July 1900
Following Robert Charles's armed resistance, white mobs rampaged through New Orleans for three days, killing at least twelve Black residents, wounding dozens more, and burning a newly built Black school. Police largely stood aside or participated. The riot demonstrated how white mob violence was routinely deployed as collective punishment against entire Black communities for individual acts of resistance.
Robert Charles, a New Orleans Black man who had been reading back-to-Africa literature, shot and killed seven police officers and wounded twenty others after being accosted without cause. He held off hundreds of police for nearly two days. White mobs retaliated by killing at least twelve Black residents and destroying dozens of homes. Charles became a folk hero to some Black New Orleanians. Ida B. Wells wrote a pamphlet, 'Mob Rule in New Orleans,' documenting the white riot that followed.
Events
- July 24, 1900Robert Charles Kills Seven Officers in New Orleans Before Being Shot
Robert Charles, a New Orleans Black man who had been reading back-to-Africa literature, shot and killed seven police officers and wounded twenty others after being accosted without cause. He held off hundreds of police for nearly two days. White mobs retaliated by killing at least twelve Black residents and destroying dozens of homes. Charles became a folk hero to some Black New Orleanians. Ida B. Wells wrote a pamphlet, 'Mob Rule in New Orleans,' documenting the white riot that followed.
- July 25, 1900New Orleans White Mob Attacks Black Residents After Robert Charles Standoff
Following Robert Charles's armed resistance, white mobs rampaged through New Orleans for three days, killing at least twelve Black residents, wounding dozens more, and burning a newly built Black school. Police largely stood aside or participated. The riot demonstrated how white mob violence was routinely deployed as collective punishment against entire Black communities for individual acts of resistance.