Chicago Race Riots: Revised

by Carl Sandburg

While Illinois did not segregate the races in public accommodations (as southern states did into the 1960s), public beaches in Chicago were clearly segregated. The most tragic result of this segregation was an incident that set off the 1919 Race Riot in Chicago, five days of rioting in which 23 African Americans and 15 whites were killed. On July 27, 1919 a black teenager named Eugene Williams and a few of his friends traveled to Lake Michigan to swim on a hot summer day. They took out a raft between the black beach at 29th street and the white beach at 26th street. A white man threw rocks at the raft, injuring Williams, who could not swim. A police officer at the 26th Street Beach was unwilling to either arrest the man or help Williams, who later died. Carl Sandburg, a reporter at the time for the Chicago Daily News, chronicled the ensuing race riot in The Chicago Race Riots.

Genres: History, Race, Nonfiction, African American, Politics, American History

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Free verse poems of known American writer Carl August Sandburg celebrated American people, geography, and industry; alongside his six-volume biography Abraham Lincoln (1926-1939), his collections of poetry include Smoke and Steel (1920).

This best editor won Pulitzer Prizes. Henry Louis Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_San...

Reviews

[Jessica Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

100 years and we still haven’t learned. Black Lives Matter.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Popsugar 2020 Summer Reading Challenge in the category of "a book about Black history in America". In 1919 Carl Sandburg (yes, that Carl Sandburg) was a newspaper reporter in Chicago. This book is a compilation of several articles he wrote before and after the Chicago Race Riots in 1919. The articles talk about the migration of Black people from the south to Chicago, the labor situation of these people, and the connection of lynching in the south to the migration to the Chicago area. It is interesting to see a contemporary analysis of the situation which is still pertinent today. 3.5 stars

[Kawabummer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written account of the Chicago Race Riots, the post-war racial dynamics and the discrepancies between the north and the south. Recorded and investigated through the eyes of a poet. Great read.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The truth is there ain’t no Negro problem any more than there’s an Irish problem or a Russian or a Polish or a Jewish or any other problem. There is only the human problem. All we demand is the open door. You give us that, and we won’t ask nothin’ more of you.”

Carl Sandburg paints pictures. The cause of the riots was truly heartbreaking. At the same time it was good to learn about the Chicago migration from the South—something I’ve never studied before.

It was interesting to see that among the factory working men, there was no race problem because they were all working side-by-side.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short collection of articles originally published in the Chicago Daily news in 1919. I stumbled across this copy on a family bookshelf which may have been a book from school days - this edition was printed in 1969.
The preface from the ‘69 reprint may have been the most startling damnation - pointing out how little we had learned as a country since 1919. Reading it another 50 (51) years later in 2020, I have to agree. Amidst 2020 BLM protests — “riots” by some trying to create hysteria — it is a disheartening and validating look at the most basic rights our fellow Americans, Black Americans, have been fighting for since emancipation. A telling read through very simple explorations of race issues in 1919 Chicago — employment struggles, labor unions, real estate, northern migration — that I’d recommend to anyone exploring more Black American history.
Worth pointing out that Birth of a Nation was released in 1915 - and some of the quotes pulled from southern newspapers shared within these 1919 articles bring that baseless, barbaric and racist depiction of Black people around that time *right* to the front of the brain. Unlearn. Unlearn. Unlearn.

[Lisa Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, Lipmann preface kind of confusing. Parent review just because it's pretty harsh, especially the section about lynching, but really ties in a ton of different history elements, good "living history" (really, journalism) source for between the wars.

[Steven Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

6 out of 10

[Ollie_le_clodo · Rating 4 out of 5]

French edition (2016, anamosa)

[Elena Câdă · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of news articles written some years back which makes it for an interesting exercise to see the very contemporary analysis and reaction to the migration in Chicago

[Fred Dignazio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting Articles on the Origin of Chicago Race Riots

This is a remarkable account of race relations in the early 20th century written by an eloquent newspaperman, Carl Sandburg. It is based on detailed research, statistics, interviews, and stories about and by individuals. It is very topical today, one hundred years later, in 2019.

[Tamara Tabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing to learn that Carl Sandburg was not only a fantastic poet, but he also was a news reporter who predicted the 1919 Race Riots. Sandburg went into the Black Belt and interviewed residents to understand their ambitions and frustrations.

[Deborah McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every h.s. student in Chicago should read this book. How can we ever bridge the racial divide without understanding the history in our city.

[Joe Brunory · Rating 5 out of 5]

a short collection of newspaper articles by Carl Sandburg before and after the riots of 1919. a cool headed, realistic view of the real problems behind the race issues ninety years ago.

[Jordan Scrivner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poet's man-on-the-street reportage.

[Pato · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book number 9 for me this year.