The Truth Behind the 1919 Chicago Race Riot The American Vision presents a limited interpretation of the events that erupted the Chicago Race Riots in 1919. The textbook claims the riots were caused by the economic turmoil and job competition created by African Americans. It suggests that laid-off workers and returning soldiers blamed their racist actions on these frustrations. Although the textbook presents some examples of the racial tensions, it only gives simplistic information on the matter and may mislead high school students' understanding of the problem at hand. Returning soldiers from World War I blame African Americans for the job shortages and economic decline in the U.S. Thus, these white soldiers claimed that to be the reason for the racial violence that took place in the summer of 1919. …show more content…
The Black Belt population was created by white property owners to keep colored individuals separated from the ‘white neighborhoods.’ This supports the idea that the racial tensions were not caused by economic competition since African Americans were already kept separate from the housing available to the white population. Additionally, the violence that took place in these communities was caused by the white neighborhoods. From January 1918 to August 1919, multiple bombings occurred on the outskirts of the ‘Black Belt’ area. Many African American homes were destroyed during this period (Doc #1). As a result, two individuals were arrested but not convicted of the bombings that occurred. Here, the racial bias and segregation laws continue to support the white population. Likewise, the American Vision textbook fails to explicitly mention the reasoning behind the white individuals motive in creating violence against African Americans. The riots quickly escalated when both sides began to throw stones at each other at a whites-only beach (AV). This event included the stoning of Eugene