Atlanta race riot

The Atlanta race riot of 1906 was a racist pogrom in Atlanta, Georgia (United States), which began the evening of September 22 and lasted until September 24, 1906. It was characterized at the time by Le Petit Journal and other media outlets as a "racial massacre of negroes". The death toll of the conflict is to this day unknown and disputed, but "officially" at least 25 African Americans along with two confirmed European Americans; Unofficial reports ranged from 10 -100 African Americans and 2 European Americans were killed during the riots. According to the Atlanta History Center, some African Americans were hanged from lamposts during the actual riot. The main cause of the race riot was newspaper-publicized rapes of four white women in separate incidents, allegedly by African American men.

Atlanta considered itself to be a prime example of how whites and blacks could live together in racial harmony; however, with the end of the American Civil War, an increased tension between black and white wage-workers began. As Atlanta became known as the "rail hub" of the South, workers from all over the country began to flood the city. This resulted in a drastic increase in both the African-American population (9,000 in 1880 to 35,000 in 1900) and the White population as individuals sought prosperous economic opportunities. With this influx of individuals and the subsequent increase in the demand for jobs, race relations in Atlanta became increasingly strained. These tensions were further exacerbated by increasing rights for blacks, which included the right to vote. With these increased rights, African Americans began entering the realm of politics, establishing businesses and gaining notoriety as a stratifying social class in the eyes of the white population. These newly acquired African-American rights and status brought increased competition between blacks and whites for jobs and heightened class distinctions.

These tensions came to a boil with the gubernatorial election of 1906 in which M. Hoke Smith and Clark Howell competed for the Democratic nomination. Both candidates were looking to find ways to disenfranchise black voters because they felt that the black vote could throw the election to the other candidate. Hoke Smith was a former publisher of the Atlanta Journal and Clark Howell was the editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Both candidates used their influence to incite white voters and help spread the fear that whites may not be able to maintain the current social order. These papers and others attacked saloons and bars that were run and frequented by black citizens. These "dives", as whites called them, were said to have nude pictures of women, some of whom were white. The Atlanta Georgian and the Atlanta News publicized police reports of white women allegedly sexually molested and raped by black men.

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