race riot

noun

1. a riot resulting from animosity or tensions between racial or ethnic groups.

race riot

noun

1. a riot among members of different races in the same community

Word History and Origins

Origin of race riot¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

After enslavement came the New Orleans massacre of 1866, the Race Riot of 1900 and other terrorist attacks that left countless dead and destroyed Black businesses and homes.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a milestone for Detroit, which had 1.8 million residents in the 1950s only to see its population dwindle and then plummet through suburban white flight, a 1967 race riot, the migration to the suburbs by many of the Black middle class and the national economic downturn that foreshadowed the city’s 2013 bankruptcy filing.

From Seattle Times

The music video shows Aldean performing in front of a Tennessee courthouse, the site of a 1946 race riot and a 1927 mob lynching of an 18-year-old Black teenager.

From Seattle Times

Both works are displayed on tiny screens in MOCA’s “Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom”: “Crucifixion” loops on a portable projector mounted close to the wall at the height of a religious icon; “Race Riot” on the foldout screen of a camcorder in a vitrine.

From New York Times

In “Race Riot,” hands reach in to brace a fallen Michael Jordan — his iconic jersey, number 23, is blank.

From New York Times