The 1917 Massacre America Forgot On July 2, 1917, white mobs in East St. Louis, Illinois, committed one of the worst racial massacres in American history. Thousands of white residents attacked Black neighborhoods, stopping streetcars to drag Black passengers into the streets and beat them to death. They cut fire hoses and set entire blocks ablaze, then shot Black residents—men, women, and children—as they fled the flames. The Illinois National Guard was ordered not to shoot white rioters; some s