Chicago Commission on Race Relations

The Chicago Commission on Race Relations was a non-partisan, interracial investigative committee, appointed by Illinois governor Frank Lowden. The commission was set up after the Chicago riots of July and August 1919 in "which thirty-eight lives were lost, twenty-three Negros and fifteen whites, and 537 persons were injured".[1] The purpose of the commission was to investigate the causes of the Riot and make recommendations to prevent a tragedy like this from reoccurring.[2] The research was the first extensive research on interracial Black-white relations conducted in Chicago funded by a government agency.

The sociological study was published in 1922 by the University of Chicago Press as The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot. The study included a substantial review of the background of the riots, the riots themselves, and their aftermath, together with original work and investigation into the relations between and perceptions of the black and white communities in Chicago. The Negro in Chicago ran to 672 pages with a number of plates, plans and other additional matter.

The Chicago Commission on Race Relations (1922). The Negro in Chicago: a study of race relations and a race riot. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. xxiv, 672. OCLC 594678.

The Commission

The Chicago Commission on Race Relations was composed of eighty-one citizens, representing forty-eight social, civic, commercial, and professional organizations of Chicago.[3] Before conducting the research, the commission felt that a strong emphasis should be placed on understanding the life of the Negro in Chicago, in particular the relations between the two races. The following six subcommittees were created: Committee on Racial Clashes, Committee on Housing, Committee on Industry, Committee on Crime, Committee on Racial Contracts, Committee on Public Opinion.[4]

Chicago at this time experienced a drastic increase of Black migration from the South. World War I brought industrial jobs to cities in the North but many of these jobs were only available to whites. The arrival of black people in northern cities led to an increase in rent in underdeveloped neighborhoods and white flight. Expansion of the ghetto caused friction among white residents "that bombs were thrown at black owned homes".[5] The research was conducted by a series of "conferences or informal hearings, and through research and fieldwork carried on by staff or trained investigator".[6] Chicago neighborhoods were classified into four groups: (1) mixed, unadjusted neighborhoods; (2) mixed, adjusted neighborhoods; (3) contested areas; and (4) neighborhoods that are entirely white or negro.[7]

The study concluded that there were no immediate solutions to remedy the tensions between the racial groups and suggested that "through mutual understanding and sympathy between the races will be followed by harmony and co-operation".[8]

Records

The records of the commission are stored in the Illinois State Archives.

References

  1. ↑ "The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press. NaN. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ "The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press. NaN. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ↑ "The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press. NaN. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ "The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press. NaN. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ Hamilton, with afterwords by the authors Kwame Ture & Charles V. (1992). Black power : the politics of liberation in America (Vintage ed.). New York: Vintage Books. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0-679-74313-2.
  6. ↑ "The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press. NaN. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ↑ Drake, St Clair; Cayton, Horace R. (10 November 2015). "Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City". University of Chicago Press.
  8. ↑ Drake, St Clair; Cayton, Horace R. (10 November 2015). "Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City". University of Chicago Press.


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