The Chicago Race Riots began because:
1. An African American boy was swimming in a segregated area. In July 1919, a 17-year-old African American boy named Eugene Williams was swimming in Lake Michigan. He unintentionally crossed an invisible "color line" in the water, leading to clashes between Black and white beachgoers.
2. Rioters invaded the armory. As tensions escalated due to the incident at the beach, rioters invaded the armory seeking weapons, which further fueled the violence in Chicago.
These two main factors, the incident at the beach and the rioters invading the armory, were crucial catalysts that sparked the Chicago Race Riots of 1919.
