116-732: Red Summer was a period in mid-1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots occurred in more than three dozen cities across the United States , and in one rural county in Arkansas . The term "Red Summer" was coined by civil rights activist and author James Weldon Johnson , who had been employed as a field secretary by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1916. In 1919, he organized peaceful protests against
232-537: A Silent Parade , carrying signs and protesting the East St. Louis riots. The march was organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), W. E. B. Du Bois, and groups in Harlem . Women and children were dressed in white; the men were dressed in black. East St. Louis continued to have an economy based on industry. Through and after World War II, many workers could make decent livings. It
348-521: A militia to arrest the African-American farmers , and hundreds of whites came from the region. They acted as a mob, attacking black people over two days at random. During the riot, the mob killed an estimated 100 to 237 black people, while 5 whites also died in the violence. Arkansas Governor Charles Hillman Brough appointed a Committee of Seven, composed of prominent local white businessmen, to investigate. The committee would conclude that
464-423: A black man allegedly attacked a white man. After hearing of this, whites drove by black homes near 17th and Market and fired shots into several of them. When police came to investigate a gathering of a large group of local black residents, their car was mistaken for that of the attackers, and several in the crowd at 10th and Bond fired on the police, killing two detectives. The next morning, thousands of whites mobbed
580-409: A formerly unidentified 900-year-old suburb of Cahokia in present-day East St. Louis. This site had not been mapped in the 19th century, and was unknown. The Mississippian culture site is in a present industrial wasteland. Researchers found evidence of more than 1,000 dwellings and the base of an earthen pyramidal mound. It would have been one of dozens of mounds when the community was active, based on
696-600: A headline describing "Evidence Found Of Negro Society That Brought On Rioting" . In response, some black leaders such as Bishop Charles Henry Phillips of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church asked black people to shun violence in favor of "patience" and "moral suasion." Phillips opposed propaganda favoring violence, and he noted the grounds of injustice to the black people: Phillips was based in Nashville, Tennessee. Terrorism in
812-674: A large labor meeting of white workers held in City Hall on May 28, men also traded rumors of fraternizing between black men and white women. An inflammatory speaker said, "East St. Louis must remain a white man's town." Three thousand ethnic white men left the meeting and headed as a mob for downtown, where they randomly attacked black men on the street. The Illinois governor called in National Guard to prevent further rioting, but rumors circulated that blacks were planning an organized retaliation and tensions remained high. On July 1, 1917,
928-562: A larger city, influenced by the growing economy of St. Louis, which in 1870 was the fourth-largest city in the United States. A period of extensive industrial growth followed the American Civil War . Industries in East St. Louis made use of the local availability of Illinois coal as fuel. Another early industry was meatpacking and stockyards , concentrated in one area to limit their nuisance to other jurisdictions. In
1044-566: A letter to the editor of the Chicago Daily News saying the returning black veterans "are now new men and world men…and their possibilities for direction, guidance, honest use, and power are limitless, only they must be instructed and led. They have awakened, but they have not yet the complete conception of what they have awakened to." W. E. B. Du Bois , an official of the NAACP and editor of its monthly magazine, saw an opportunity: By
1160-462: A lone gunman. No deaths were attributed to left-wing groups. A 2017 report by Type Media Center and The Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed a list of the terrorist incidents which occurred in the US between 2008 and 2016 and included the 2014 killings of NYPD officers and the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers (a total of seven deaths saying that they could "plausibly be attributed to
1276-550: A million dollars. Once the mayor and governor appealed for help, the federal government sent U.S. Army troops from nearby forts, who were commanded by Major General Leonard Wood , a friend of Theodore Roosevelt , and a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1920. On September 30, a massacre occurred against blacks in Elaine , Phillips County , Arkansas , being distinct for having occurred in
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#17327650711511392-447: A minute percentage of the ideologically based terrorist attacks which are perpetrated in the United States. Since November 9, 2001, only about 9 American Muslims per year have taken part in terrorist plots in the United States, in total, 20 incidents resulted in about 50 deaths. A 2012 study showed that in about the same time period right-wing extremists were responsible for about 337 attacks per year, in total, they killed more than 5 times
1508-484: A nationwide survey of 382 police and sheriff departments. Nearly 74% of respondents stated that anti-government violence was their top concern with regard to threats from violent extremists, while about 39% of respondents stated that " Al Qaeda -inspired" violence was their top concern. For the past decade, the national conversation on terrorism has largely focused on Islamic extremist acts, however, law enforcement groups have made it clear that Muslim extremists perpetrate
1624-513: A new city hall. Public-private partnerships have resulted in a variety of new retail developments, and housing initiatives. The St. Louis MetroLink light rail connects the city by transit to St. Louis, which has a stronger economy, and such efforts have sparked renewal. Because of depopulation, the city has many abandoned properties and extensive urban blight. Sections of " urban prairie " can be found where vacant buildings were demolished and whole blocks have become overgrown with vegetation. Much of
1740-590: A new regime modeled on that of the Soviets . Authorities viewed with alarm African-Americans' advocacy of racial equality and labor rights , and incidents involving the deaths of whites furthered fears. In a private conversation in March 1919, President Woodrow Wilson said that "the American Negro returning from abroad would be our greatest medium in conveying Bolshevism to America." Other whites expressed
