A Level History - America - Practice Exam

The event that sparked significant race riots in Chicago in 1919 was indeed the drowning of an African-American teenager. This incident occurred during a hot summer day when a group of Black teenagers was swimming at a segregated beach. One of the boys, Eugene Williams, inadvertently crossed the invisible line that separated the areas designated for Black and white beachgoers. As a result, he was struck by a rock thrown by a white teenager, leading to his drowning.

The response from the Black community was fierce and immediate, igniting tensions that had been simmering due to the social and economic inequalities perpetuated by the Great Migration, during which many African Americans moved to northern cities for better opportunities. This event became a flashpoint for racial violence, leading to several days of riots that resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, extensive property damage, and heightened racial tensions in the city.

In contrast, while the election of a Black mayor, the birth of a Black civil rights organization, or new segregation laws might have contributed to the broader context of race relations during that time, none of those occurrences specifically triggered the immediate unrest that followed Eugene Williams' tragic drowning.