Atlanta Race Riot of 1906: White Supremacy Taken to the Extreme

Becky Dobras

April 4, 2004

September 22, 1906: Twenty-five African-Americans were brutally murdered and about hundred more were wounded in Atlanta, Georgia by an angry rioting crowd of white people. These individuals stormed through city, intentionally harming any black person they came across. What started out as a small disorderly fray eventually turned into the largest race riot Atlanta has ever known. African-Americans were thrown from street cars, stepped on, kicked and shot in cold blood. Atlanta, Georgia, the city previously known for its relatively tolerant views about racial differences, suddenly became a city where fear and terror reigned. This bloody battle was a result of white people taking their notions of white supremacy too far.

Following the Civil War, Atlanta was much like any other Southern city, in which free blacks were trying to make something of their new lives while white people were attempting to maintain the racial superiority that had been commonplace before emancipation. These two conflicting goals often led to tensions between the blacks and whites. In weeks preceding the riot, Atlanta seemed calm and peaceful on the surface; underneath this air of tranquility, though, the tensions between the two races had been mounting for years. Whites in the South feared black domination so much that it engulfed their entire way of thinking. These Southern whites did everything in their power to keep African-Americans in a relegated social position. Official laws supporting segregation, the election of anti-black candidates, newspaper sensationalism about black crimes and unfair arrests of black people were all ways in which the notions of racial superiority were reinforced. Atlantans did not see anything wrong with their behavior; they believed their actions were completely justified.

In the summer of 1906, whether it was because of the accomplished black who seemed capable of overcoming any hurdle presented to him or because of the deviant black who assaulted white women, Atlanta whites felt more threatened by black people than ever before. Either way, whites were afraid of the direction that their relationship with blacks was headed in. The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 was an extreme demonstration of white supremacy. The Atlantans’ feelings of desperation were exasperated by the events that occurred in the months preceding the riot, such as the election of Hoke Smith, the assaults on white women and the newspapers with inflammatory articles describing the attacks.

Actions based on attitudes of white supremacy were not nearly as prevalent immediately following the Civil War. In the decade after the war, federal troops were stationed in the South to maintain order, and a small percentage of African-Americans were able to rise above the ranks and accomplish tasks that gave them a higher status in society. They taught themselves how to read which enabled them to get better respected, higher paying jobs. In a magazine article published in 1906, Ray Stannard Baker, who came to Atlanta to write about the race riot, noted how blacks had been advancing socially and economically for years. They had saved up money, bought their own land and started becoming more independent of whites. Black colleges began opening and enrollment increased every year. Notable black men were hired as professors at these colleges. In Atlanta, about 60 businesses were owned by African-Americans. Atlanta quickly became the center of black intellectual activity. These intellectuals were dedicated to improving the social welfare of blacks and oftentimes became the founders of black organizations, like churches and clubs, throughout the city. More blacks held political office in Atlanta than in any other city in the country. Before the end of Reconstruction, eight southern black men were elected to serve as Congressmen of the United States. 1

As the accomplishments of black people started becoming more well-known, whites started fearing black domination. The lower class whites were terrified that blacks would come to gain a higher status and eventually steal away their coveted work opportunities. Baker claimed that poor whites demonstrated the sharpest racial prejudices and suffered from “passions of race hatred.” When the federal troops left in 1876, Southerners suddenly had full power to assure no more blacks would be elevated above their so-called ‘natural status.’ Maintaining white superiority quickly became the Southerners’ number one priority. After the troops left, free elections in the South became obsolete. Despite the 15th amendment, which gives everyone the right to vote regardless of race, Southern whites were determined to keep black people from the polls. The states implemented literacy and educational tests, annual poll taxes and other qualifications to restrict the types of people voting. When these remedies failed to keep the blacks from voting, white men were called upon to bring arms to the polls- if they blacks refused to leave, the white men were instructed to shoot them. The federal government was apathetic and basically demonstrated a hands-off policy when it came to the states’ restrictions on black people. 2

Not only did they curb voting rights, Southern whites also separated blacks from virtually every aspect of society in order to reassert white power. The Jim Crow laws, as they were termed, denied blacks access to decent paying jobs and segregated them from whites in educational buildings, public transportation, neighborhoods and public facilities. According to a United States Senator from Georgia, legislation in the South was constructed to appear to promote the equality of blacks but contained enough loopholes so that the equality rules never actually had to be implemented. Public schools were off limits to children who had 1/16 or more black blood in them. Blacks had difficulty acquiring land because the promise that all blacks would receive forty acres of land after emancipation was never kept and also because white planters refused to sell to them. On streetcars, blacks had to sit in their assigned section and had to offer their seats to whites when the car got too crowded. The Jim Crow laws were supported by the judicial branch, most notably in the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896), in which racial segregation laws were upheld as constitutional and could continue applying to public facilities. The courts based their segregation decisions on the fact that segregation did not necessarily imply inferiority; they were just meant to maintain the general welfare of society. These segregation laws demonstrated that white people clearly had power of over every aspect of black men’s lives and that the federal government and federal courts supported their decisions. 3

