Isabel Gollob
Hist. 3090
3/25/06
Religious Influence during the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
The1906 Atlanta race riot was a terrible
event that shook the Southern states and forced the people to realize that
things could not stay as they were and that drastic changes were needed. Even before the riot religious leaders like
Reverend Proctor were speaking of the racial tension across the South and
advocating actions that would change the direction and actions of the black
people. Many ministers before and after the
riot addressed the issues cited in newspapers and stated by prominent white
leaders and came up with ideas and plans to stop racial violence. Yet racial tensions still increased and
eventually the events climaxed into what we know remember as a terrible day in
our history books. What influence did
the religious leaders and organizations of the time actually have on the racial
war taking place and what solutions did they bring to the aftermath of the
event? In a place and time of much fear
and hatred religion played a dominant role in shaping and unifying two
different races of people.
In the South racial tension between blacks
and whites was in the process of increasing dramatically. Segregation was the agenda and with much
disagreement and separation between the races tension continued to increase
across the Southern States. Newspapers
quoted the headlines “Negro Attacks Mrs. Hembree” and “Negro Is Shot by Woman
He Attacked” which only intensified the social unrest between white and black
men and women. The newspapers continued
to instill even more anger by publishing story after story of Negro men
attacking innocent white women. Finally
on September 22nd 1906
in Atlanta, Georgia
the social unrest escalated into a riot, lead by a mob of white men, who began
killing blacks caught in the street, on the street cars, in neighboring stores,
and in the surrounding areas. Once the
chaos and intensity of the event passed, steps to reconstruct the city to help
eliminate crime and violence followed.
Both before and after the riot religious leaders of the time had been
addressing and defending their race and the reasons behind the increase in
crime among black men and women. Men
like Reverend Proctor argued that not all blacks were the same and made
suggestions to help improve the behavior and moral standards of the crime
ridden class of blacks. This was just
the beginning of the battle because it would take much time and debate before
white supremacists would acknowledge the differences in class between the
different types of black men and women.
Before the events that took place in
September much debate had taken place over the attacks of black men against
white women and the increasing racial tension.
Many whites felt that the black population was a menace and lumped most
blacks together as being unintelligent and animal like in behavior. Black Baptists in Atlanta
spent time defending their race and made statements bringing attention to the
differences between “Nero preachers, teachers and editors” versus the “vicious
rounders, loafers and grossly ignorant” black population. Their argument was that not all blacks are
uneducated and determents to society and thus they should not all be treated in
that manner. Reverend Proctor argued
that there were immense differences between the “educated, property-holding or
church-going element of the colored race” and “the worthless irresponsible
vagabond” that was terrorizing white women and causing chaos.[1] Proctor
was insisting that there were differences between the classes of black men and
women. Not all blacks were the same;
some were more intelligent and involved in society, while others were criminals
that needed to be helped. Reverend
Proctor in a newspaper article entitled “The Dives Must Go” again addresses the
issue of having different classes of blacks in the system. He again states that “we have among us,
through no fault of our own, a surplus of weaker elements.”[2] In this
statement Proctor is referring to the blacks that are weak and unable to resist
the attraction of evil and criminal activity.
He believes that they fall prey to the devises of evil and become
criminals unintentionally. Proctor felt
that the weaker class of black men and women needed to be helped and the
temptations needed to be removed.
Whites continued to blame all blacks for the
criminal activity taking place in the cities of the South. This attitude forced the elite black people
to spend much time and effort defending themselves and their race. Did blacks really stand up for themselves in
the face of much persecution? The Atlanta
riot was a terrible event but the black races actions gave the dominant white
race no right to attack blacks freely with no responsibility for their actions.