1856-610: A perpetrator with such sympathies"). In 2018, most ideologically motivated murders in the United States of America were linked to right-wing extremism . As of 2020, right-wing extremist terrorism accounted for the majority of terrorist attacks and plots in the US and has killed more people in the continental United States since the September 11 attacks than Islamic terrorism. The United States Department of Homeland Security reported in October 2020 that white supremacists posed
1972-745: A report, while the rest reprinted materials seized in raids or supplied by witnesses, much of it detailing European activities, or surveyed efforts to counteract radicalism in every state, including citizenship programs and other patriotic educational activities. Other raids targeted the left-wing of the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). When they analyzed the materials it hauled away, it made much of attempts to organize "American Negroes" and calls for revolutions in foreign-language magazines. In mid-summer, in
2088-579: A speech which he made before a joint session of Congress on February 28, 2017, President Donald Trump incorrectly attributed these findings to domestic terrorism , in actuality, these findings were based on cases in which international terrorists may have been brought to the United States for prosecution. In 2015, the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security and the Police Executive Research Forum conducted
2204-463: A train. He was held in jail, but mobs eventually came back and took him away, as the sheriff allowed them to. The mob had a doctor treat Hartfield for his gunshot wound, so the mob could organize his death in a way they saw fit. On June 26, 1919, the mob took Hartfield to a field in Ellisville, Mississippi, cut off his fingers, hung him from a tree branch, shot him over 2,000 times, and when the rope
2320-478: A week before the mob got him. On September 8, 1919, a mob of white men lynched Bowman Cook and John Morine. During August of 1919 in Jacksonville, Florida, several black taxi drivers were killed by white passengers. Black taxi drivers began to refuse service to white riders. When one white rider was denied service, he fired into a crowd of black people, killing one man. Police wrongly blamed Cook and Morine for
2436-440: A week interviewing participants, though speaking to no sharecroppers. The Bureau also reviewed documents, filing a total of nine reports stating there was no evidence of a conspiracy of the sharecroppers to murder anyone. The local government tried 79 black people, who were all convicted by all-white juries , and 12 were sentenced to death for murder. As Arkansas and other southern states had disenfranchised most black people at
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#17327650711512552-510: A wide range of opinions, some anticipating unsettled times and others seeing no signs of tension. Early in 1919, Dr. George Edmund Haynes , an educator employed as director of Negro Economics for the U.S. Department of Labor , wrote: "The return of the Negro soldier to civil life is one of the most delicate and difficult questions confronting the Nation, north and south." One black veteran wrote
2668-501: Is a call to national action , and was published in The New York Times and other major newspapers. Haynes noted that lynchings were a national problem. As President Wilson had noted in a 1918 speech: from 1889 to 1918, more than 3,000 people had been lynched; 2,472 were black men, and 50 were black women. Haynes said that states had shown themselves "unable or unwilling" to put a stop to lynchings , and seldom prosecuted
2784-412: Is one of the few times in 20th-century white-on-black riots that white fatalities outnumbered those of black people. The NAACP sent a telegram of protest to President Woodrow Wilson : [T]he shame put upon the country by the mobs, including United States soldiers, sailors, and marines, which have assaulted innocent and unoffending negroes in the national capital. Men in uniform have attacked negroes on
2900-585: Is yet a shameful land.… We return . We return from fighting . We return fighting . The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People respectfully enquires how long the Federal Government under your administration intends to tolerate anarchy in the United States? — NAACP telegram to President Woodrow Wilson August 29, 1919 Beginning on July 19, Washington, D.C. , had four days of mob violence against black individuals and businesses perpetrated by white men—many of them in
3016-564: The Washington Post , "ginned up...weeks of hysteria", fanning the violence with incendiary headlines, calling in at least one instance for a mobilization of a "clean-up" operation. After four days of police inaction, President Woodrow Wilson mobilized the National Guard to restore order. When the violence ended, a total of 15 people had died: 10 white people, including two police officers; and 5 black people. Fifty people were seriously wounded, and another 100 less severely wounded. It
3132-544: The Aluminum Ore Company , the employer hired blacks as strikebreakers. The American Steel Company also recruited blacks. They were available in part during this period because the U.S. Army initially rejected many black volunteers in the years before an integrated military. This was also the period of resentment on both sides and the arrival of new workers created fears for job security at a time of union organizing and labor unrest, and raised social tensions. At
3248-516: The Casino Queen riverboat casino generated the first new source of income for the city in nearly 30 years. In 1991, Gordon Bush was elected mayor. Several major industries operating in the area had gained separate incorporation as jurisdictions for the land where their plants are sited. These "communities" have virtually no residents, and the shell jurisdictions are outside the tax base of East St. Louis (See: Sauget, Illinois ). Residents of
3364-601: The Elaine massacre . The anti-black riots developed from a variety of post- World War I social tensions, generally related to the demobilization of both black and white members of the United States Armed Forces following World War I ; an economic slump ; and increased competition in the job and housing markets between ethnic European Americans and African Americans. The time would also be marked by labor unrest , for which certain industrialists used black people as strikebreakers , further inflaming
