On This Day in 1906: The Atlanta Race Massacre Begins

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A jar of soil sits on display at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta on June 10, 2022. The Stories from the Soil exhibit honors lynching victims with collected soil from those sites where incidents occurred. The jar represents unknown victims who were killed during the Atlanta Race Massacre. (AP Photo/Sharon Johnson)
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(AURN News) — On Sept. 22, 1906, 120 years ago today, the Atlanta Race Massacre began.

Atlanta newspapers published sensational, unverified and in some cases fabricated reports claiming Black men had assaulted white women. The stories fueled racial hysteria and helped incite white mobs to descend on Black neighborhoods and businesses.

Over several days, mobs beat and murdered Black residents, destroyed property and terrorized a thriving Black community. Estimates of the death toll vary, but historians generally place the number of Black people killed between 25 and 40, along with two white people.

A view shows Peachtree Street in Atlanta, June 10, 2022. Few have been taught about the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, which shaped the city’s geography, economy, society and power structure in lasting ways. Much like the Red Summer of 1919 in the South and Northeast and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 in Oklahoma would years later, the white-on-Black violence in Atlanta shattered dreams of racial harmony and forced thousands from their homes. (AP Photo/Sharon Johnson )

The violence exposed how white-owned newspapers, political leaders and racist propaganda could turn fabricated accusations into deadly mob violence.

The massacre also devastated Atlanta’s Black business and social life, forcing many families to flee or relocate.

Today, the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre remains a stark example of racial terror in the Jim Crow South.

Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Clay Cane. Follow @claycane & @aurnonline for more.

Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, writer, radio host, and political commentator. A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in African-American Studies, his work on race, culture, and politics have appeared in national publications, including the Washington Post, CNN, and The Grio. Clay is a regular political commentator on MSNBC. Twitter: @claycane
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