Occupied Territory Justice, Power, and Politics Coeditors Heather Ann Thompson Rhonda Y. Williams Editorial Advisory Board Peniel E. Joseph Daryl Maeda Barbara Ransby Vicki L. Ruiz Marc Stein The Justice, Power, and Politics series publishes new works in history that explore the myriad struggles for justice, battles for power, and shifts in politics that have shaped the United States over time. Through the lenses of justice, power, and politics, the series seeks to broaden scholarly debates about America’s past as well as to inform public discussions about its future. More information on the series, including a complete list of books published, is available at http://justicepowerandpolitics.com/. t oCcupied e r POLICiNG BLAcK R cHICAGO FRoM i T RED SUMmeR TO o r bLACK POWER y simon Balto The University of North Carolina Press | Chapel Hill This book was published with the assistance of the Authors Fund of the University of North Carolina Press. © 2019 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by April Leidig Set in Arnhem by Copperline Book Services The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Cover photograph courtesy of the Chicago History Museum Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Balto, Simon, author. Title: Occupied territory : policing black Chicago from Red Summer to black power / by Simon Balto. Other titles: Justice, power, and politics. Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2019] | Series: Justice, power, and politics | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2018049256| isbn 9781469649597 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9781469649603 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Chicago (Ill.) Police Department—History—20th century. | Discrimination in law enforcement—Illinois—Chicago—History—20th century. | African Americans—Civil rights—Illinois—Chicago—History— 20th century. | Chicago (Ill.)—Race relations—History—20th century. Classification: lcc hv8148.c4 b35 2019 | ddc 363.2/308900977311—dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049256 For those who dream and work to bring about a better world, and in memory of my mother, who spent her life doing both of those things This page intentionally left blank Contents Abbreviations xi I ntroduction: Overpoliced and Underprotected in America 1 P rologue: The Promised Land and the Devil’s Sanctum: The Risings of the Chicago Police Department and Black Chicago 13 1 Negro Distrust of the Police Increased: Migration, Prohibition, and Regime- Building in the 1920s 26 2 You Can’t Shoot All of Us: Radical Politics, Machine Politics, and Law and Order in the Great Depression 56 3 Whose Police?: Race, Privilege, and Policing in Postwar Chicago 91 4 The Law Has a Bad Opinion of Me: Chicago’s Punitive Turn 123 5 Occupied Territory: Reform and Racialization 154 6 Shoot to Kill: Rebellion and Retrenchment in Post–Civil Rights Chicago 190 7 Do You Consider Revolution to Be a Crime?: Fighting for Police Reform 222 E pilogue: Attending to the Living 256 Acknowledgments 263 Notes 269 Bibliography 313 Index 333 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations Maps xiv Map 1. Chicago community areas, indicating areas of major black residency, 1920 xv M ap 2. Chicago community areas, indicating areas of major black residency, 1970 Figures 28 Chicago police officers stand over a black victim of the 1919 riot 31 A crowd of black men gathers on the South Side during the 1919 riot 33 Chicago police officers and a soldier with the Illinois National Guard on a South Side street corner during the 1919 riot 36 Political cartoonist Cecil Jensen comments on the deep politicization of the cpd 107 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an incident of police violence against Joseph Clay 108 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an incident of police violence against Tommy Melson 109 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an incident of police violence against Joseph Murray 121 cpd officers arrest and beat a black Chicago man, 1958 122 cpd officers arrest a black Chicago man, 1958 183 cpd officers gather in Garfield Park during the urban rebellion of 1965 184 cpd officers occupy a Chicago street corner 185 cpd officers handle crowd control as racists gather to oppose the Chicago Freedom Movement