Even after the event itself black religious leaders were apologizing for the
actions of their people. In one
newspaper article from October the Southwestern Christian Advocate located in
New Orleans replied to the violence seen in Atlanta by saying that “first of
all our soul is deeply moved and brought to unutterable grief and shame that twelve women [] should
have ben attacked.”[3] This response by a colored press indicates
that instead of speaking out in anger against the unjustified actions of the
white mobs, the black religious leaders use this opportunity to apologize for
the actions of a few of their own race making them appear weak and suppressed. Minister White from Augusta
“argued that segregation and racial violence robbed black men of their manhood”
and he believed they should stand up if they are discontent with conditions
around them.[4] Even with a strong statement like this from
White many blacks sat back and continued to apologize for the mistakes of their
race. While the prominent white leaders
were making statements of outrage against the black criminal, the black leaders
were defending their race and addressing the causes of the problem and
completely avoiding confrontation with white supremacy.
Even
after the event itself white religious leaders were still focused on the actions
of the black race and not the shameful actions of their own people. The Western Christian Advocate of Cincinnati
made a statement in a newspaper less than a month after the event saying that
“We must not, while condemning the lawlessness of the mob, blind ourselves to
the awful conditions of society in Atlanta
when eleven assaults on white women by negroes had been committed.”[5] In
this statement it is clear that although the white races behavior was wrong,
the focus should be on the evil behavior of the black race. These kinds of statements must cause people
to question the values of white religious leaders during this time period. They were supposed to be following and
teaching the word of the bible which states in Luke to “you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”[6]
Any true religious leader should have reprimanded their people for responding
to black violence in such an ungodly and violent way. White ministers and Christian organizations
focused mainly on the wrongs done by selected portions of the black population
and did not consider the behavior of the elite black class, not to mention the
biased ideas and behaviors of their own population. If prominent white leaders in the city of
Atlanta had been a little more open to acknowledging the differences in the
black race and willing to help change the conditions in the city then the
events that later unfolded might have been more controllable if not avoidable.
Before the riot in September religious
leaders like Proctor held meetings to try to establish plans to help stop the
growing racial threat and the black criminal behaviors. Other religious leaders as well as Proctor
felt that the dives and saloons were the cause of black criminal behavior and
should be closed. The dives were places
where men and women could go and drink, dance, and behave like hooligans. After spending time in the dives they would
then leave and were free to solicit in the streets drunk and disorderly. Black religious leaders argued with the white
ministry to take a stand against dives and saloons. They argued that these places provided black
men with havens for drinking and lust.
They opted for prohibition and wanted all of the places in the city that
alcohol could be served to be shut down.
Only with this done did the religious leaders believe the criminal
behavior of black men could be solved.
Proctor went as far as to preach a sermon about closing the dives. In his sermon he discussed Revelation and how
it is the people’s responsibility to remove curses from their city. He believed it was the “business of all good
men to see to it that these plaque spots [] are removed from the city.”[7] Proctor felt that the dives were curses to Atlanta
and that the bible tells men to remove the curse from the city they live
in. A Methodist
minister named Solomon felt that as long as saloons were open black men would
be a “horrible menace.”[8] Still most white ministers ignored the efforts
and arguments brought forward by black ministers and religious organizations. White leaders were refusing to see the black
race as having different levels of class.
It appeared that the white ministers and organizations were ignoring the
growing threat of racial violence and the problems associated with the dives
and saloons. It’s surprising that white
ministers would not jump at the opportunity to close dives and saloons and commend
prohibition plans. The white leaders
should have realized that black or white, alcohol still has a negative effect
on the person drinking it and can cause them to act unpleasantly and even
criminally. Closing down many of the
dives and saloons would have meant that their own congregations would have had
less opportunity to go to those disgusting places and participate in ungodly
behavior. The change would have affected
both races in a positive light and may have even helped control some of the
racial ideas and violence enacted by the dominant white race.