3480-616: The Gateway Arch across the river in St. Louis, it shoots water to a height of 630 feet (190 m), the same height as the arch. Native Americans had long inhabited both sides of the Mississippi River. The Mississippian culture rulers organized thousands of workers to construct complex earthwork mounds at what later became St. Louis and East St. Louis. The center of this culture was the urban complex of Cahokia , located to
3596-572: The Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and more European Americans began to settle in the area. The village was first named "Illinoistown". East St. Louis was founded in 1797 by Captain James Piggott, a Revolutionary War veteran. In that year Piggott began operating a ferry service across the Mississippi River, connecting Illinoistown with St. Louis, which had been founded by ethnic French families. When Piggott died in 1799, his widow sold
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3712-667: The Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis, Missouri , and the Gateway Arch National Park . East St. Louis is in the Metro East region of Southern Illinois . Once a bustling industrial center, like many cities in the Rust Belt , East St. Louis was severely affected by the loss of jobs due to the flight of the population to the suburbs during the riots of the late 1960s. In 1950, East St. Louis
3828-548: The Poplar Street Bridge and Stan Musial Bridge . Prior to its decommissioning, the fabled U.S. Route 66 also shared a concurrency with these Interstate highways. In addition, U.S. Route 50 also shared a concurrency prior to its being rerouted to run concurrently with Interstate 255 . The closest airport is the St. Louis Downtown Airport located in nearby Cahokia, Illinois , just south of East St. Louis. As of
3944-680: The Sharecroppers' Union was a Socialist enterprise and "established for the purpose of banding negroes together for the killing of white people." The report generated such headlines as the following in the Dallas Morning News : "Negroes Seized in Arkansas Riots Confess to Widespread Plot; Planned Massacre of Whites Today." Several agents of the Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation spent
4060-1023: The Southern United States , and they included acts of violence which were committed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). White supremacist terrorist incidents include the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, the Rosewood massacre of 1923, and the Wilmington insurrection of 1898 . On November 19, 2019, according to remarks which were made by Matthew Alcoke, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division , Alcoke defines domestic terrorists as "individuals who commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of ideological goals stemming from domestic issues." Although acts of violence by domestic extremists consistently meet
4176-547: The census of 2000, there were 31,542 people, 11,178 households, and 7,668 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,242.9 inhabitants per square mile (866.0/km ). There were 12,899 housing units at an average density of 917.2 per square mile (354.1/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 97.74% Black or African-American , 1.23% White , 0.19% Native American , 0.08% Asian-American , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 0.19% from other races , and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of
4292-603: The ethnic Irish . White mobs destroyed hundreds of mostly black homes and businesses on the South Side of Chicago. The State of Illinois called in a militia force of 7 regiments: several thousand men, to restore order. The riots resulted in casualties that included: 38 fatalities (23 blacks and 15 whites); 527 injured; and 1,000 black families left homeless. Other accounts reported 50 people were killed, with unofficial numbers and rumors reporting even more. Labor activist William Z. Foster , among other observers, referred to
4408-423: The military and in uniforms of all three services—in response to the rumored arrest of a black man for rape of a white woman. The men rioted, randomly beat black people on the street, and pulled others off streetcars for attacks. When police refused to intervene, the black population fought back. The city closed saloons and theaters to discourage assemblies. Meanwhile, the four white-owned local papers, including
4524-525: The mobilization of troops for World War I , and with immigration from Europe cut off, the industrial cities of the American Northeast and Midwest experienced severe labor shortages . As a result, northern manufacturers recruited throughout the South, from which an exodus of workers ensued. By 1919, an estimated 500,000 African Americans had emigrated from the Southern United States to
4640-427: The race riot of Omaha, Nebraska , erupted after a mob of over 10,000 ethnic whites from South Omaha attacked and burned the county courthouse to force the release of a black prisoner accused of raping a white woman. The mob lynched the suspect, Will Brown, hanging him and burning his body. The group then spread out, attacking black neighborhoods and stores on the north side, destroying property valued at more than
4756-562: The racial violence . In most instances, attacks consisted of white -on- black violence. Numerous African Americans fought back, notably in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., race riots , which resulted in 38 and 15 deaths respectively, along with even more injuries, and extensive property damage in Chicago . Still, the highest number of fatalities occurred in the rural area around Elaine, Arkansas , where an estimated 100–240 black people and five white people were killed—an event now known as
Red Summer - Misplaced Pages Continue
4872-524: The rural South rather than a city. The event erupted from the resistance of the white minority against the organization of labor by black sharecroppers , along with the fear of socialism . Planters opposed such efforts to organize and thus tried to disrupt their meetings in the local chapter of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America . In a confrontation, a white man was fatally shot and another wounded. The planters formed
4988-533: The 1919 events were among the first in which black people in number resisted white attacks and fought back. A. Philip Randolph , a civil rights activist and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters , publicly defended the right of black people to self-defense . In addition, Haynes reported that between January 1 and September 14, 1919, white mobs lynched at least 43 African Americans, with 16 hanged and others shot; and another 8 men were burned at
