Which phrase best describes the atlanta race riot in 1906?
question 5 options: the riots began due to rumors of african american men attacking white women.
the riots were due to concerned african americans who felt the upper white class was becoming too powerful.
the riots were acts of hate against jewish immigrants.
the riots were caused by african americans who used violence to protest racial inequality.

Atlanta Riot of 1906, major outbreak of violence in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed at least 12 and possibly as many as 25 African Americans in late September 1906. White mobs, inflamed by newspaper reports of black men attacking white women, burned more than 1,000 homes and businesses in the city’s African American neighbourhoods. Contemporary reports of the event suggest that police officers assisted, or at least did not stop, the actions of the mobs.

Although Atlanta was considered a relatively enlightened city in the post-Reconstruction-era South, racial tensions were high in the summer of 1906. Race had become a central issue in a heated campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, which would essentially determine Georgia’s next leader, as the Democratic Party was so dominant in the state in that period.

Clark Howell, the editor of The Atlanta Constitution, and Hoke Smith, the former editor of The Atlanta Journal, were running neck and neck for the nomination when Tom Watson, a prominent figure in local politics, made a deal with Smith. Watson promised to back Smith for the governorship if the candidate agreed to support disfranchisement laws that would make it very difficult for African American citizens to vote. Disfranchisement became a major issue in the campaign, and both candidates emphasized their “support” for white citizens.

In late summer, a series of racially inflammatory newspaper articles—some in papers affiliated with the candidates—began appearing. The articles reported what were almost certainly fictitious incidents of black men attacking and raping white women. At a time when just looking at a white woman could send a black man to jail, those reports incited deep animosity among the city’s whites. During the summer, white citizens called for a law that would allow lynching, while reports of a black crime wave worried wealthy white Atlanta citizens.

Tensions came to a head on the evening of September 22, 1906, when white mobs descended on the Brownsville district of Atlanta, set buildings ablaze, and savagely and randomly beat black men. An illustration on the front page of the French newspaper Le Petit Parisien from October 1906 depicted African Americans running away from mobs of angry whites.

Although tensions eventually subsided, Atlanta’s African American community was economically decimated. It took years for the thriving black neighbourhoods to be rebuilt and the businesses reestablished.

LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:

Destruction of a rolling mill and a Confederate ordnance train on the Georgia Central Railroad during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.

Atlanta

Atlanta, city, capital (1868) of Georgia, U.S., and seat (1853) of Fulton county (but also partly in DeKalb county). It lies in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern part of the state, just southeast of the Chattahoochee River. Atlanta is Georgia’s largest city and the principal…

President-elect Barack Obama waving to the crowd at a massive election night rally in Chicago's Grant Park on Nov. 4, 2008. With him are (from left) his daughters, Sasha and Malia, and his wife, Michelle.

African Americans

African Americans, one of the largest of the many ethnic groups in the United States. African Americans are mainly of African ancestry, but many have nonblack ancestors as well.…

“The First Vote," illustration from Harper's Weekly, Nov. 16, 1867, showing African American men, their attire indicative of their professions, waiting in line for their turn to vote.

Reconstruction

Reconstruction, in U.S. history, the period (1865–77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had…

Democratic Party pin, date unknown.

Democratic Party

Democratic Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it…

EXTERNAL WEBSITES

ARTICLE HISTORY

ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS

FEEDBACK

Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article!

Contact our editors with your feedback.

The correct answer is A) The riots began due to rumors of African American men attacking white women.

its true: ) hope this

answer; /// i believe that they became successful farmers; ///////////////