Race Riots

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Prior to the 1960s, rioting (or race riots), consisted of whites burning and destroying black communities. Many in major northern, western and Midwestern cities, where the population of black citizens grew during the great migration. Blacks fled Jim Crow south to seek refuge and find jobs and homes. Competition was fierce as thousands upon thousands of blacks flooded the cities resulting in "white flight."

White people were angry at blacks for taking their jobs and building their own communities. Even white soldiers stationed away from home were furious when they came home to the "change".

This is how race riots started. Whites were unhappy with desegregation in their cities. With subliminal attempts to keep their city segregated, blacks were not allowed in the "white" part of town. Black homes and communities were destroyed and burned by angry white mobs and countless deaths occurred.

Here are a few examples of those race riots:

1921: May 30- June 1. Tulsa, OK.  - Black Wall Street Massacre
1922. May 6, June 9 Kirven, Texas
1923: January 1. Rosewood, FL - Rosewood Massacre
1930: October 12-15 Sainte Genevieve, MO
1931: March Scottsboro, AL
1935: March 19 Harlem, NY - Harlem Riot of 1935
1943: May Mobile, AL
1943: June Los Angeles, CA - Zoot Suit Riot
1943: June 15-16 Beaumont, TX - Beaumont Race Riot of 1943
1943: June 20 Detroit, MI - Detroit Race Riot
1943:August 1 Harlem, NY - Harlem Riot of 1943
1949: August-September Peekskill, NY
1951: July 11-12 Cicero County, IL - Cicero Race Riot
1958: Maxton, NC - Battle of Hayes Pond
1959: February Pearl River County, MS
1960: April Biloxi Beach, MS
1962: October Oxford, MS - Uni of Mississippi
1963: September 30. Oxford, MS - Ole Miss Riot
1963: July 11 Cambridge, MD - Cambridge riot of 1963
1963: May 13 Birmingham, AL - Bombings
1964: July Brooklyn, NY
1964: July 18 Harlem, NY - Harlem Riot of 1964
1964: July 24-26 Rochester, NY - Rochester riot
1964: August Jersey City, NJ
1964: August Paterson, NJ
1964: August Elizabeth, NJ
1964: August Chicago, IL
1964: August 28 Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia 1964 race riot
1965: March 7 Selma, AL - Bloody Sunday
1965: July Springfield, MA
1965: August 11-17 Los Angeles, CA - Watts Riot

(Image: Race Riot in Detroit, 1943)