September 1906
Atlanta's four white-owned newspapers — the Atlanta News, Georgian, Journal, and Constitution — ran sensationalized and fabricated stories of Black men assaulting white women during the heated 1906 gubernatorial race. On September 22, white mobs began attacking Black residents in downtown Atlanta. Over four days at least 25 Black people were killed (some estimates run higher), hundreds were injured, and thousands fled. Black neighborhoods like Brownsville mounted armed defense. Two white attackers were killed. The riot accelerated Black out-migration and radicalized W.E.B. Du Bois.
As white mobs attacked Black Atlanta for four days, residents of Brownsville, a Black suburb, armed themselves and defended their community. When police arrived and demanded they surrender their arms, residents refused. Two officers were shot. The state militia was called. The coordinated defense of Brownsville demonstrated that organized Black armed resistance could repel mob violence, a lesson that would be applied in subsequent riots and explicitly theorized in the New Negro movement.
Events
- September 22, 1906Atlanta Newspapers Fabricate Black Assault Stories, Triggering Four-Day Massacre
Atlanta's four white-owned newspapers — the Atlanta News, Georgian, Journal, and Constitution — ran sensationalized and fabricated stories of Black men assaulting white women during the heated 1906 gubernatorial race. On September 22, white mobs began attacking Black residents in downtown Atlanta. Over four days at least 25 Black people were killed (some estimates run higher), hundreds were injured, and thousands fled. Black neighborhoods like Brownsville mounted armed defense. Two white attackers were killed. The riot accelerated Black out-migration and radicalized W.E.B. Du Bois.
- September 22, 1906Atlanta Newspapers Fabricate Black Assault Stories, Triggering Four-Day Massacre
Atlanta's white-owned newspapers ran sensationalized and fabricated stories of Black men assaulting white women during the 1906 gubernatorial race. Over four days at least 25 Black people were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands fled. Black neighborhoods mounted armed defense. The riot accelerated Black out-migration and radicalized W.E.B. Du Bois.
- September 24, 1906Black Residents of Brownsville Mount Armed Defense During Atlanta Riot
As white mobs attacked Black Atlanta for four days, residents of Brownsville, a Black suburb, armed themselves and defended their community. When police arrived and demanded they surrender their arms, residents refused. Two officers were shot. The state militia was called. The coordinated defense of Brownsville demonstrated that organized Black armed resistance could repel mob violence, a lesson that would be applied in subsequent riots and explicitly theorized in the New Negro movement.
- September 22, 1906The Atlanta race massacre
White mobs attack Black Atlantans over several days.