5104-523: The 2010 census, East St. Louis has a total area of 14.37 square miles (37.22 km ), of which 13.99 square miles (36.23 km ), or 97.36%, is land and 0.38 square miles (0.98 km ), or 2.64%, is water. East St. Louis, like all of Southern Illinois, is classified as humid subtropical by the Köppen classification , having hot, humid summers and cool winters. On July 14, 1954, the temperature in East St. Louis allegedly reached 117 °F (47 °C),
5220-463: The 85 deadly extremist incidents which had occurred since September 11, 2001 , white supremacist extremist groups were responsible for 73%, while radical Islamist extremists were responsible for 27%. The total number of deaths which was caused by each group was about the same. However, 41% of the deaths were attributable to radical Islamists and they all occurred in a single event — the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting in which 49 people were killed by
5336-686: The Department of Homeland Security released the Homeland Threat Assessment , a report detailing various domestic threats to US national security . It states that, out of all domestic terror attacks resulting in lethal threats to life between 2018 and 2019, "WSEs [white supremacist extremists] conducted half of all lethal attacks (8 of 16), resulting in the majority of deaths (39 of 48)". Since 1997, there have been 8 murders, 17 attempted murders, 42 bombings, and 186 arson attacks aimed at abortion clinics and multiple providers across
5452-534: The East St. Louis race riot resulted in the deaths of 39 blacks and 9 whites, other estimates put the figure much higher, with estimates of 100 to 250 blacks being killed. W. E. B. Du Bois of the NAACP came to investigate the riots personally. His organization's photographer published photos of the destruction in the November issue of The Crisis . Congress also held an investigation. In New York City on July 28, 10,000 black people marched down Fifth Avenue in
5568-700: The God of Heaven, we are cowards and jackasses if now that the war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land. In the autumn of 1919, following the violence-filled summer, George Edmund Haynes reported on the events as a prelude to an investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary . He identified 38 separate racial riots against blacks in widely scattered cities, in which whites attacked black people. Unlike earlier racial riots against blacks in U.S. history,
5684-619: The Lusk Committee, was formed in 1919 by the New York State Legislature to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition . The committee was chaired by freshman State Senator Clayton R. Lusk of Cortland County , who had a background in business and conservative political values, referring to radicals as " alien enemies ." Only 10% of the four-volume work constituted
5800-621: The Mayor, as we did, to close up all the saloons ... keep sober and orderly, and when you are organized, apply to the United Workingmen for orders. Don't plunder ... don't interfere with the railroads here ... let us attend to that. The strikers held the railroads and city for about a week, without the violence that took place in Chicago and other cities. The federal government intervened, and on July 28 US troops took over
5916-579: The National Stock Yards. At one plant, workers allowed processing of 125 cattle in return for 500 cans of beef for the workers. Though the East St. Louis strike continued in an orderly fashion, across the river in St. Louis there were isolated incidents of violence. Harry Eastman, the East St. Louis workers' representative, addressed the mass of employees: Go home to your different wards and organize your different unions, but don't keep coming up here in great bodies and stirring up excitement. Ask
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#17327650711516032-749: The Red Summer, the African Blood Brotherhood formed in northern cities to serve as an " armed resistance " movement. Protests and appeals to the federal government continued for weeks. A letter from the National Equal Rights League , dated November 25, appealed to Wilson's international advocacy for human rights: "We appeal to you to have your country undertake for its racial minority that which you forced Poland and Austria to undertake for their racial minorities." The October 1919 report by Dr. George Edmund Haynes
6148-518: The Relay Depot, the Commune's command center, and the strike ended peacefully. On May 27, 1896, a tornado struck St. Louis and East St. Louis. It stands as the deadliest tornado to ever hit the cities. In approximately 20 minutes, this tornado resulted in destruction that killed 137 people in St. Louis and 118 in East St. Louis. The tornado's destruction spanned 10 miles (16 km), including
6264-471: The South due to racism and segregation. During the First Red Scare of 1919–20, following the 1917 Russian Revolution , anti-Bolshevik sentiment in the United States quickly followed on the anti-German sentiment arising in the war years. Many politicians and government officials, together with much of the press and the public, feared an imminent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government to create
6380-404: The South. While the white workers won a wage increase, the companies retained some black workers, firing white ones. Such economic competition raised tensions between the groups in a period when the number of blacks in East St. Louis had increased dramatically due to the first Great Migration , when African Americans left poor rural areas of the South to escape Jim Crow oppression and seek jobs in
6496-497: The U.S. government in January 2018, about three out of four people who were convicted on charges of international terrorism between September 11, 2001, to December 31, 2016, were foreign-born. According to the Justice Department, 549 people were convicted on charges of international terrorism, including 254 people who were citizens of other countries, 148 people were naturalized citizens and 148 people were natural-born-citizens . In
6612-415: The US. In some cases small groups of clinics have been attacked multiple times. The following is a list of the deadliest known single-day terrorist attacks in the United States to date. Only incidents with ten or more deaths, excluding those of the perpetrators, are included. East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois , United States. It is directly across
6728-641: The United States#White nationalism and white supremacy In the United States , a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political , religious , or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism , attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in
