No cartoons, just Greeks

In 1909 when established European groups in Omaha (Nebraska) began to believe that new groups of workers from Greece were a threat. Large numbers of Greeks were moving to Omaha in the early part of the century to work in the packing houses and on the railroads. They settled into South Omaha, which was a separate city at that time. Pretty soon, there were stories in the mainline newspapers about how unsavory the Greeks were.

The Omaha Daily News wrote, "Their quarters have been unsanitary; they have insulted women... Herded together in lodging houses and living cheaply, Greeks are a menace to the American laboring man -- just as the Japs, Italians, and other similar laborers are."

In 1909, an Irish South Omaha police officer was killed trying to arrest a Greek man. The Greek was arrested, but a mob formed around the jail. The suspect was almost lynched as police transferred him to an Omaha jail. The papers kept printing sensational stories. Two days later, 1,000 men gathered in South Omaha and stormed "Greek Town," looting shops, burning buildings and beating any Greeks they found. The police and authorities did not respond. In the wake of the riot, almost all of the Greeks living in Omaha moved, either to Iowa or further away.