By the summer of 1906, white supremacy was no longer an issue strictly revolving around the lower class whites’ fears of black domination; by this point it was a statewide concern and the gubernatorial election of 1906 demonstrated just how big of an issue it was becoming. The two candidates, Hoke Smith and Clark Howell, both ran ‘Negrophobic’ campaigns to appeal to the concerns of the average white Georgian. The major issue was getting rid of the black vote. Educated black voting blocs were gaining respect from competing political groups; their votes were sought out, while ignorant whites’ votes were ignored. These blocs were succeeding in get black politicians elected to local offices. There was a large appeal to repeal the 15th amendment. According to J.H. Pittman, a member of the Georgia Bar in the late 1800’s, repealing the 15th amendment would guarantee white supremacy and would forever halt amalgamation. 4

Hoke Smith’s ticket was extremely ultra racist as he was the candidate who appealed to the voters demand for black disfranchisement. He felt that Negro suffrage had been a mistake; they were ruining the democratic process. He was dedicated to the “purification of suffrage.” In a campaign speech made in Zebulon, Georgia, Smith stated his desire to add an amendment to the Georgia Constitution to maintain white supremacy. He said that 58 counties in Georgia had a black majority and it would only be a matter of time until they began ruling the whites. Smith reminded his listeners how North Carolina (who had a black majority) had to purge all the black officials elected to office. In other speeches, as reported in the Atlanta Constitution, Smith said his proposal to increase the educational and poll tax requirements would eliminate 95% of black voters. He pleaded with the people to join “in keeping this a white man’s country.” Smith’s platform was heavily endorsed; he won the election by about 35,000 votes. The campaign allowed the issue of white supremacy to be talked about openly and publicly, reemphasizing to the citizens of Georgia that black people had no place in white man’s world and they must be kept subordinate to the whites. 5

A huge problem in the summer months of 1906 was the alleged assaults on white women. Ultimate respect for white women was an essential ingredient in the Southern code of honor. Women were the embodiment of virtue, pure and angelic. Southerners felt that the rapes against white women justified lynchings. At this period of time, a slight insult or minor touching of a white woman could constitute a rape; even whistling or winking were considered derogatory. According to a Georgia law, there could be cases of assault without having even touched the female. All a woman had to do was scream that a black man touched her and the community would send the bloodhounds on anyone who met her descriptions. Policemen never investigated the accusations, just arrested people without question. White men often felt that the courts were too slow in administering justice so they would take matters into their own hands by lynching the blacks. There were several hundred lynchings a year between 1898 and 1908; they thought violence was the only way to teach blacks their place in society. 6

During the summer of 1906, reports on the assaults on white women reached an unprecedented level. Everyday newspapers were filled with outrageous stories about all the dangerous black men that were harming white women. Front page headlines from the Atlanta Evening News raged about the attacks. The headlines were attention grabbing and often extremely inflammatory. Headlines like “Girl’s Bloody Dress Waved to Spur Mob on in Chase of Carolina Negro Fiend” and “Miss Georgia Hembree is the Victim of Robbery and Attempted Assault” and “Negro Brutally Attacks to Ladies at Copenhagen” covered the front page of the newspaper on a daily basis. These articles were filled with stories, oftentimes extremely exaggerated ones, about defenseless white women being stalked, spied on, hit, or sexually violated by ferocious black men. Almost every time, these alleged assaults would result in the white men of the community organizing mobs to literally hunt down the assailant and kill him. On August 25th, Sheriff Nelms of Fulton County stated that these abominations against white women must cease even if it means killing every black within a thousand miles. As the summer progressed, white men seemed to get more and more bloodthirsty in their quests to kill the accused black men. 7

Finally, on September 22, 1906, white people reached the end of their tolerance level when they heard about four assaults on white women in one day. The Atlanta Evening News printed and handed out five extra copies of their newspaper that day; all had huge banner headlines describing the assaults. Lizzie Chaffin found a black man hiding in her bushes; Alma Allen was grabbed by a black man; Mattie Holcombe found a black looking into her windows and Mrs. Frank Arnold was knocked down by a black man who jumped at her. Though none of these seemed to be extreme cases of assault, they were enough to enrage thousands of white men to go on a killing spree throughout the city of Atlanta. 8

Early that evening, men spoke about the assaults on street corners; as the crowd got larger and larger, the demonstration grew more and more violent. By 9 pm, there were 10,000 angry rioters on the street, many of whom began clubbing, beating and stabbing unidentified black people. The crowd started buying guns in massive quantities and shots were fired angrily into crowds of black people. The mob yelled “Kill the niggers!” consistently throughout the attack. They demolished businesses, barbershops and saloons owned by black people. They also attacked many of the city’s street cars by viciously throwing black riders into the street. Any black person seen, even women and children, was chased unrelentlessly through the night. Many blacks fled the city or hid in alleyways to protect their lives; one black man was noted to have fallen to his knees when the crowd approached him and began praying for them to let him go. By 11 pm that night, there were no blacks anywhere in sight; all had fled the horror that filled the city. An article from the Atlanta Constitution stated that the “sidewalks ran red the blood of dead” that night which seems to be an accurate picture of the riot. 9