6844-550: The United States?" The Knoxville Riot in Tennessee started on August 30–31 after the arrest of a black suspect on suspicion of murdering a white woman. Searching for the prisoner, a lynch mob stormed the county jail, where they liberated 16 white prisoners, including suspected murderers. The mob attacked the African-American business district, where they fought against the district's black business owners, leaving at least 7 dead and more than 20 wounded. From September 28–29,
6960-475: The attacks and plots which were perpetrated in 2019, and it was also responsible for 90% of all of those attacks which were perpetrated in 2020. The next most potentially dangerous group has been "religious extremists", the majority "Salafi jihadists inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda", while the number planned by the far left has reduced to a minute fraction since the mid-2000s. In October 2020,
7076-405: The average family size was 4.02. In the city, the population was spread out, with 32.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.5 males. The median income for a household in the city
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#17327650711517192-523: The black sections of the city, indiscriminately beating, shooting and killing men, women and children. The rioters burned entire sections of the city and shot blacks as they escaped the flames. They also hanged several blacks. They destroyed buildings and physically attacked people; they "killed a 14-year-old boy and scalped his mother. Before it was over 244 buildings were destroyed." Other sources say 300 buildings were destroyed. The city had 35 police officers, but they were seen to be doing little to suppress
7308-565: The city population became increasingly black. " Brownfields " (areas with environmental contamination by heavy industry) have made redevelopment more difficult and expensive. Street gangs appeared in city neighborhoods. Like other cities with endemic problems by the 1960s, violence added to residential mistrust and adversely affected the downtown retail base and the city's income. The construction of freeways also contributed to East St. Louis' decline. They were constructed through and broke up functioning neighborhoods and community networks, adding to
7424-418: The city, however, suffer from contaminated air and other adverse environmental effects of these sites. At the same time, the city's tax base is too poor for it to maintain its infrastructure, including the sanitary sewers, many of which have broken and overflowed in residential neighborhoods and schools. Since 2000, the city has completed several redevelopment projects: in 2001 it opened a new library and built
7540-441: The city. People who could get jobs moved to places with work and a decent quality of life. Lacking sufficient tax revenues, the city cut back on maintenance, sewers failed, and garbage pickup ceased. Police cars and radios stopped working. The East St. Louis Fire Department went on strike in the 1970s. Structure fires destroyed such a significant number of consecutive blocks that much of the post-Armageddon film Escape from New York
7656-439: The conduct of state criminal cases. On November 13, the Wilmington race riot was violence between white and black residents of Wilmington, Delaware . A white woman named Ruth Meeks accused a black man named John Hartfield of attacking and raping her on June 9, 1919, in Ellisville, Mississippi. Mobs hunted down Hartfield as he ran for his life, but the mobs eventually shot and captured Hartfield on June 24 as he tried to board
7772-410: The courage of jailed socialist Eugene V. Debs with the "school boy rhetoric" of traditional black leaders. The Times characterized the publications as "vicious and apparently well financed," mentioned "certain factions of the radical Socialist elements," and reported it all under the headline: "Reds Try to Stir Negroes to Revolt". In late 1919, Oklahoma 's Daily Ardmoreite published a piece with
7888-403: The definition, no US criminal charge for domestic terror exists. Rather, the phrase is an FBI investigative category which is used to classify four types of extremism: "racially motivated violent extremism, anti-government/anti-authority extremism, animal rights / environmental extremism , and abortion extremism ." A 2017 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that out of
8004-462: The early 1990s, archeological surveys and excavations prior to construction of Interstate 55/70 revealed evidence of important prehistoric structures in the East St. Louis area. Both sides of the river had earlier been reported as having numerous earthwork mounds when Europeans and Americans first settled in the area. Unfortunately, most of these cultural treasures in St. Louis and on the east side were lost to development. Illinois researchers discovered
8120-765: The expansion, many businessmen became overextended in credit, and a major economic collapse followed the Panic of 1873 . This was due to railroad and other manufacturing expansion, land speculation, and general business optimism caused by large profits from inflation. The economic recession began in the East and steadily moved West, severely crippling the railroads, the main system of transportation. In response, railroad companies began dramatically lowering workers' wages, forcing employees to work without pay, and cutting jobs and paid work hours. These wage cuts and additional money-saving tactics prompted strikes and massive unrest. While most of
8236-469: The ferry business, moved to St. Louis County and remarried. One of the Piggotts' great-great-granddaughters became known as actress Virginia Mayo (Virginia Clara Jones). The municipality called East St. Louis was established on April 1, 1861. Illinoistown residents voted on a new name that day, and 183 voted to rename the town East St. Louis. Though it started as a small town, East St. Louis soon grew to
8352-607: The first time in its history, the FBI identified fringe conspiracy theories as a potential source of domestic terrorism, it specifically cited QAnon . A June 2020 study of domestic terrorist incidents by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported that during the previous 25 years, the majority of attacks and plots were perpetrated and hatched by far-right attackers. This trend has accelerated in recent years, with this sector being responsible for about 66% of all of
8468-460: The greatest massacre of Red Summer. Chicago's beaches along Lake Michigan were segregated by custom. When Eugene Williams, a black youth, swam into an area on the South Side customarily used by whites, he was stoned and drowned . Chicago police refused to take action against the attackers, and young black men responded with violence, which lasted for 13 days, with the white mobs led by
