14 Aug 1908 Jahr - Springfield race riot of 1908

Beschreibung:

From August 14th - 16th, 1908 a mob 5,000 strong of white Americans and European immigrants ravaged Springfields African American community. The riot was incited by the news that two black suspects in an alleged rape and attempted rape and murder of three local whites were transferred out of the city, thwarting the mobs' original plot to lynch the suspects.
At least sixteen people died as a result of the riot: nine black residents, and seven white residents who were associated with the mob, five of whom were killed by state militia and two committed suicide. It was mistakenly reported for decades that blacks were responsible for white deaths and that more whites than blacks had died. Personal and property damages, suffered overwhelmingly by blacks, amounted to more than $150,000 (approximately $4 million in 2018), as dozens of black homes and businesses were destroyed, as well as three white-owned businesses of suspected black sympathizers.

This event in part inspired the founding of the NAACP in 1909.