The Great Migration: A significant movement of poor blacks and whites to northern cities like St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
Positive outcomes: economic opportunities, escape from strict racial segregation, and voting rights.
Cultural changes: emergence of blues and jazz music, revolutionizing music, culture, and poetry.
Racial tensions: increased due to demographic shifts as black southerners moved into northern cities.
Workplace Tensions
Corporations paying black workers significantly less than white workers fueled racial tensions.
Black workers resented lower wages (e.g., 50% less for the same job).
White workers felt threatened by the possibility of being replaced by cheaper black labor.
This dynamic undermined worker collaboration and solidarity.
Segregation in Northern Cities
Northern cities were already ethnically and economically stratified.
Segregation maintained through:
Neighborhood covenants: agreements preventing the sale of houses to black or Jewish individuals.
Redlining: Banks refusing to provide loans outside of black areas.
Real estate industry practices that built racial barriers.
Legacy: High rates of residential segregation still exist in Northern cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis in 2025.
Integrated Cities: Southern cities like Houston, Dallas, Nashville, and Atlanta are more integrated due to post-World War II developments such as air conditioning and interstate highway systems.
Racial Violence
Tensions: Economic fears and massive housing shortages led to an explosive situation.
East St. Louis Race War (1917): A significant outbreak of racial violence.
East St. Louis: A major industrial town with a growing black population during World War I.
Tensions: Workplace and housing tensions created a powder keg environment.
Economic Context of 1917
US Entry into World War I: The federal government spent heavily on war efforts, leading to economic boom and debt.
Inflation: Increased government spending caused inflation.
Workers Squeezed: Inflation reduced the real value of wages, causing hardship.
Workers Demanding Raises: Workers sought wage increases to cope with rising living costs.
Corporate Resistance: Corporations refused to raise wages despite wartime profits.
Labor Strikes and Scabs
Strikes: Workers withheld their labor, demanding higher wages.
Unions: Organizations formed to force corporations to negotiate.
Corporation Response: Hiring replacement workers (scabs) to undermine strikes.
Scabs: Derogatory term for workers crossing picket lines.
Etymology: Derived from the idea of a scab healing a wound, implying strikebreakers were undermining worker solidarity.
Divide and Conquer: Corporations strategically hired scabs from different racial and ethnic backgrounds to break worker solidarity.
Example: Hiring Italian Americans to replace striking Irish American workers.
East St. Louis Specifics
Aluminum Factory Strike: Workers went on strike, and the company hired black and Italian American laborers as strikebreakers.
Increased Racial Tensions: Scabs faced hostility and racial slurs.
Newspaper煽動: The media fueled racial antagonism, creating a tense environment.
Summer of 1917: The heat and long days exacerbated tensions.
Rumors of a Race War: The community was on edge due to ongoing rumors and media incitement.
The East St. Louis Massacre
Trigger: A car with white men shooting into the black section of town.
Retaliation: Black residents mistook a car with two white police officers for the earlier attackers and killed them.
Outbreak of Violence: News of the police officers' deaths led to widespread violence.
Police Involvement: White police officers provided guns to the mob, who attacked the black section of town.
Brutality: Buildings were set on fire, and fleeing residents were gunned down; a toddler was thrown back into a burning building.
National Guard Intervention: The governor of Illinois called in the National Guard to restore order after two days of violence.
Casualties: Over 40 black people and approximately a dozen white people were killed.
Escape Route: Black residents fled across the railroad bridge into St. Louis to escape the violence.
Spectators: People in St. Louis watched East St. Louis burn from the riverfront.
Post-War Economic Disasters
Contract Cancellations: The federal government canceled wartime contracts, causing economic distress.
Unemployment: Skyrocketed in 1919 due to production cuts and layoffs.
Wage Cuts: Wages were reduced, further angering workers.
Red Summer (1919): Marked by worker strikes, clashes with police and the army, and widespread violence.
Inflation: Continued despite economic decline, creating a terrible situation.
Scapegoating: Black workers were blamed for economic problems.
Race Riots: 27 race riots occurred in northern cities in 1919, including Chicago, Detroit, and Washington D.C.
Tulsa Race Massacre
Tulsa, Oklahoma (1921): A boom town due to oil discovery, experiencing rapid growth and demographic tensions.
Incident: A young black man was accused of touching a white woman in an elevator.
Violence: The black section of town was attacked and set ablaze.
Historical Cover-Up: Initially, the severity of the massacre was downplayed.
Truth Commission: The state of Oklahoma opened an investigation in the 1990s, uncovering that over 300 black people were killed.
Ongoing Excavations: Current archaeological efforts are underway to recover and document the remains of massacre victims.
Modern Ku Klux Klan
Emergence: A new Ku Klux Klan emerged after World War I, distinct from the Reconstruction-era Klan.
Scope: Broader in scope, targeting immigrants, Catholics, and Jews, in addition to black people.
Membership: Grew to millions, with significant presence in the Midwest (e.g., Indiana).
Political Power: Controlled 17 state legislatures, with the governor of Texas being a member.
Reasons for Emergence:
Demographic Shifts: The Great Migration contributed to racial tensions.