In early 1919, Chicago's South Side was marked by significant ethnic tension stemming from long-standing racism, competition among new groups, an economic slump, and social changes from World War I. The Great Migration had brought thousands of African Americans from the American South to settle near European immigrant neighborhoods on the South Side, close to stockyard jobs, creating sociopolitical friction that would soon erupt into violence.
The Chicago race riot began on July 27, 1919, and continued through August 3, 1919, as a violent racial conflict between white Americans and black Americans on the South Side of Chicago. The article does not specify commanders or detailed sequences of key moments, but indicates the violence was episodic in nature, unfolding over the week-long period.
The riot resulted in 38 deaths (23 black and 15 white) and 537 injuries, with two-thirds of injuries among black residents and one-third among white residents. Between 1,000 and 2,000 residents, most of them black, lost their homes. Due to its sustained violence and widespread economic impact, the Chicago riot is considered the worst of numerous riots and civil disturbances across the United States during the "Red Summer" of 1919, so named for its racial and labor violence. It was also one of the worst riots in Illinois history.
38 deaths (23 black and 15 white); 537 injuries (approximately two-thirds black and one-third white); 1,000–2,000 residents displaced, most of them black
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