8584-502: The highest temperature ever recorded in America east of the Mississippi River . It is not considered a formal record, however, as the city had no weather station. East St. Louis has five St. Louis MetroLink stations: East Riverfront , 5th & Missouri , Emerson Park , JJK Center , and Washington Park . Interstate 55 , Interstate 64 , Interstate 70 , and U.S. Route 40 run through East St. Louis and are linked to St. Louis by
8700-591: The industrial cities of the North and the Midwest. From 1910 to 1917, the black population nearly doubled in East St. Louis. The United States established a draft which would bring in many workers to the military. As the war prevented immigration from Europe even before the U.S. entered the war, major companies had begun to recruit black workers from the South to fill demand. When white workers went on strike in April 1917 at
8816-614: The industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest in the first wave of the Great Migration (which continued until 1940). African-American workers filled new positions in expanding industries, such as the railroads , as well as many existing jobs formerly held by whites. In some cities, they were hired as strikebreakers , especially during the strikes of 1917. This increased resentment against blacks among many working-class whites, immigrants, and first-generation Americans . In
8932-663: The interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States. During the American Civil War , pro- Confederate Bushwhackers and pro- Union Jayhawkers in Missouri and Kansas respectively engaged in cross border raids, committed acts of violence against civilians and soldiers, stole goods and burned down farms. The most infamous event occurred in Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863, when Quantrill's Raiders led by William Quantrill ransacked
9048-521: The killings as "an anti-Negro pogrom " and pointed out the connections between this pogrom and the pogroms which were taking place in the former Russian empire against Jewish communities by anti-communist forces. On August 12, at its annual convention, the Northeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (NFCWC) denounced the rioting and burning of Negroes' homes, asking President Wilson "to use every means within your power to stop
9164-454: The man’s death. Three weeks later, a mob broke into the jail where the men were being held and captured them. The mob drove them to a desolate area of town and shot them, then they tied Cook’s body to a car and drove it for 50 blocks. The dragging drew attention to the spectacle and mutilated his corpse. On October 4, there was a union strike at Gary’s U.S. Steel mill in Gary, Indiana. This strike
9280-610: The mayor of East St. Louis, was appointed arbitrator of the committee. He helped the committee select special police to guard the property of the railroads from damage. The strike and the new de facto workers' government, while given encouragement by the largely German-American Workingmen's Party and the Knights of Labor (two key players in the organization of the Missouri general strike), were run by no organized labor group. The strike also closed packing industry houses surrounding
9396-454: The middle of the Chicago racial violence against blacks, a federal official told The New York Times that the violence resulted from "an agitation, which involves the I.W.W., Bolshevism and the worst features of other extreme radical movements." He supported that claim with copies of Negro publications that called for alliances with leftist groups, praised the Soviet regime , and contrasted
9512-636: The mob spirit and creates a spirit of bitterness among negroes. In such a state of public mind, a trivial incident can precipitate a riot. Disregard of law and legal process will inevitably lead to more and more frequent clashes and bloody encounters between white men and negroes and a condition of potential race war in many cities of the United States. Unchecked mob violence creates hatred and intolerance, making impossible free and dispassionate discussion not only of race problems, but questions on which races and sections differ. The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities , popularly known as
9628-419: The murderers. The fact that white men had also been lynched in the North, he argued, demonstrated the national nature of the overall problem: "It is idle to suppose that murder can be confined to one section of the country or to one race." He connected the lynchings to the widespread racial riots against blacks in 1919: Persistence of unpunished lynchings of negroes fosters lawlessness among white men imbued with
9744-509: The nation to make statement condemning mob violence and to enforce such military law as situation demands.… On July 21, in Norfolk, Virginia , a white mob attacked a homecoming celebration for African-American veterans of World War I. At least 6 people were shot, and the local police called in Marines and Navy personnel to restore order. Beginning on July 27, the Chicago race riot marked
9860-537: The nearby major center of Cahokia , a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site within the present-day boundaries of Collinsville . A complex urban center estimated to have had a population of perhaps 20,000, this site is about 5 miles (8 km) from East St. Louis. In 2012, archeological work prior to construction of the Stan Musial Bridge across the Mississippi discovered artifacts and evidence of
9976-536: The north of present-day East St. Louis within Collinsville, Illinois . Before the Civil War, settlers reported up to 50 mounds in the area that became East St. Louis, but most were lost to 19th-century development and later roadbuilding. East St. Louis lies within the fertile American Bottom area of the present day Metro East area of St. Louis, Missouri . This name was given after the United States acquired
10092-664: The number of people killed by Muslims in the United States. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism maintains Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States , a database which contains over 1,800 profiles of individuals who have been radicalized by ideologies since 1948. The database shows that from 1948 through 2016, 40.0% of identified extremists were far-right, 24.5% of identified extremists were Islamist and 17.4% of identified extremists were far-left, while 18.2% of identified extremists were "single issue" individuals. In May 2019 and for
10208-408: The population. There were 11,178 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.9% were married couples living together, 40.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.80 and
