CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot marked the 100th anniversary of the 1919 race riots by vowing the city will chart a more equitable future.
Lightfoot made the pledge during a commemoration of the violence that has become known as Red Summer. That is when race riots spread across the United States as whites attacked blacks seeking equal rights, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured.
In Chicago , a black teen swimming in Lake Michigan was struck in the head with a rock and drowned after drifting toward the white section and angering beachgoers. A week of riots followed the death of 17-year-old Eugene Williams, with 38 people killed and more than 500 injured.
Lightfoot on Monday spoke about the “forces of justice and injustice” that Chicago is “still reckoning with a century later.” She pointed to endemic poverty, inadequate health care and violence as problems the city must overcome.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.