Religious organizations began taking steps
even before the riot to try to help change the circumstances in the city and
relieve racial tension. White Christians
of Atlanta believed that religion could help regain some control over the
unruly black population. They “agreed
that antebellum Christianity had been a key slave control mechanism” and that
religion could help recreate that useful black man or women.[9] White
ministers wanted to re-apply Christianity to the black population in hope that
it would be useful in controlling their behavior and ability to work hard as it
had done during slavery. Although their
motives were selfish and focused on work, this was still a step toward
improving the conditions and criminal patterns of the working black class. Minister White established a meeting called
the Georgia Equal Rights Convention several months before the riot in Atlanta. In this convention he wanted to discuss
issues facing the black race and focused mainly on the growing racial threat of
white supremacy. He felt “that the time
had fully come when the colored men of Georgia
should meet in solemn conclave and confer with each other [] upon questions
that involve their own well being.”[10] The black race could no longer sit back in a
passive stance and watch the white race make all the decisions to take away
their freedoms. Blacks needed to start meeting
and discussing their future, they deserved the right to take part in the
direction of their own lives. Many other
religious leaders and organizations also began taking part in trying to improve
the circumstances surrounding them. The
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) began offering classes to try to get
men away from the attraction of dives and saloons. They “offered debates, academic coursework,
public lectures, and moral instruction” to help change the mind frame and
habits of the black men frequenting the dives and saloons.[11] The YMCA used education to challenge the
ignorant black to rise out of the gutter and to become a support to society. On the eve of the riot Proctor and many other
fellow ministers pledged that they “successfully united their residents in
opposition to the strange negro and his crimes against white women.”[12] This pledge was supposed to bring peace of
mind to the fearful white people that the criminal black men were not being
shielded by their own black race, but that justice was taking place. Several days before the riot Proctor signed a
city ordinance closing all the saloons serving black clientele. This ordinance came all too late for within
days the riot began.
After the riot had passed people began to
realize that action was going to have to be taken in order for the two races to
continue living together in the city of Atlanta. The city had to be changed and molded, the
races needed to learn to work together to improve the living conditions within
the city. Two months after the riot
Episcopal minister Wilmer joined a biracial civic league, started in October by
a white man named Hopkins, to join
black and white men and women together in unity. Proctor later started a second civic league
composed of only black men and women.
The purpose of the league was to join “the white men and the Negro []
together toward a common end.”[13]
Whites were finally admitting that there were different classes within the
black race and Hopkins believed
they should all work together in unity. The
civic league‘s responsibility was to protect the rights of the black race and
to educate the whites to have a deeper understanding of the black
population. The league was supposed to
bring the races together in unity so the white race could see first hand the
educated and intelligent black and what they were capable of doing. Hopkins
wanted the white race to grow toward understanding and excepting the black
people. Although this was an amazing
idea to unify the races through working together it was altogether unsuccessful
and later forgotten as distrust and racism continued within both races. Black religious leaders also started a league
of their own called the Christian Civic League which was supported by black and
white ministers along with Rabbi Marx.
They believed that “fundamental Christian principles would restore
positive relations in the community.”[14] They
offered prayer time and taught on obeying the law so that black criminal
behavior would decline and unity could be reached.
Did religion have the ability to shape the
future of two races of people refusing to live in unity and equality? A man named Northen established a campaign
after the riot to stop lynching in Georgia
and his motivation came from letters written by Christians advocating
Christianity as the answer to racial problems.
Religion even before the freedom of blacks from slavery played a huge
role in the actions of those slaves.
Religion could be the answer to reshaping the destiny of blacks and
whites during this time of great turmoil.
Northen felt that left alone blacks would only use the opportunity to
meet in a religious institution to challenge white supremacy. He felt that if trained properly blacks could
learn “white religious ideals” and take them back to their own people.[15] Northen wanted to use religion as a kind of
control over the black race to make them more agreeable and passive to white
supremacy. But even these attempts would
be unbeneficial because religion has a stronger bond that calls people to what
is right and fair. Even during the slave
era whites had been unsuccessful at using religion as a control. When slaves were given Christianity they
adopted into their culture and it became a dominant factor that held them
together as a community. Religion would
have a strong impact on the races but not they way most white ministers would
have liked. Christianity demands
equality of all people and races and white supremacy would never fit in that
mold. People like White built black
controlled churches even against the will of white ministers knowing that only
through religious freedom could equality be challenged. Religion did play a major role in the shaping
the future of the races, it gave blacks the opportunity to meet in unity and discuss
and challenge white supremacy.
Christianity may have given the black race the strength to stand up to
white supremacy and realize that they deserved racial equality.
The efforts to improve conditions in Atlanta
would continue for quite some time.
