Charleston Race Riot of 1919
By
John C Abercrombie
This is day 7 of 28 and the post is on the Charleston, South Carolina Race Riot of 1919. As a resident of South Carolina, born, raised and educated in the educational system of the state, You begin to wonder why after many decades this information is largely unknown.
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1919 became known as the Red Summer because of the carnage and spilled blood during race riots in America. Blacks who had volunteered or were drafted into service believed they had demonstrated the will and ability to defend the country and deserved full rights as citizens. This was counter to the prevailing racial attitudes of Whites that nothing had changed.
During the period of February and October of 1919 there were more than three dozen racially riots across the United States resulting in scores of Blacks killed and lynched. This is more than fifty years after the end of slavery and the South pledging to grant rights of citizenship to Blacks.
Today it may be difficult for some to understand the depths of racial animosity in America, but in an earlier post on the Harlem Hellfighters, the 369th stationed at Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the mayor wrote the War department saying that the city would do nothing to protect those dedicated servicemen. A unit that ended up fighting longer than any other unit during World War I.
After a pledge by General JJ Pershing that all troops would fight under one flag, ours, he farmed out the Black troops to the French. The only problem is that they excelled in war!
Although they were one of the most decorated during the war, it highly offended the White American soldiers who were highly critical of the French for speaking highly of the Black American troops.
Their participation in this international conflict opened doors to new rights and forms of civic engagement, which awakened new motivations for public discourse about the state of race relations in America. That discourse was welcomed by many, but large numbers of White Americans, in the Southern states and beyond, were openly hostile to any disruption the racial status quo of “Jim Crow” segregation
World War I saw activity centered around the Navy Yard along the banks of the Cooper River. In the spring of 1917 it became headquarters of the United States Sixth Naval District and there was rapid population increase made up of sailors and construction workers. There was also a Naval training camp. Thousands of sailors passed through Charleston returning from months at sea.
In addition to sailors, there were populations of local soldiers and marines stationed in what is known as Charleston Neck. Most used taxies or government buses when they were granted leave. It should also be noted that even in 1919 that Charleston was a dry (no alcohol) city. South Carolina prohibited the sale of alcohol in 1916, before it became prohibited by the eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in 1920.
Charleston had a red-light district. With the expected influx of soldiers and sailors the Federal government pressured Charleston to break up the area of brothels and speakeasies and provide neighborhoods with more wholesome entertainment. While that was mostly done stories of the neighborhoods racy reputation persisted among the young servicemen.
Charleston had a population of 52% Black; however, the percentage began to decline with the age known as the Great Migration while at the same time the Charleston Navy Yard was ramping up its operations and bring in additional personnel.
On Saturday, May 10, 1919, the events that participated in the action that overwhelmed the city were put in motion
The initial reports in the Charleston newspapers, published in first 48 hours contained rumors, inaccuracies, and some garbled statements that reflect the hurried work of reporters and pressroom typographers.
These shortcomings reflect the journalistic pitfalls inherent to the business of covering breaking news. Factual clarity is often difficult, if not impossible, in the early hours of a big, breaking story with lots of moving parts. These inaccuracies then become part of the mythological history that is passed on.
To exacerbate the confusion, these flawed and hurried local reports were then communicated to other cities via telegraphic wire, and subsequently repeated and even exaggerated by other newspapers across the nation.
We then need to digest and interpret all of these newspaper reports with a measure of caution, especially since they were produced during an era of ingrained racial discrimination. In recent years, some historians looking back at these newspaper accounts have repeated some of the inaccuracies and rumors. Several writers have also made good use of the clarifying facts found in the U.S. Navy’s lengthy report of its investigation into the riot of 1919, but confusion about this event continues to linger.
There are several versions of the cause of the riot, but it seems that the most likely scenario is that the young White sailors paid a Black man to purchase alcohol in this dry state. He did not return in the time allotted and the riot started.
