Racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska occurred mostly because of the city's volatile mixture of high numbers of new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and African-American migrants from the Deep South. While racial discrimination existed at several levels, the violent outbreaks were within working classes. Irish Americans, the largest and earliest immigrant group in the 19th century, established the first neighborhoods in South Omaha. All were attracted by new industrial jobs, and most were from rural areas. There was competition among ethnic Irish, newer European immigrants, and African-American migrants from the South, for industrial jobs and housing. They all had difficulty adjusting to industrial demands, which were unmitigated by organized labor in the early years. Some of the early labor organizing resulted in increasing tensions between groups, as later arrivals to the city were used as strikebreakers.

In Omaha as in other major cities, racial tension has erupted at times of social and economic strife, often taking the form of mob violence as different groups tried to assert power. Much of the early violence came out of labor struggles in early 20th century industries: between working class ethnic whites and immigrants, and blacks of the Great Migration. Meatpacking companies had used the latter for strikebreakers in 1917 as workers were trying to organize. As veterans returned from World War I, both groups competed for jobs. By the late 1930s, however, interracial teams worked together to organize the meatpacking industry under the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). Unlike the AFL and some other industrial unions in the CIO, UPWA was progressive. It used its power to help end segregation in restaurants and stores in Omaha, and supported the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Women labor organizers such as Tillie Olsen and Rowena Moore were active in the meatpacking industry in the 1930s and 1940s, respectively.

Most violence and civil unrest in the 1960s, by contrast, arose out of poverty and problems caused by massive loss of working-class jobs through industrial restructuring. The city's African-American community suffered particularly and erupted in protest.

19th century The Nebraska Territory was created in 1854 with the condition that the area stay slave-free. But, from 1855 on, there was debate in the Territorial Legislature about whether slavery should specifically be prohibited. As there were few slaves in the state, some legislators did not think the bill was needed.Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press. In 1859, the Daily Nebraskian newspaper reported its favoring of slavery, writing,

The bill introduced in [Omaha City] Council, for the abolition of slavery in this Territory, was called up yesterday, and its further consideration postponed for two weeks. A strong effort will be made among the Republicans to secure its passage; we think, however, it will fail. The farce certainly cannot be enacted if the Democrats do their duty.A Daily Nebraskian newspaper editorial from 1859, as quoted in Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press.

During that period, some local newspapers openly editorialized against the presence of blacks in Omaha, for the Confederacy and against the election of Abraham Lincoln.Several sources in Bristow, D. (2002) The 1860 census showed that of the 81 Negroes in Nebraska, only 10 were slaves.(1938) Authur Goodlett. American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940.

Because a clause in the original proposed Nebraska State Constitution limited voting rights in the state to "free white males", as had been common in many states, Nebraska was delayed about a year from entering the Union. In 1865, the Nebraska Territorial Legislature changed the proposed State Constitution to provide expanded suffrage. The territory gained statehood soon after.

Following the Civil War, enough blacks lived in Omaha to organize St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1867 as the first church for African Americans in Nebraska.(2003) The Negroes of Nebraska: The Negro goes to church. Memorial Library. The first recorded birth of an African American was that of William Leper, recorded in Omaha in 1872.(1895) "Negroes in Omaha," Omaha Progress February 21, 1895. In 1891, a mob lynched George Smith, an African American man, for allegedly raping a white woman. No one was charged in his murder.Bristow, D. (2002)

20th century

In the early 20th century, social tensions of the rapidly industrializing city absorbing waves of new immigrants and migrants broke out in riots between ethnic minorities. The riots included extensive property damage and some deaths.

South Omaha

South Omaha was where many different immigrant groups established their own neighborhoods. These ranged from Sheelytown for ethnic Irish to Polish and Czech. Little Italy and Little Bohemia closely bordered South Omaha at its north boundary as well. The immigrants comprised most of the workers at the stockyards and meatpacking plants, also located there. They started organizing different laborers and stopped work with strikes. The industry responded by hiring workers from other parts of the country who were also seeking work: both European immigrants and black migrants from the South (whose numbers doubled in Omaha from 1910 to 1920). In 1905, more than 800 students (mostly children of immigrant workers) in South Omaha protested the presence of Japanese students at their school, calling them "scabs". The Japanese students were children of strikebreakers brought in by the Omaha Stockyards the previous summer during a fierce strike. Children of the regular workers refused to attend classes and locked teachers out of the building."Revolt over Japanese; South Omaha School Children Want Them Expelled", The New York Times. April 18, 1905. Retrieved 4/20/08.

