This Day in Atlanta History, 1906: Atlanta's Race Riots ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - September 22nd, 1096: if we were to turn Atlanta's clock back 103 years, we'd find our city about to erupt into a major race riot. Poor relations between the races had intensified as more blacks had moved from rural areas into Atlanta where they competed for jobs with whites. But, as Georgia State University historian Cliff Kuhn explains, there were other factors contributing to 'white resentment.' © Copyright 2012, WABE