Tensions exploded in East St. Louis, Illinois, when a race riot broke out amid growing hostility toward African American workers who had migrated north during the Great Migration. On this day, violence erupted, resulting in the death of at least one Black man. This marked the beginning of a wave of unrest that would escalate into one of the deadliest race riots in American history by July 1917, ultimately claiming dozens of lives and leaving the Black community devastated.
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