Black Lives History Timeline: 1900 - The New York Race Riot

1900: The New York City Race Riot
The inciting event which caused the riot was when a Black man, Arthur J. Harris, saw an undercover cop assault his girlfriend because the cop assumed her to be a prostitute, and wanted to arrest her. Harris stabbed him, and he died the next day. The day before the cop's funeral, a fight broke out between a Black man and a white man. The Black man was nearly beaten to death by a white mob that gathered due to the fight. The mob soon descended on the Black community in the area, assaulting any Black person they found. Many Black people stayed at work rather than exposing themselves to the mob. When police descended on the riot, Black people were disproportionately arrested, taken to jail for the riot, and many were severely beaten while in custody. For more than a month, violence continued, almost all of which was blamed on Black people. No police were ever blamed for any of the violence at all. Harris was eventually arrested and convicted of the cop's murder. He died 8 years later in prison.

Sources:

• Library of Congress: New York City Race Riot, August 1900
• The New York City Race Riot
• The Story of NYC's Tenderloin Race Riot in 1900
• New York City's 1900 "Race Riot"
• Tenderloin Race Riot

As you can see from my sources above, this is the first piece I've written where there is not a specific Wikipedia article about this moment. It's possible it's part of a larger article, or under another name than one of several that I used to look for sources, but the fact that it is hard to find says a lot about this moment in time. Because it was "started" by a Black man defending his girlfriend, he's the one seen as at fault, even though the cop obviously profiled his girlfriend just because she was Black. I'm not saying he should have been killed, but I do think he shares the fault in this moment as much as the two Black people he got into a conflict with. I find it disheartening that so many of these events fall under two categories when they are described: "Race Riot" or "Lynching." My next article will cover another lynching.