Greek Town Riot

Greek Town was a growing Greek immigrant community in South Omaha. Other immigrants resented the Greeks, who had come to the city as strikebreakers. Many men of the community had been jobless for an extensive period after they were laid off following the strikes. Some Omaha citizens assumed they were lazy rather than unemployed. In September 1909 a male resident of the Greek community was arrested by an ethnic Irish South Omaha policeman for allegedly having a relationship with a white woman. (He was taking English lessons from her.) The man took the officer's gun and shot him. After the Greek was captured a short while later, a mob of ethnic whites numbering about 1,000 arrived at the door of the jail. By then, the South Omaha policemen had transferred the man to the Omaha city jail. (The jurisdictions were then separate.) Frustrated, the mob turned to the Greek neighborhood and began to destroy it, threatening all of its residents with death if they stayed in town. Within a day, the Greek residents abandoned the six-by-six block area and scattered into cities across the Midwest. Meanwhile, the mob destroyed the entire neighborhood. The accused Greek immigrant was brought to trial; but, after intervention from the Greek ambassador to the U.S., who protested the government's failure to protect the immigrant community, the city of Omaha released the man and dropped charges against him.

Anti-German sentiments

In the immediate years after World War I and defeat of Germany by the Allies, anti-German sentiment ran high across the country. The Nebraska legislature passed a law in 1919 that enforced teaching in English in public schools. (Because of substantial immigration by Germans to Nebraska, in earlier years, studies in German were available in the public schools, along with French and classical languages.) By law, "No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language than the English language.""U.S. Supreme Court: MEYER v. STATE OF NEBRASKA, 262 U.S. 390 (1923)" . University of Kansas City. Retrieved 9/3/07. Robert Meyer was found to violate this law because he taught German. He was taken to court by the State of Nebraska, and when found guilty he appealed. Although his appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court failed, the U.S. Supreme Court in Meyer v. Nebraska determined that Meyer had the right to teach the German language as a subject, and to teach it in German. During the course of the year, open discrimination against Germans throughout Omaha was taking hold. Many German-language newspapers were forced to change to English, or to close.Folsom, B.W. (1999) No More Free Markets Or Free Beer: The Progressive Era in Nebraska, 1900-1924. Lexington Books. p 112.

Red Summer

In September 1919, following a summer of racial riots in several other industrial cities, an African-American laborer named Willy Brown was lynched in Omaha. He had been accused of raping a young white woman. A mob of 5,000 ethnic white men marched from South Omaha (some young men were classmates of the woman) and appeared at the Douglas County Courthouse to demand "justice". Within hours the mob grew to 10,000 people. Many were drinking. When the reform mayor Edward P. Smith attempted to intervene, he was nearly lynched by the mob. Only a last-minute rescue saved him from being hanged. The mob threw stones at windows, far outnumbered the police, and set the courthouse on fire to force the release of Brown. The police turned him over to save other prisoners. In a frenzy, the mob hung Brown from a lamppost and shot him, later dragged his body and burned it. The mob turned against police vehicles and attacked any blacks they found in the street. They began to move toward a large African-American enclave in North Omaha. The city and governor had called in the U.S. Army from Fort Omaha to intervene. It stationed troops in North Omaha to protect the blacks, and after gaining control of the mob, in South Omaha to prevent any more riots forming. An unseasonal rainstorm cooled the mob down as well. The Army commander established martial law for several days. A grand jury's investigation identified the mob as arising from South Omaha and being encouraged by the city's vice world. No one was charged in the events, however.

Anti-Black racism

On July 4, 1910, African American boxer Jack Johnson won a major upset at a national match in Reno, Nevada. Upon hearing the news, a dozen fights broke out in different areas of the city between whites and blacks, as happened in other cities. Whites wounded several black men and killed one."Omaha negro killed", The New York Times. July 5, 1910. Retrieved 4/20/08.

After World War I, white veterans trying to return to their civilian jobs found African-Americans and Eastern European immigrants in their former positions. Their resentment led to several violent strikes in the South Omaha meat packing industry as groups tried to control access to jobs. During this period, Earl Little was a Baptist minister in North Omaha. After his son, Malcolm, was born in Omaha in 1925, the family moved away because of threats by the Ku Klux Klan in 1926. (The KKK had undergone a revival and growth in the Midwest in the early 1920s.) Malcolm Little later changed his last name to X, when he joined the Black Muslims, where he became an important leader known as Malcolm X.Malcolm X. (1973) The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Penguin Books Ltd.