1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The stay in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eves and Welcome to this 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Day and History Class, a podcast that always has history 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: on the brain. Today is the day? Was May tenth, 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen, a riot began when white sailors began attacking 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: black people in Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston Riot took 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: place during the Red Summer, a term coined by author 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: and activist James Weldon Johnson. The Red Summer was the 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: period from spring to fall of nineteen nineteen when white 10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: supremacists perpetrated lynchings, riots, and massacres. During World War One, 11 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: thousands of black people in the rural South United States 12 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: moved to cities in the North as people who served 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: in the military returned to their homes. After the war, 14 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: tensioned between white and black people erupted into violence. That 15 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: was on top of the fact that racism and anti 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: black violence was already alive and well in the US 17 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,199 Speaker 1: before the war, and labor unrest was at a high. 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: Beyond the resentment that was based purely on race, white 19 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: people were resent full towards black people who worked as 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: strike breakers while they went on strike and since the 21 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: First Red Scare was at its height, some people accused 22 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: black people of being Bolshevists and anarchists for their advocacy 23 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: of racial equality and involvement in social and political agitation. 24 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: At the same time, black leaders like W. E. B. 25 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Du Bois encouraged black veterans to quote return fighting when 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: they returned from fighting. As he said in an essay, 27 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: the white people incited riots throughout the Red Summer, black 28 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: people did arm and defend themselves. One of the early 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: riots in the Red Summer took place in Jenkins County, Georgia, 30 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: in April. A months later, a riot broke out in Charleston, 31 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: Sports City in South Carolina. The city was home to 32 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: the Charleston Navy Yard. When the First World War began, 33 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: the facilities and workforce at the naval yard expanded. This 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: invigorated Charleston's economy, but when the war ended in nineteen eighteen, 35 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: employment at the naval yard steadily declined. Many of the 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: sailors returning from the war passed through the naval yard. 37 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: Black people made up a considerable percentage of the city's population, 38 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: but that percentage was declining as they moved north in 39 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: the Great migration. The true origin of the riot is unclear, 40 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 1: but it began on the evening of May tenth, nineteen nineteen, 41 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: near the intersection of Beaufain and Charles Streets. Some accounts 42 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: reported that a sailor was unhappy with whiskey he bought 43 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: from a black man, while others reported that a black 44 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: man had shot a white sailor, but the riot was 45 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: likely sparked by a dispute between two white sailors and 46 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: a black man. The sailors had pass asked the black 47 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: man on a sidewalk, but the man did not step 48 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: aside for them, and the ensuing dispute escalated when someone 49 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: fired shots in the air. As rumors spread across the 50 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: city that a black man had shot a white sailor, 51 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: people grabbed pole cues and balls from a pool room 52 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: to use his weapons. White sailors also rated shooting galleries 53 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: and grabbed rifles, pistols, and ammunition and began shooting indiscriminately 54 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: at black people. Soon there was a mob of soldiers, 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: sailors and civilians hunting down black people. Many black people 56 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: fought back against the mobs. Police, provost guards and marines 57 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: were sent in to quail the rioting. Though the Marines 58 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: did help put an end to the chaos, they did 59 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: have a hand in the violence. For instance, some Marines 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: shot and stabbed Isaac Moses for not obeying their order 61 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: to stop running. By the morning of May eleventh, the 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: riot had ended. Three men died from injuries they got 63 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: during the riot, and many others were seriously injured or 64 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: at did it to the hospital. Mayor Tristram Hyde called 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: for an investigation into the causes of the riot, and 66 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: the Navy suspended leave for unmarried personnel. Black men were 67 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: arrested for carrying concealed weapons, a few white sailors were 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: arrested for inciting a riot, and one white civilian was arrested, 69 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: and a Navy investigation into the riot. Privates Jacob Cohen 70 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: and George Holliday were tried and acquitted for manslaughter, but 71 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: they were found guilty of rioting and both served a 72 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: one year sentence in a naval brig Others charged were 73 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: acquitted of any wrongdoing. Black man who had been injured, 74 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: and the Charleston Bridge of the n double a CP 75 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: petitioned the Navy for compensation for the harm that had 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: been done. The Navy refused to compensate them, though Mayor 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: Hyde did agree to setting up some protections against future mobs. 78 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: I'm Eve steff Cope and hopefully you know a little 79 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. And if 80 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: you have any comments are suggestions for future episodes, you 81 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: can send them to us at this day at I 82 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. You can also hit us up 83 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: on social media. We're at t d i h C 84 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks again for listening 85 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. 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