Blacks had to continue to battle for the understanding that their race
was not unruly and uncontrolled but simply suppressed. Proctor claimed that the criminal “is the
inevitable resultant of poverty, ignorance, and vice.”[16] The criminal black was the result of a circumstance
of no education, work, or religion. The
problem black was a person with no life goal or direction and no
opportunities. How could the white
population expect blacks to change when they were the ones suppressing them
into this type of life? Religious black
leaders were battling for more freedom so that they could offer the criminal
black more positive opportunities to change his or her life. They were not trying to attack white
supremacy necessarily; they just wanted the same opportunities to have a good
life as the white person often took for granite. With education and purpose the prominent
black leaders knew their race would turn around drastically and eventually
become elite members in society. This
growth, which blacks saw as inevitable and necessary, white supremacists
anticipated with fear. They did not want
to have to share or compete with blacks on any field of life. They knew that with opportunity and knowledge
blacks just might be able to match the status of the white population. This fear kept the black people in a place of
suppression and racial tension for a long period of time.
Over the course of the Atlanta
race riot from the beginning of the struggle for equality through the riot and
the aftermath, religion influenced and changed the face of history. Christianity, in all its denominations, gave
both races something to strive toward and guidelines to live for. The values and morals of its words gave the
black race strength to stand up in the face racial war and fight for equal
rights. Religion gave both races hope in
a time when the future was unsecured and uncertain. Even back in the antebellum slave days,
religion gave the slaves hope for the future and faith in a God that was
merciful and loving. Christianity’s message
is so clear and simple and yet so powerful that it is no surprise that people
of all races turn toward it for direction.
This message of love was one of the few influences at the time that had
the ability to change the racial ideals and beliefs. Both blacks and whites were Christians and
this binding factor made them brother and sister in Christ. Although in the aftermath of the riot a
message of love was the last thing people were thinking about, it is the one
idea that would bind them together.
Through brotherly love color would eventually cease to be an important
factor and people would learn to care about each other putting aside their
differences.
End Notes
[1]
David Fort Godshalk. Veiled Visions: The
1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the reshaping of American
race relations (University of North
Carolina Press, 2005) 78
[2]“The Dives Must Go,”
Atlanta Constitution 1906, 20 Feb. 2006, p.7
[3]“Religious
Press On The Race Riot,” Atlanta
Constitution 1906, 11 Feb. 2006,
p.C2.
[4]Bobby J. Donaldson Standing
on a Volcano: The Leadership of William Jefferson
White. (The University of Georgia Press, 2004) 165
[5]“Religious
Press On The Race Riot,” Atlanta
Constitution 1906, 11 Feb. 2006, p.C2.
[6]
The Holy Bible New International Version.
Zondervan, 2002. Luke 6:27
[7]“The Dives Must Go,”
Atlanta Constitution 1906, 20 Feb. 2006, p.7
[8]
David Fort Godshalk, Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
And The Reshaping Of American Race Relations. (The University of North Carolina Press, 2005)
[9]
Gregory Mixon, The Atlanta Riot. (The University Press of Florida, 2005.) 45
[10]
Bobby J. Donaldson Standing
on a Volcano: The Leadership of William Jefferson
White. (The University of Georgia Press, 2004) 165
[11]
David Fort Godshalk, Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
And The Reshaping Of American Race Relations. (The University of North Carolina Press, 2005)
79
[12]
David Fort Godshalk, Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
And The Reshaping Of American Race Relations. (The University of North Carolina Press, 2005)
82
[13]
David Fort Godshalk, Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
And The Reshaping Of American Race Relations. (The University of North Carolina Press, 2005)
152
[14]
Allison Dorsey, To Build Our Lives Together: Community Formation in Black Atlanta,
1875-1906. (The University
of Georgia Press. 2004) 163
[15]
David Fort Godshalk, Veiled Visions: The
1906 Atlanta Race Riot And The Reshaping Of American
Race Relations. (The University
of North Carolina Press, 2005) 173
[16]
Allison Dorsey, To Build Our Lives Together: Community Formation in Black Atlanta,
1875-1906. (The University
of Georgia Press. 2004) 164
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