Anatomy of Four Race Riots: Racial Conflict in Knoxville, Elaine (Arkansas), Tulsa, and Chicago, 1919-1921 [Paperback]

Lee E. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999

A study of the terrible racial violence that erupted in four different communities of America after World War I

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

A study of the terrible racial violence that erupted in four different communities of America after World War I --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Books on Demand (January 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0783714017
• ISBN-13: 978-0783714011
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,523,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sweeping Generalities, December 31, 2010

By 

Jordan733 (El Paso, TX United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Anatomy of Four Race Riots: Racial Conflict in Knoxville, Elaine (Arkansas), Tulsa, and Chicago, 1919–1921 (Kindle Edition)

(Re-released from 1972)

This book was a disappointment to me both due to the price of the Kindle download ($15.00!) and that it promised to explain in detail the historical events before, during and after four tragic race riots. Instead I feel that this work was used as a platform to express nothing more than sweeping generalities about Black and White racial interactions. Had this been the work of a novelist or a layperson just entering the field of activism this would have been acceptable but as this was written by accredited historians, the book fell far short of my expectations. The writing was average at best, with the authors choosing to include a multitude of insulting racial slurs in quotations as if someone had said them or as if they were so common as to simply be implied. Normally when an author generalizes it's easy enough to see that they are not referring to all members of that group. In this book it was much harder to do.

Statements such as, "It [referring to lynchings] served the function of providing Whites with the means of periodically reaffirming their collective sentiment of White Dominance," are common throughout this book. The overuse of quotation marks, both annotated and unannotated left me often wondering exactly whose words were being quoted.

Once the authors finally began discussing the individual riots, I found that the information lacked depth and a sense of completeness. In the Knoxville, Tennessee riot of 1919 for instance the catalyst, Maurice Mays may have been falsely accused and later executed for the crime that ignited this tragedy. There's no way to know at this point, but it would seem unlikely that he committed the crime of which he was charged. However as if following a completely different agenda than documenting the events, the authors appear to barely recognize that, in addition to this man there were many others hurt or whose stores (which in 1919 probably meant their livelihoods) were looted and even destroyed by rioters. The authors dedicate a good bit of time to describing how rioters had taken up sniper positions in order to keep a group of Blacks barricaded at the end of an alley but almost dismiss that the snipers were firing primarily on the police and National Guardsmen, even though one of the police officers was killed as well.

In my opinion, the following quote which was the only summation of the wounded is yet another example of the single-mindedness of the authors. "Untold hundreds were wounded and seven persons lost their lives."

This was not a case where a riot was allowed to go without any attempt at stopping the violence. This rabid pack of rioters were not seen as "the good guys." As horrific as this night was authorities did fight to regain control, sending twice for reinforcements. This type of "oversight" of the total number of victims regardless of race, would again be acceptable if this had been advertised as a treatise on the treatment of Black Americans between 1919-1921. It was not advertised as such and so the monologue seems out of place and without adequate supporting documentation to make it historically relevant.

Lastly, events such as these in American history cannot be allowed to define us, but neither can they be forgotten. In documenting these events the authors have done history a service. While I cannot say I would recommend this book, I would recommend taking the time to read and learn of the history of the struggle to bring Civil Rights to this country and as we continue to move forward, to the world at large.