In his autobiography, A Man Called White, Walter White Jr. described his experience during the riot. Even after reading the headlines throughout the day he was not affected since such incendiary articles had been increasingly common during the months of the election. White was thirteen years old on 22 September 1906, he would often accompany his father on his mail route which he did on this day as well even though there were rumors of a race riot already in the early afternoon. In the early afternoon the Whites spot a lame shoe shiner from a barbershop owned by Alonzo Herndon, the most affluent black man in Atlanta. The man made a futile attempt to escape the mob of whites but was beaten to death and the mob quickly moved on to a new target.
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While Atlanta had previously lacked clear demarcation between the races, after the riot the city became more segregated which was supported by white supremacy that was bolstered by white rioters’ impunity. Jim Crow became the law of the land leading to more difficulties in black men voting, especially after Hoke Smith won the governorship. Economically, the black business community was adversely affected as successful blacks fled to the north. Days after the riot the Constitution reported that “thousands of negroes, the best class of the race, the law-abiding class, collecting their property and their savings and leaving Atlanta! Business in almost total stagnation for three days.” One such casualty of the riot was J. Max Barber’s The Voice of the Negro. Following the riot Barber moved to Chicago where he attempted to restart his magazine under a new name, The Voice, but it folded in 1907. Internal tensions within the African-American community also increased when it came to decide how best to further equality. In 1895 Booker T. Washington gave his famous Atlanta Compromise speech where he encouraged black advancement through education and commerce rather than pushing for equal political rights. W.E.B. DuBois on the other hand believed in a more direct-action approach to obtaining and maintaining their political rights. He was a member of the Niagara Movement which opposed Washington’s Atlanta Compromise and its gradualist approach and considered political power through the vote to be the most effective and quickest way to equality. This divide between two prominent leaders in the African-American community led to The Ku Klux Klan also made its return in 1915 outside Atlanta at Stone Mountain. Strengthened by a temperance movement that came from the contempt felt toward and the blame associated with black dive bars, they saw themselves as protectors of
While Atlanta had previously lacked clear demarcation between the races, after the riot the city became more segregated which was supported by white supremacy that was bolstered by white rioters’ impunity. Jim Crow became the law of the land leading to more difficulties in black men voting, especially after Hoke Smith won the governorship. Economically, the black business community was adversely affected as successful blacks fled to the north. Days after the riot the Constitution reported that “thousands of negroes, the best class of the race, the law-abiding class, collecting their property and their savings and leaving Atlanta! Business in almost total stagnation for three days.” One such casualty of the riot was J. Max Barber’s The Voice of the Negro. Following the riot Barber moved to Chicago where he attempted to restart his magazine under a new name, The Voice, but it folded in 1907. Internal tensions within the African-American community also increased when it came to decide how best to further equality. In 1895 Booker T. Washington gave his famous Atlanta Compromise speech where he encouraged black advancement through education and commerce rather than pushing for equal political rights. W.E.B. DuBois on the other hand believed in a more direct-action approach to obtaining and maintaining their political rights. He was a member of the Niagara Movement which opposed Washington’s Atlanta Compromise and its gradualist approach and considered political power through the vote to be the most effective and quickest way to equality. This divide between two prominent leaders in the African-American community led to The Ku Klux Klan also made its return in 1915 outside Atlanta at Stone Mountain. Strengthened by a temperance movement that came from the contempt felt toward and the blame associated with black dive bars, they saw themselves as protectors of