Harlem Riot of 1943
| Harlem riot of 1943 | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 1–2, 1943 |
| Location | Harlem, New York City |
| Casualties | |
| Death(s) | 6 |
| Arrested | 600 |
On August 1 and 2 of 1943, a race riot took place in Harlem, New York City, after a white police officer, James Collins, shot and wounded Robert Bandy, an African American soldier who witnessed a woman's arrest for disorderly conduct and sought to have her released. Bandy reportedly hit the officer, and was shot while trying to flee from the scene. A crowd of about 3,000 people gathered around Bandy and the officer as they attempted to enter a hospital for treatment, when someone in the crowd incorrectly reported that Bandy had been killed. A riot ensued that lasted for two days and led to six deaths, nearly 600 arrests, vandalism, theft, property destruction and monetary damages. New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia ultimately restored order in the borough on August 2 with the recruitment of several thousand officers and volunteer forces to contain the rioters.
The underlying causes of the riot stemmed from a disparity between the values of American democracy and the conditions of black citizens, strained and exemplified by World War II. Discriminatory practices in employment and city services created tension among African Americans as they sought to reject their state of living. Segregated in the Army, Bandy came to represent black soldiers, and Collins came to represent white suppression to Harlemites. Culturally, the riot inspired the "theatrical climax" of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, winner of the 1953 National Book Award, and artist William Johnson's representation of the "oppressed and debased community" in Moon Over Harlem.
On Sunday, August 1, 1943, a white policeman attempted to arrest an African American woman for disturbing the peace in the lobby of the Braddock Hotel. The hotel, which once hosted show business celebrities in the 1920s, had become a location known for prostitution by the 1940s. The Army designated the area as a "raided premise", and a policeman was stationed in the lobby to prevent further crime.
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