The Atlanta race riot of 1906—more aptly called the Atlanta Race Massacre—was a four‑day wave of white mob violence against Black Atlantans in late September 1906, triggered by sensationalized reports of alleged assaults on white women by Black men. At least several dozen African Americans were killed, hundreds were injured, and Black homes and businesses were destroyed while authorities largely failed to protect the Black community.britannica+2
Rapid Black economic and political advancement in Atlanta at the turn of the century provoked white anxiety in the context of Jim Crow segregation and disfranchisement campaigns.georgiaencyclopedia+1
In the days just before the violence, Atlanta newspapers ran repeated, lurid, and unsubstantiated reports of alleged rapes of white women by Black men, heightening white fears and rage.wikipedia+2
On the evening of Saturday, September 22, thousands of white men and boys gathered downtown near Five Points and quickly turned into mobs that beat, stabbed, and shot Black people on streets and streetcars.atlantahistorycenter+2
White mobs invaded Black neighborhoods, burning and looting homes and businesses, including the prominent Alonzo Herndon’s barbershop; militia units were eventually deployed, but violence and raids on Black communities continued for several days.fultonremembrance+2
The exact number of deaths is unknown and contested: official figures list roughly 10–25 Black deaths, but contemporary and later estimates range from 25 to perhaps 40 or even as many as 100 African Americans killed, along with 2 white deaths.britannica+3
Mobs destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 Black homes and businesses, and hundreds of Black residents were injured or forced to flee the city to seek safety.wikipedia+2
Some Black residents, particularly in the Brownsville community, armed themselves for self‑defense, leading to armed confrontations in which at least one white officer was killed and many Black men were arrested and disarmed.georgiaencyclopedia+2
In the aftermath, white civic leaders promoted a rhetoric of “reconciliation” while Black elites and white businessmen negotiated a more rigidly segregated city, deepening class and spatial divisions within Black Atlanta.fultonremembrance+1
For much of the 20th century the event was framed as a “race riot,” a phrase that implies mutual combat and minimizes the asymmetry of terror, but many historians and local remembrance projects now insist on “Atlanta Race Massacre” to emphasize that it was a one‑sided white assault on Black civilians.atlantahistorycenter+2
Recent public history initiatives, documentaries, and memorial efforts in Atlanta highlight the massacre as a key episode in the history of racial violence in the South and a precursor to later civil rights struggles in the city.youtubewabe+1