The “Red Summer”
James Weldon Johnson coined the phrase “Red Summer” to describe the wave of racial violence that exploded across the U.S. during the summer and early fall of 1919. There were race riots in twenty-five cities including Chicago, Omaha, Washington, D.C., and Longview, Texas. Johnson investigated the five-day Washington riot, which erupted on July 19, when white servicemen began assaulting black pedestrians in response to sensationalized newspaper reports of black men attacking white women. This is the affidavit of James E. Scott, who was assaulted on a streetcar.
James Weldon Johnson coined the phrase “Red Summer” to describe the wave of racial violence that exploded across the U.S. during the summer and early fall of 1919. There were race riots in twenty-five cities including Chicago, Omaha, Washington, D.C., and Longview, Texas. Johnson investigated the five-day Washington riot, which erupted on July 19, when white servicemen began assaulting black pedestrians in response to sensationalized newspaper reports of black men attacking white women. This is the affidavit of James E. Scott, who was assaulted on a streetcar.