Across America in 1919 there was a bloodbath of events that terrorised and victimised Black communities across the U.S.A. We list a timeline of 37 brutal riots and attacks from Louisiana to Chicago. 
President Woodrow Wilson and the FBI blamed Black people for the actions of the white mobs, accusing NAACP and others of agitating and even of being Bolsheviks, but it would be very wrong to see all of those Black people as passive, in fact those in some of the major Northern cities fought back and resisted the brutality that they faced.
The legacy of these events has not gone away, the actions of the police, the FBI and Government set a tone that was not new but it is clear that Black people, especially returning soldiers were no longer willing to put their rage against injustice back in the box it was simply one step too far.
There was more happening in America than race riots but we will come to that in a later episode, In this episode we provide a context and set out the attitude of Government.