The+chicago+race+riot-ss



The Chicago race riot happened due to the widespread racial unrest that occured after the war. In Illinois, July 27th - August 3st of 1919, one of the worst out of 25 riots broke loose, leaving over 500 people injured and 38 dead - 15 white and 23 black. The riot started when black men gathered at a whites-only beach, both races started throwing rocks at each other. The fight heated up when the white men threw rocks at a black boy swimming making it so he couldn't make it ashore and he drowned. Fights erupted, leading to police officers having to deploy over 6,000 national guard troops to station themselves across the black belt.