In the official Navy version a Black citizen is alleged to have “jostled through two bluejackets” as they passed on the sidewalk. The sailors complained out loud, and the Black citizen reportedly “hurled epithets at the two White men” and kept walking. The sailors began following him, joined by other White sailors and a few civilians. Words were exchanged, threats were made, and tempers flared. The Black man allegedly threw a brick at the White crowd, and the sailors chased him down an alley way. The chronology of the subsequent events is a bit scrambled in the surviving records, but the small sidewalk scene appears to have caught the attention of more nearby sailors who started rushing to the scene to discover the story behind the raised voices. After more verbal taunting and rock throwing, an unidentified Black man emerged with a pistol and fired into the air. The frightened
White crowd scattered, but their anger did not dissipate.
Meanwhile, rumors were spreading through the neighborhood that a Black man had shot a sailor. This news incited a wave of anger that inspired a rush of people away from the bustling nightlife along King and Market Streets towards the scene of the alleged incident. Sailors are alleged to have gone into a pool room and armed themselves with pool cues and billiard balls. After witnessing this act of theft, the Black patrons already in pool hall “armed themselves in the same way” and ran out to join the raucous crowd in the street.
Nearby was a recreation area for tourists which was an indoor rifle range. Sailors took at least eighteen. rifles and pistols along with ammunition and began firing indiscriminately into the Black neighborhood.
The police found a Black man bleeding, they searched him and found no evidence that he had any gun on him. They then put him in a police wagon for transport to a hospital.
The Charleston papers reported “hundreds of sailors, some soldiers and civilians had amassed a mob too large to be controlled by the police. It is reported that in a few minutes the mob estimated at 2,000 shouted ‘Get the Negroes.’ And other similar words.
These sailors commandeered a streetcar after one of the sailors jumped on top and disconnected the electrical connector. The sailors then took a Black man from the car, beat him before shooting him down. They stopped a taxi, took a black man out beat and robbed him. They took the taxi on a joyride. Another group of sailors took another Black man frum a streetcar, threw him to the sidewalk and shot him.
The mob was out of hand and fired shots into a shoe repair shop owned by a Black man, they shot a thirteen-year old apprentice who worked and lived there. He was paralyzed from the waist down and never walked again, the White sailors then continued searching for Blacks.
Much had been done to quell the violence by Marines brought to the scene, but again we see the lack of prejudice on their part. In one instance a Black man was running home and the Marines shot him for failing to stop. Although he stopped the Marines were enraged and smashed his head with rifle butts, stabbed him in the leg with a bayonet.
As in other cases that persist to this day, we see the volatility of tensions being held in America. History does not report these cases because frankly it is embarrassing to people who may have relatives or themselves been involved in this type of action or thinking.
As an advanced society it is time that we recognize the need for knowledge of the events. It is time to switch from a society of blame to one of healing. Discussions will not be easy or comfortable, but they are inevitable to resolution of the problem.
We recognize the role of knowledge in our medical fields, we understand that a lack of acknowledgement does not solve cancer or other devastating conditions. We recognize the need for surgical or other procedures to eradicate it, but we resume the mentality of cave people when it comes to solving the biggest problem affecting the future of this great country.
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The Charleston Race Riot of 1919
Damon L. Fordham, history professor at Charleston SC’s Virginia College, speaks on the little known race riot that took place in Charleston SC on May 10, 1919, from his book “True Stories of Black South Carolina.” Filmed in Mt. Pleasant, SC on December 19, 2014.
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Erasing America: Losing Our Future by Destroying Our Past
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Finally, here is the fun, easy-to-use guide that African Americans have been waiting for since Alex Haley published Roots more than twenty-five years ago. Written by the leading African American professional genealogist in the United States who teaches and lectures widely, Black Roots highlights some of the special problems, solutions, and sources unique to African Americans. Based on solid genealogical principles and designed for those who have little or no experience researching their family’s past, but valuable to any genealogist, this book explains everything you need to get started, including: where to search close to home, where to write for records, how to make the best use of libraries and the Internet, and how to organize research, analyze historical documents, and write the family history.
