Amanda Jones
White-on-Black Crime in Chicago during the 1950s
July 30, 1953, Betty and Donald Howard were the first black couple to move into the Trumbull Park Homes. The integration was accidental because the Chicago Housing Authority assumed Betty Howard, a fair-skinned African American, was white. Crowds of whites directed fireworks, rocks, and racial epithets towards the Howard’s apartment, the night of August 5, and these activities continued for weeks. The community pressured politicians and the CHA to remove the Howards, but in October an additional 10 black families moved in, stirring up more white-on-black violence. The police were able prevent a full-scale riot, but violence continued. Not until ten years later could African Americans safely visit the neighboring park without police protection (Hunt, 2005).
Incidents like Trumbull Park Homes were not uncommon. Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote A Raisin in the Sun, faced similar problems as a child when her family moved into a white neighborhood. The discrimination they faced led to a civil rights case (Liukkonen, 2003).


References
Hunt, D. B. (2005). Trumbull Park Homes Race Riots, 1953-1954. Retrieved March 12, 2007, from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2461.html
Liukkonen, P. (2003). Lorraine Hansberry. Retrieved March 12, 2007, from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/corhans.htm