The terrors continued for a few days. The policemen stood around and did nothing to help the riots either on Saturday or in the days that followed. Sometimes they even joined in on the beatings. Troops were called in and 6000 soldiers patrolled the streets of Atlanta. Sunday was basically free from too many frays due to the troops maintaining order, but Monday the riot started up again. In Brownsville, an affluent black suburb, the residents took up arms to protect themselves, their families and their homes from any more pending danger. The mob marched through the town and a clash ensued between the white intruders and the residents. Then white men brought policemen and troops to the city and a bloody gun battle followed. One black man killed a policeman. Sixty black men were arrested for murder, violence and having guns, though no white men faced the same charges. 10

After the Brownsville incident, pleas about ceasing the fighting started coming from both the black and white segments of the society. The Atlanta Constitution reported white ministers saying the ending of the riot depended solely on blacks – if they stop raping and attacking white women then the riots would cease. Black leaders demanded protection from the mayor, the chief of police and the area troop commander. They wanted compensation for the victims and justice for the rioters. 11

The fighting did eventually stop. Victims were minimally compensated. No serious racial disturbances occurred in the months or years following the riot. Atlanta seemed to had calmed down from the tumultuous summer months of 1906. Unfortunately, though, racial discrimination persisted in Atlanta for forty more years after the riot. Segregation increased, white supremacy seemed unstoppable and vigilantism emerged for the first time. Black political activism died and the KKK reemerged, claiming noble efforts to protect southern life. The riot did nothing to help race relations in Atlanta; in fact, relations seemed to deteriorate even further in the years following the riot. 12

The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 was an illustration of just how fanatical Atlantans were when it came to white superiority. The reasons that white people gave for the riot were even quite possibly fabrications of the truth. First, many of the assault allegations were heavily exaggerated. Women felt just as threatened by black domination as men were. They were pushed into hysteria by the men who were fixated on honor and would often make up the assaults. They would accuse black men of rape without any provocation. One angered black citizen, asserted in a letter that the whole riot had been a conspiracy against black people. He even noted bloodhounds always stopped at white men’s houses first but it would always be the black men who got arrested. The police officers never investigated the accusations; they just arrested whatever black man they could get their hands on. In addition, the courts did not offer much protection from the wrath of white people so blacks were often wrongly incarcerated. 13

Secondly, the newspapers seemed to have played up the attacks to stir up the frustrations of the white people. They tended to call the assaults an “epidemic of rapes,” causing the public to think that the situation was much worse than it actually was. There were even claims that the Atlanta Evening News made their headlines inflammatory for the sole purpose of actually precipitating a race war. Despite that the African-Americans were clearly on the defensive side of the riot, the newspapers placed all the blame on the black people. In the Atlanta Evening News , they called the riot a “holocaust and terror” that was brought on by blacks trying to steal the honor of innocent white women. They even printed a provocative editorial in which the author called African-Americans “black devils.” He warned that the encounters that would take place in the future would be even more damaging than the Atlanta riot if the assaults did not cease. He threatened warfare in which the blacks would be “destroyed, annihilated, and completely vanquished.” These were the kinds of articles that white people woke up and drank their coffee to every day. They were socialized on a daily basis to think just like the man who wrote that editorial. No other way of thinking was acceptable in the South at this time. 14

Thirdly, there are some theories that say Hoke Smith incited the riot himself. He ran for governor on an extremely racist ticket. What better way to get the sympathies of the public than to stir up their angers against black people. Though this was never proven, attention has been drawn to the strange coincidences relating to his election and the riot: the day before the election, the newspapers were filled with the accounts of the assaults. Not surprisingly, he got elected the next day. He also never denounced the riot. 15

The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, whether brought about by legitimate reasons or exaggerated claims, proves that Atlantans were hell-bent on maintaining their superiority against African-Americans. Despite the seemingly progressive race relations in Atlanta before the riot, Atlantans were at their breaking points, ready to explode on the black community. Black domination was their biggest fear and would not stand around to watch it happen. They were resolute in keeping the black people inferior in every way, shape and form. In that summer, their fury and frustrations had risen to an unprecedented level, and I believe this race riot was inevitable. Even if the sensational newspapers had downplayed the four assaults of white women instead of making them such a huge deal, a riot or something to that extent would have taken place at some point in the near future. Southern whites were determined to demonstrate white supremacy, even if it meant war, and the assaults merely gave them the claims and motivations to do so. The riot provided the foundation for the poor race relations in which the entire Southern society was based upon for many decades to follow.