The Atlanta Riot

In 1902, a historian wrote: "There has never been a race riot in Atlanta. The white man
and the negro have lived together in this city more peacefully and in better spirit than in any
other city, in either the North or South." For many whites as well as black, Atlanta seemed to be
the least likely place for a race riot at the turn of the century. Atlanta was a model city of the
new South. Its economy was booming. Black business were springing up. There were jobs for
working men and women. At the center of its cultural life were the six black colleges. The
colleges, and the churches, provided much of the intellectual leadership for the black
community. The dominating figure was the aristocratic scholar Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois of Atlanta
University. African-American women were also quite active in Atlanta. Many joined women's
clubs, most of which were affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women, the
dominant black women's organization in America. Women took it upon themselves to provide
community services to poor blacks, and to instill in them middle class standards and values. The
men's organizations invested their energy into building social and fraternal organizations that
worked for community betterment. But despite the accomplishments of the black community,
Atlanta remained one of the most segregated cities in the South. Race relations, always tense
beneath the surface, seriously deteriorated in 1905 and 1906. A Thomas Dixon play called "The
Clansman" glorified the Ku Klux Klan and degraded blacks, exacerbating racial tensions in
1905. Racial hostility was intensified the next year during a race-baiting political campaign for
governor. The local press contributed to the climate by publishing a number of articles claiming
that black men had sexually assaulted white women. Almost all of the reports were false. By
September, many felt that a race riot would soon explode. On Saturday, September 22, white
crowds along Decatur Street, many of them drunk and inflamed by the headlines, began to
gather. Someone shouted, "Kill the ," and soon the cry was running along the crowded
streets. Some 10,000 men and boys in the mob began to search for African Americans.
Whenever the whites would see one, someone would cry, "There is one of the black fiends";
minutes later, the "fiend" would be dead or beaten senseless. Among the many victims, a
disabled man was chased down and beaten to death. The mob rampaged for two days before the
militia restored order. Officially, 25 blacks and one white died. Unofficially, over 100 may have
died. After the riots whites tried to be somewhat conciliatory, winning the praise of Booker T.
Washington. But the fact that a riot had occurred in a city that he had described as a model for
racial harmony weakened his moral authority.