African Americans willingness to avoid conflict vanished; however, when a young black bather was stoned by white onlookers after drifting into a notoriously white area of the beach. The African American boy subsequently died from his injuries, but police refused to arrest the white man who initially threw the stones, igniting a race war between the whites and blacks of Chicago. Participants of the Chicago race riots, on both sides, (white and black), took to the streets ready for violence, and anything in between. .
White gangs would sit behind street corners waiting for anyone who wasn't white to walk by and once someone did, the gang members would viciously assault their prey. Gang members, as well as angry individuals not specifically associated gangs, would brutally attack African Americans using their fists, wooden clubs, wrenches, or pipes (Tuttle 37). The riots embodied merciless, brutal violence towards members of the opposite race. Manny incidents of "direct, personal and brutal struggle" occurred between participants (Williams 75). Greatly outnumbering casualties "from gunshots" were violent "death[s] by beating" which reflects just how personal these riots were the participants and community as a whole (Williams 75). This race war, considered the worst of the riots that took place during the Red Summer, lasted almost a week and resulted in thirty-eight casualties, hundreds of injures and thousands left homeless (Hudson 53). .
During the Chicago riots local law enforcement took on the responsibility of handling the violence that was swallowing the Chicago area; however, the police let their biased, ill-favored opinions of African Americans influence their behavior (Tuttle 34). Police officers arrested "twice as many blacks as whites and they were considered biased in their distribution of justice" (Ballard 235). In certain districts where "rioters staged their battles," white policemen were "criticized for arresting only blacks" that participated in the violent activities, often letting the white aggressors go free without punishment (Williams 88).
