Silent Parade | |
---|---|
Part of the reaction to the East St. Louis riots and anti-lynching movement | |
Date | July 28, 1917 |
Location | 40°45′47″N 73°58′26″W / 40.76306°N 73.97389°W |
Caused by | Black people deaths during the East St. Louis riots |
Goals | To protest murders, lynchings, and other anti-black violence; to promote anti-lynching legislation, and promote black causes |
Methods | Parade/public demonstration |
Resulted in | Woodrow Wilson not implementing anti-lynching legislation |
The Negro Silent Protest Parade,[1] commonly known as the Silent Parade, was a silent march of about 10,000 African Americans along Fifth Avenue starting at 57th Street in New York City on July 28, 1917. The event was organized by the NAACP, church, and community leaders to protest violence directed towards African Americans, such as recent lynchings in Waco and Memphis. The parade was precipitated by the East St. Louis riots in May and July 1917 where at least 40 black people were killed by white mobs, in part touched off by a labor dispute where blacks were used for strike breaking.[2][3]