The Start of Chicago Race Riots | Teen Ink

The Start of Chicago Race Riots

May 31, 2024
By Jadarice018 BRONZE, Chicago, Illinois
Jadarice018 BRONZE, Chicago, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

There are many reasons the Chicago race riots started. This is a riot between blacks and whites that has been happening a lot but not that major until the summer of 1919 which is known as the Red Summer. The three main factors of the Chicago race riots I’m going to be writing about in this essay are racial segregation, housing issues, and political factors.

 


The first reason I’m going to talk about is racial segregation in Chicago. This means that the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life is more than blacks but in this case, African Americans are the most. This played a part in the Chicago race riots because in the early 1900’s and before that African Americans were not able to get an education or anything they wanted to strive to be because of the whites. Blacks were looked at as the bad guys for many years, causing them to get less than whites. One day, a law was passed that they could have the same things as whites as long as they stayed on their side, the whites then got mad.

 


The second topic I’m going to talk about in this essay is housing issues. This means that acute failures in the housing market at a given place and time. This played a huge part in the race riots because, during this period, blacks had one area where they could sleep, play, and or eat which was called the red lining. Even though the blacks had there one area some wanted to go outside of, the whites saw this and then proceeded to shoot and the blacks started shooting back, like a war. The whites were so furious that they then began bombing the blacks' homes leaving them homeless and also now making it a war between the two races.

 


The last reason I decided to talk about to give my readers more information about the Chicago race riots was political factors. Political factors mean the decisions and laws that governments make. This played a huge role in the Chicago race riots because when the whites then went off to fight a war, the blacks were given their jobs in factories. To explain this more when the whites came back they wanted their jobs back from the blacks. One of the men who worked in the factory stood up for what he thought was the right thing to do but others did not think so. The whites just kept getting mad and angry, eventually starting a big war, killing rates had gone up like ten percent in Chicago.

 


In conclusion, the Chicago race riots of 1919, also known as the Red Summer, were fueled by a complex interplay of racial segregation, housing issues, and political factors. These underlying causes led to tragic and violent confrontations between the black and white communities. It is imperative to remember this history and its impact on our society and strive for meaningful change to prevent such events from reoccurring. By acknowledging and addressing these issues, we can move towards a more inclusive and just society.


The author's comments:

Something about me is that no matter how much I wanna give up , I don’t. Something about this piece is that I had wrote it on paper and lost it the day before submission and I had to start all the way over but I did it with no hesitation.


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