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We Return Fighting: Red Summer Remembered – Saje Mathieu and Cameron McWhirter
Many African American soldiers returned from WWI with a newfound sense of pride and determination for equality, but home was still plagued by racial violence, heightened during the “Red Summer” of 1919. Join Dr. Saje Mathieu, author of the upcoming The Glory of Their Deeds: A Global History of Black Soldiers and the Great War Era, and Cameron McWhirter, author of Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America, as they critically examine the racial, cultural and political legacies of the Red Summer.
Presented in partnership with the National Archives at Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Black History Study Group.
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Zoot Suitf the American Mosaic) Riots
Although the “zoot suit” had earlier been a black youth fashion trend identified with jazz culture, by the 1940s, the zoot suit was adopted by Mexican American teenagers in wartime Los Angeles, who wore it as their unofficial “uniform” as an act of rebellion and to establish their cultural identity. For a week in June of 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots, instigated by Anglo-American servicemen and condoned by the Los Angeles police, terrorized the Mexican American community. The events were an ugly testament to the climate of racial tension and resentment in Los Angeles—and after similar riots began across the nation, it became apparent how endemic the problem was. This book traces these important historic events and their subsequent cultural and political influences on the Mexican American experience, especially the activist and reform efforts designed to prevent similar future injustices.
General readers will gain an understanding of the challenges facing the Mexican American community in wartime Los Angeles, grasp the racial and cultural resistance of the larger Anglo-American society of the time, and see how the blatant injustices of the Sleepy Lagoon trial and the Zoot Suit Riots served to galvanize Latinos and others to fight back. Those conducting in-depth research will appreciate having access to original materials sourced from Federal and state archives as well as newspapers and other repositories of information provided in the book
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Time to throw down
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Hidden History Uncovered: 100th Anniversary of Charleston Race Riot
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In 1972, the United States was embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and the USS Kitty Hawk was headed to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Its five thousand men, cooped up for the longest at-sea tour of the war, rioted–or, as Troubled Water suggests, mutinied. Disturbingly, the lines were drawn racially, black against white. By the time order was restored, careers were in tatters. Although the incident became a turning point for race relations in the Navy, this story remained buried within U.S. Navy archives for decades.
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White Supremacy: America’s Roots | Luther Young | TEDxOhioStateUniversity
Luther Young is a Sociology Ph.D. student studying the interconnectedness of various forms of oppression by virtue of their shared foundation in white supremacy, which requires all of us to talk about race, especially whiteness, and recognize its pervasive effects in order to eliminate the “-isms” from our society.
Luther Young, Jr. (he/him) is an artist, public theologian, and social justice advocate. Luther is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at The Ohio State University who studies the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and religion. In particular, his current research investigates the causes and effects of homophobia in predominantly black churches. In addition to his research, Luther is an ordained minister, youth advocate, and author of children’s religious materials. He sits on the board of directors for two international faith-based LGBTQ+ organizations and is involved with various councils, committees, and community organizations dedicated to anti-racism, justice, and equity. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
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The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
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In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of 20 to 30 enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.
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White Supremacy: Same Dog, Same Tricks-Time to Change the Training | Russell Ellis | TEDxSUNYGeneseo
Russell Ellis was raised in the mountains of North Carolina where racism was “so casual it was culture”. Now he is a “reformed racist” who aims to teach other white people how to deconstruct their own racism. Listen to this powerful speech in which he talks about his childhood, the cycle of white supremacy, and what white people can do to “BREAK THE CYCLE”! Russell Ellis was raised in the mountains of North Carolina where racism was “so casual it was culture”. Now he is a “reformed racist” who aims to teach other white people how to deconstruct their own racism. Listen to this powerful speech in which he talks about his childhood, the cycle of white supremacy and what white people can do to “BREAK THE CYCLE”! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
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If you believe the statement that you must learn from history or you are destined to repeat it, why do we hide the facts that exist and pretend that if people don’t know about it that there are no lessons to be learned, that the harm inflicted does not exist and others ought to just suck it up?
If you were the one effected by these events, would you be so forgiving when you look at the steps taken to ensure that you never know about their wrongdoing?