1919 – Red Summer Racial Tensions Begin in Chicago

Although the Red Summer is more broadly associated with events later in 1919, June 4 marked early racial tensions in Chicago, where rumors and labor unrest began to turn into public confrontations. African American veterans returning from World War I sought jobs and equality but were met with hostility from white workers fearing job competition. On June 4, small confrontations in Chicago\’s South Side neighborhoods foreshadowed the deadly July race riots. This early violence was a spark in a season of over 25 race riots across the country, most notably in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Elaine, Arkansas. These eruptions revealed the fragile social fabric of a postwar America and emphasized the struggle for civil rights, economic opportunity, and safety in northern cities—where many African Americans had migrated during the Great Migration.