The Atlanta race riot of 1906 was a racist pogrom in Atlanta, Georgia (United States), which began the evening of September 22 and lasted until September 24, 1906. It was characterized at the time by Le Petit Journal and other media outlets as a racial massacre of negroes.[1] The death toll of the conflict is to this day unknown and disputed, but officially at least 25 African Americans [2] along with two confirmed European Americans;[3] Unofficial reports ranged from 10 -100 African Americans and 2 European Americans were killed during the riots. According to the Atlanta History Center, some African Americans were hanged from lamposts during the actual riot. The main cause of the race riot was newspaper-publicized rapes of four white women in separate incidents, allegedly by African American men.

Atlanta considered itself to be a prime example of how whites and blacks could live together in racial harmony; however, with the end of the American Civil War, an increased tension between black and white wage-workers began. As Atlanta became known as the rail hub of the South, workers from all over the country began to flood the city. This resulted in a drastic increase in both the African-American population (9,000 in 1880 to 35,000 in 1900) and the White population as individuals sought prosperous economic opportunities.[4] With this influx of individuals and the subsequent increase in the demand for jobs, race relations in Atlanta became increasingly strained.[4] These tensions were further exacerbated by increasing rights for blacks, which included the right to vote. With these increased rights, African Americans began entering the realm of politics, establishing businesses and gaining notoriety as a stratifying social class in the eyes of the white population. These newly acquired African-American rights and status brought increased competition between blacks and whites for jobs and heightened class distinctions.[5] [6]

These tensions came to a boil with the gubernatorial election of 1906 in which M.