10324-505: The railyards and commercial districts of East St. Louis. During the storm, 311 buildings were destroyed and 7,200 others were severely damaged. The cost of this loss was estimated to be between $ 10 million and $ 12 million. In 1896 this was a considerable amount of money, as a two-story brick house could be purchased at that time for $ 1,500. East St. Louis in 1917 had a strong industrial economy boosted by America's economic participation in demands related to World War I ; although war
10440-488: The region. This led to a precipitous loss of working and middle-class jobs. The city's financial conditions deteriorated. Elected in 1951, Mayor Alvin Fields tried funding measures that resulted in raising the city's bonded indebtedness and the property tax rate. More businesses closed as workers left the area to seek jobs in other regions. The more established white workers had an easier time gaining jobs in other localities, and
10556-723: The remaining population, live in public housing owned by the East St. Louis Housing Authority. All of these residents make less than $ 9,000 per year, meaning the Authority is highly dependent upon state and federal funding to continue operating its aging housing stock. In 2010, the East St. Louis community gardening movement began to develop plots for "urban farming", as has been done in North St. Louis. Inspired by Detroit 's planned use of vacant land for green development, community associations, nonprofits and universities have collaborated to spark green development in East St. Louis. In
10672-483: The remains of several earthwork mounds . In the East St. Louis area, 50 mounds had been mapped before the Civil War, and seven remain visible today. The largest is estimated to have been originally 40 feet (12 m) high and would have nearly covered a football field. Around the remains of this mound, researchers have discovered evidence of burial mounds, a large plaza, a wooden defensive palisade and several other Mississippian culture structures. These indicate that it
10788-478: The resentment of white workers. The riots and killings were extensively documented by the press , which, along with the federal government , feared socialist and communist influence on the black civil rights movement of the time following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. They also feared foreign anarchists , who had bombed the homes and businesses of prominent figures and government leaders . With
10904-534: The rioting in Chicago and the propaganda used to incite such." At the end of August, the NAACP protested again to the White House, noting the attack on the organization's secretary in Austin, Texas , the previous week. Their telegram read: "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People respectfully enquires how long the Federal Government under your administration intends to tolerate anarchy in
11020-586: The size of the residential population of this site. Discovery of the site led scholars to increase their estimates of the total population of the Mississippians at Cahokia and in the area, now thought to have been about 20,000. They did not have the time to excavate the entire area. It is on private land and subject to risk of destruction by development. East St. Louis is located at 38°37′N 90°8′W / 38.617°N 90.133°W / 38.617; -90.133 (38.616, −90.133). According to
11136-616: The social disruption of the period. The freeways made it easier for residents to commute back and forth from suburban homes, so the wealthier people moved out to newer housing. East St. Louis adopted a number of programs to try to reverse decline: the Model Cities program, the Concentrated Employment Program, and Operation Breakthrough. The programs were not enough to offset the loss of industrial jobs due to national restructuring. In 1971, James E. Williams
11252-472: The stake . The states were unwilling to interfere or prosecute such mob murders. In May, following the first serious racial incidents, W. E. B. Du Bois published his essay "Returning Soldiers": We return from the slavery of uniform which the world's madness demanded us to don to the freedom of civil garb. We stand again to look America squarely in the face and call a spade a spade. We sing: This country of ours, despite all its better souls have done and dreamed,
11368-515: The streets and pulled them from streetcars to beat them. Crowds are reported ...to have directed attacks against any passing negro.… The effect of such riots in the national capital upon race antagonism will be to increase bitterness and danger of outbreaks elsewhere. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People calls upon you as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of
11484-801: The streets. The hysteria led to an eight block mob leaving many unconscious in its wake leading to the state militia and federal troops stepping in to intervene. Martial law was enacted and many historians agree that it was the Riot of 1919 that broke the unions in Gary. This list is primarily, but not exclusively, based on George Edmund Haynes 's report, as summarized in the New York Times (1919). We appeal to you to have your country undertake for its racial minority that which you forced Poland and Austria to undertake for their racial minorities. — National Equal Rights League to President Woodrow Wilson , November 25, 1919 In September 1919, in response to
11600-495: The strikes in the eastern cities during 1877 were accompanied by violence, the late July 1877 St. Louis strike was marked by a bloodless and quick takeover by dissatisfied workers. By July 22, the St. Louis Commune began to take shape, as representatives from almost all the railroad lines met in East St. Louis. They soon elected an executive committee to command the strike and issued General Order No. 1, halting all railroad traffic other than passenger and mail trains. John Bowman ,
11716-476: The summer of 1917, violent racial riots against blacks due to labor tensions broke out in East St. Louis, Illinois , and Houston, Texas . Following the war, rapid demobilization of the military without a plan for absorbing veterans into the job market, and the removal of price controls , led to unemployment and inflation that increased competition for jobs. Jobs were very difficult for African Americans to get in
11832-402: The territory surrounding the city remains undeveloped, bypassed by developers who chose more affluent suburban areas. Many old " inner city " neighborhoods abut large swaths of corn and soybean fields or otherwise vacant land. In addition to agricultural uses, a number of truck stops, strip clubs, and semi-rural businesses surround blighted areas in the city. Over 2,200 people, or over 12% of
