East St. Louis Riots of 1917
In 1917, white workers of the Aluminum Ore Company in East St. Louis went on a massive strike. This prompted the management of the company to employ African-Americans and a few other willing white people to work. And that decision started one of the deadliest riots in America.
On July 2, 1917, the East St. Louis, Illinois race riot erupted, leading to the slaughtering of at least 100 African-Americans (some sources put the figure at nearly 200) with over 6,000 others left homeless. By comparison, eight whites died.
