would not begin in earnest for another 37 years, Houston and the returning veterans of World War I laid the foundation for the movement to occur. Many of those who would become leaders of the Civil Rights Movement such as A. Philip Randolph, W.E. B. Du Bois and others were leading figures in support of and opposition to black involvement in World War I. Therefore, Houston, World War I and the black soldiers experience in Europe would have a significant impact that would change the nation into a more democratic nation and equality for all of its citizens.

Author

• Roger Lee Booker, Jr, Texas State University