Our country is no stranger to riots that cause major civil disturbances, which often result in thousands of dollars in damages and mass amounts of both injuries and casualties. Since the end of slavery after the Civil War, race riots found their place in our country's history, and though it has been decades since extreme situations of racial segregation or discrimination have plagued our society, that doesn't mean either one has completely vanished. For decades, the negative attitudes towards minorities outweighed the positive attitudes and the abundance of negative opinions has attributed to race riots all over the country. In the summer of 1919, also known as the Red Summer, more than twenty-five riots occurred making it one of the deadliest summers in history following the war. Although great strides towards racial equality have occurred since the Red Summer, some tension remains and riots, such as the riots that broke out in Ferguson, continue to occur. The Chicago riots of 1919 were deadlier than the Ferguson protests in 2014, because in the participants in Chicago were focused on inflicting substantial violence and brutality against minorities, while participants in Ferguson were focused on fighting for social justice and equal treatment for all races. .
During the Red Summer of 1919, the riots developed into a war between the whites and the blacks during a time when Chicago was plagued with discrimination. After WWI ended there was a climax of the southern emigration of blacks and the return of white veterans looking for jobs and places to live creating racial friction (Williams 78). This friction intensified industrial labor competition and an overgrowing population in urban ghettos resulting in a growing hatred among white towards minorities, specifically African Americans. Whites did what they could to push blacks as much out of their community as possible and blacks tended to avoid areas where their presence could create conflict.
