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<h2>Robert Charles Riots (1900)</h2>
<p>The Robert Charles Riots began when whites in New Orleans became
infuriated after Robert Charles, an African-American, shot several
white police officers on July 23, 1900. A manhunt for Charles began
after he fled after an altercation with New Orleans police officers.
The race riots lasted over four days and claimed 28 casualties,
including Charles. </p>
<p>
Robert Charles came to New Orleans from Mississippi and was a
self-educated, articulate activist. He believed in self-defense for
the African-American community and encouraged African-Americans in the
United States to move to Liberia to escape racial discrimination.
</p>
<p>
On the night of July 23, 1900, three white police officers, Sergeant
Jules C. Aucion, Joseph D. Cantrelle, and August T. Mora, found Charles
and his roommate, Leonard Pierce, sitting on a porch in a predominantly
white neighborhood. After some police harassment, Charles and Mora drew
their guns and exchanged shots. Although neither was killed, Charles
fled to his residence for refuge. Later in the evening, the police
interrogated Pierce to determine the location of Charles’ home. Upon
the policemen’s arrival at his house, Charles fired his rifle in their
direction, killing two officers, including the chief, Captain Day.
While the rest of the officers sought cover, Charles fled the scene,
leading to a police manhunt.
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<p>
The next day, a crowd of white New Orleans residents gathered at the
location where the policemen were killed and called for the lynching of
Charles. Numerous events of lawlessness and civil unrest as mobs of
whites roamed the city to terrorize the city's African-American
community occurred over the next three days. On July 25, three
African-Americans were killed, 11 others were hospitalized and over 50
were injured. Exacerbating the rioting were local newspapers reporting
that African-Americans were to blame for the unrest. Also some
African-Americans provided assistance to Charles while others were
sympathetic because of the growing voting and civil rights restrictions
in the city long known for its racial tolerance.
</p>
<p>
On July 27, the police and white vigilantes surrounded another house
where Charles had taken refuge. An ensuing shootout occurred throughout
the day between the men outside and Charles, who returned the fire. The
police then decided to set the building on fire. As Charles attempted
to escape the smoke-filled building, Charles Noiret – a Tulane
University medical student who was assisting the police – shot and
killed Charles. In anger, the mob of bystanders continued to beat and
fire their guns at Charles’s body.
</p>
<p>
By week’s end, Charles had shot a total of 27 whites, killing seven,
including four police officers. The rioting ended when New Orleans
Mayor Paul Capdeville deputized 1,500 special police and asked for
assistance from the state militia.<br>
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<p><strong>Sources:</strong><br>
William Ivy Hair, <i>Carnival of Fury: Robert Charles and the New
Orleans Race Riot of 1900</i> (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 1976);
Joel Williamson, <i>The Crucible of Race: Black-White Relations in the
American South Since Emancipation </i>(New York: Oxford University
Press, 1984). </p>
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