Race riots have stained the fabric of American history, leaving behind tragic stories of violence, terror and resistance.
From the New York City Draft Riots of 1863 to the Red Summer of 1919, these uprisings gave white supremacist violence a space to spill from the nation’s pores into Black communities already struggling to find their place in a changing America.
One lesser-known flashpoint that rarely receives the attention it deserves is the Robert Charles Riots of 1900 in New Orleans—a pivotal moment at the dawn of Jim Crow, marked by individual Black defiance and a white backlash that almost tore a city apart…