The Second American Civil War: Red Summer (1917-1923)

The spring, summer, and fall of 1919 were collectively kinown as the Red Summer. During that time, race riots exploded across both the Northern and Southern United States. By far the most violent and deadliest episode occurred in Elaine, Arkansas.

On September 30, a small group of black men and women gathered at a church in Phillips County to organize a sharecroppers' and tenant farmers' union known as the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America. Shots were fired when two white law-enforcement officers arrived at the church, one later claiming they were looking for a bootlegger, shots were exchanged, killing one officer and wounding the other. When word of the shootings spread throughout the countyOne white officer was killed and the other wounded. As word of the shootings spread throughout the county, the local sheriff sent out a call for white men in Arkansas and Mississippi "to hunt Mr. N*gger in his lair." Hundreds of armed men jumped into trains, trucks, and cars crossed into Arkansas from Mississippi, firing at every black they saw, some even considering it target practice. The massacre lasted until October 3 when soldiers from the United States Army attempted to restore order. Government sources cite between 100 and 237 blacks dead along with 5 whites, their bodies dumped in the Mississippi River or left to rot in the canebrake.

In the coming days, race riots in cities nationwide sprung up, larger in size and more numerous than ever before, lasting roughly a month. Not only African-Americans were targeted but this time Southern and Eastern European immigrants were too. Dozens of innocent people were killed en masse.

On October 31, 1919, the all-white Phillips County (Arkansas) grand jury charged 122 African Americans with crimes ranging from murder to nightriding. The trials began the next week. On November 5, 1919, the first twelve black men given trials had been convicted of murder and given the death penalty via the electric chair. These men became known as the Elaine Twelve. The NCAAP then assembled an emergency meeting at its headquarters in New York City. It was becoming clear that the future of American-Americans of United States was becoming bleak.