A deadly race riot in New Orleans left 28 people dead, exposing the brutal racial violence faced by Black Americans under Jim Crow.
Key Facts
- Total killed
- 28 people
- Wounded
- More than 50 people
- Hospitalized
- At least 11 people
- Duration
- July 24–27, 1900
- Trigger
- Robert Charles shot a white police officer during an altercation
- Robert Charles background
- Self-educated civil rights activist from Mississippi, b. c.1865
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
African-American laborer and civil rights activist Robert Charles fatally shot a white police officer during an altercation on July 23, 1900, after which he evaded arrest. His act of armed self-defense, rooted in his advocacy for Black self-defense and emigration to Liberia, triggered a large police manhunt and inflamed racial tensions already deeply embedded in New Orleans society.
Between July 24 and 27, 1900, a white mob rioted across New Orleans, attacking Black residents throughout the city while authorities pursued Charles. Charles was eventually located and killed on July 27 by a special police volunteer; his body was subsequently desecrated by the mob. The riots lasted four days and involved widespread violence targeting the Black population.
A total of 28 people died and more than 50 were wounded, with Black residents comprising most of the casualties. White mob violence continued even after Charles was killed. The riots drew national attention to the systemic racial terror endured by Black Americans in the post-Reconstruction South and prompted civil rights activist Ida B. Wells to publish a pamphlet documenting the events.
Political Outcome
White mob violence killed 28 people, predominantly Black, with no significant legal accountability; the riots underscored the failure of law enforcement to protect Black citizens under Jim Crow.
Racial tensions in New Orleans maintained by Jim Crow laws and police enforcement targeting Black residents
Entrenched white supremacist order reaffirmed through mob violence and official inaction