11948-460: The top domestic terrorism threat, which FBI director Christopher Wray confirmed in March 2021, noting that the bureau had elevated the threat to the same level as ISIS . A 2017 report by The Nation Institute and the Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed a list of the terrorist incidents which occurred in the US between 2008 and 2016. It found: According to a report which is based on Justice Department figures which were released by
12064-598: The town and murdered about 190 civilians because of the town's anti-slavery sentiment. Other acts of terrorism occurred during the war included the 1863 Chesapeake Affair and the 1864 St. Albans Raid , the former being committed by British subjects. Since the end of the Civil War, organized groups or lone wolf white supremacists have committed many acts of domestic terrorism against African-Americans . This form of terrorism has consisted of lynchings , hate crimes , shootings , bombings and other acts of violence . Such acts of violence overwhelmingly occurred in
12180-433: The turn of the 20th century, they could not vote , run for political office, or serve on juries . The remainder of the defendants were sentenced to prison terms of up to 21 years. Appeals of the convictions of 6 of the defendants went to the U.S. Supreme Court , which reversed the verdicts due to failure of the court to provide due process . This was a precedent for heightened Federal oversight of defendants' rights in
12296-648: The violence. The governor called in National Guard troops to try to control the situation; they arrived July 3, but several accounts reported that they joined in the rioting. Most of the violence ended that day, but reports continued afterward of isolated assaults of blacks. Afterward the city Chamber of Commerce called for the resignation of the Police Chief and greater oversight of police operations. Losses in property damage were high, including railroad warehouses and carloads full of goods that were burned, as well as railroad cars. Though official reports suggested that
12412-460: The white strikers. They did this by first emasculating white strikers then later by paying unrelated black residents of Gary to march in a parade towards the steel mill. On October 4, 1919, hundreds of striking workers assaulted a stalled street car bearing 40 black strikebreakers. At first the mob resorted to heckling, then the throwing of rocks, and eventually, the mob dragged the strikebreakers from their streetcar and beat them, dragging them through
12528-576: Was a ritual center. The 500-acre (200 ha) prehistoric site is now called the East St. Louis Mound Center. The state and University of Illinois are trying to develop coordinated projects with East St. Louis and businesses to use the mounds and artifacts as attractions for heritage tourism . It was built by the Mississippian culture, which extended throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. It reached its peak in this region about AD 1100–1200 at
12644-474: Was born in nearby Alton and grew up in East St. Louis. The 1999 PBS series River of Song featured these musicians in its coverage of music from cities along the Mississippi River. The city suffered from the mid-century restructuring of heavy industry and railroads, which cost widespread loss of jobs. As a number of local factories began to close because of changes in industry, the railroad and meatpacking industries also were cutting back and moving jobs out of
12760-492: Was declared in April, the nation did not meaningfully enter the war until that fall. Industry was dominated by European immigrant workers, who had been coming to industrial cities since the late 19th century. Here and across the country, they repeatedly tried to organize in efforts to gain better wages and working conditions. In the summer of 1916, 2,500 white workers struck the nearby meat packing plants of National City. Companies recruited black workers, sometimes importing them from
12876-501: Was elected as the city's first black mayor. Faced with the overwhelming economic problems, he was unable to make much of a difference. In 1975, William E. Mason was elected mayor; his term marked a return to patronage politics and the city sank deeper into debt and reliance on federal funding. In 1979, Carl Officer was elected as mayor (the youngest in the country at that time, at age 25). Despite hopes for improvement, conditions continued to decline. Middle-class citizens continued to leave
12992-553: Was filmed in East St. Louis. In 1990, the State of Illinois passed (65 ILCS 5/Art. 8 Div. 12) The Financially Distressed City Law. Under this law, Illinois Governor James R. Thompson provided $ 34 million in loans to East St. Louis, with the stipulation that an appointed five-member board, called the East St. Louis Financial Advisory Authority, manage the city's finances. In 1990 the state legislature approved riverboat gambling in an effort to increase state revenues. The opening of
13108-405: Was held by the white labor population of the mill as the union could not recruit the black workers’ support. To break this strike, U.S. Steel hired almost a thousand local and non-local black strikebreakers. These strikebreakers were shipped into Gary for their safety and they were provided cots, entertainment, and overtime pay. At the same time, U.S. Steel turned to theatrics and attempted to agitate
13224-730: Was named an All-America City in 1959 by the National Civic League. East St. Louis celebrated its centennial in 1961. It was known as the "Pittsburgh of the West". Its population had reached a peak of 82,366 residents in the 1950 census, the fourth-largest city in Illinois at the time. Through the 1950s and later, the city's musicians were an integral creative force in blues, rock and roll and jazz. Some left and achieved national recognition, such as Ike & Tina Turner . The jazz great Miles Davis , who became internationally known,
13340-417: Was severed and Hartfield fell from the tree, the mob burned his body. 10,000 whites came to the field to see Hartfield’s murder. Vendors sold trinkets and photographs. Newspapers reported that a resentful Hartfield’s last words were a warning for all men to think before they do wrong. This statement from the papers seems highly unlikely due to the state of Hartfield’s injuries and his attempt to run away for over
13456-552: Was the fourth-largest city in Illinois when its population peaked at 82,366. As of the 2020 census , the city had a population of 18,469, less than one-quarter of the 1950 census and a decline of almost one third since 2010 . A recent addition to the city's waterfront is the Gateway Geyser . On the grounds of Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park , the fountain is the second-tallest in the world. Designed to complement
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