1919, the Year of Racial Violence

How African Americans Fought Back

By: David F. Krugler

Narrated by: David Sadzin

1919, the Year of Racial Violence recounts African Americans' brave stand against a cascade of mob attacks in the United States after World War I. The emerging New Negro identity, which prized unflinching resistance to second-class citizenship, further inspired veterans and their fellow Black citizens. In city after city - Washington, DC; Chicago; Charleston; and elsewhere - Black men and women took up arms to repel mobs that used lynching, assaults, and other forms of violence to protect white supremacy; yet, authorities blamed Blacks for the violence, leading to mass arrests and misleading news coverage. Refusing to yield, African Americans sought accuracy and fairness in the courts of public opinion and the law. This is the first account of this three-front fight - in the streets, in the press, and in the courts - against mob violence during one of the worst years of racial conflict in US history.

©2015 David F. Krugler (P)2020 Tantor

History we didn't learn in high school

So much I wasn't taught. Woodrow Wilson was President. A Mitchell Palmer was his Attorney General. Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover was made the head of the Bureau of Investigation. WW I was over and thousands of black vets came home and they wanted their freedom and the wanted equality. Palmer's raids rounded up immigrants who were accused of being Bolsheviks, Anarchists and Socialists ... this was 1919. A great book ... I have read it a couple of times and have gone back to read excerpts.

Great dive into history, sad and so worth reading

I love the detail and the sources. This book was sad but so worth the read. Don’t be afraid of history, embrace it and look forward to making better choices.