Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the Reshaping of American Race Relations

by David Fort Godshalk

In 1906 Atlanta, after a summer of inflammatory headlines and accusations of black-on-white sexual assaults, armed white mobs attacked African Americans, resulting in at least twenty-five black fatalities. Atlanta's black residents fought back and repeatedly defended their neighborhoods from white raids. Placing this four-day riot in a broader narrative of twentieth-century race relations in Atlanta, in the South, and in the United States, David Fort Godshalk examines the riot's origins and how memories of this cataclysmic event shaped black and white social and political life for decades to come.

Nationally, the riot radicalized many civil rights leaders, encouraging W. E. B. Du Bois's confrontationist stance and diminishing the accommodationist voice of Booker T. Washington. In Atlanta, fears of continued disorder prompted white civic leaders to seek dialogue with black elites, establishing a rare biracial tradition that convinced mainstream northern whites that racial reconciliation was possible in the South without national intervention. Paired with black fears of renewed violence, however, this interracial cooperation exacerbated black social divisions and repeatedly undermined black social justice movements, leaving the city among the most segregated and socially stratified in the nation. Analyzing the interwoven struggles of men and women, blacks and whites, social outcasts and national powerbrokers, Godshalk illuminates the possibilities and limits of racial understanding and social change in twentieth-century America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2005

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Riot of 1906 that the city of Atlanta experienced and lived through helped shape the city today. There were many different causes to why the Riot happened. In the early 1900's Georgia's state legislature wrote a law that basically summed up African Americans either had to be employed or face jail time. This law also provided that the landowner, generally a white man, could put a claim on his tenant's labor, force tenants to remain on their land, or even sell the tenant to another farmer. The ever present fear of lynching and white violence along the Cotton Belt were enough to diminish black protest.
Another cause of the riot was the changing role of women, specifically them entering the work force. By 1910 18% of white women were working outside of the home. By 1920 20% of the working white women were single and living on their own. That growing number of women became a visible presence in Atlanta and came to represent the broader threats to white male authority. The white man's biggest fear is a black man sexually assaulting a white woman. The newspapers thrived on these stories, which almost became like a match to the riot. Reporters were known to exaggerate the attempted assaults and played on white prejudices in their articles. White editors completely ignored the stories of white men doing the same crimes.
The true catalyst of the riots were interracial rivalry between different white men competing for political power and status. These were mainly white men of every economical class. White residents took to the streets with every weapon imagined -shotguns, revolvers, sticks, rocks, anything that could be ripped off a building were used against black residents, black owned properties and black businesses.
The Police Department was a sad force that night, and did not come to the black residents' calls of help. The department arrested only 40 men that night, about 1% of the mob. The number of deaths may never be known for the violence of that night. Many of the black victims'bodies were removed during the night to ensure that they would receive a proper burials. The Justice System failed the black residents' even more, post riot. The local judges had no problem voicing that they were colorblind, like Lady Justice, but adhered to the normal practice of discriminating against black defendants.
The effects of the Riot were felt for decades, possibly today. The KKK grew tremendously after the Riot, having support of the majority of the residents of Atlanta. White businesses were also supporters of the KKK.
One positive effect of the Riot was the elites of both races came together and still do so today on issues. Atlanta also did really well at segregating the schools. The city was able to transition non violent. White civic leaders remained ready to show that Atlanta was a beacon of racial progress.
The Riot was most significant because it wasn't one issue. The every day struggles of the residents of Atlanta were the cause of this riot.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really excellent book.