The Causes of the Black Riots in the 1960s

The Causes of the Black Riots in the 1960s

Throughout the 1960s many riots involving black people and other

minority groups took place in the Eastern States of America. The 1965

riots in Watt County were one such example and demonstrated the

horrific inequalities still present in America one year after the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been introduced. The riots lasted for six

days, leaving 34 people dead, over a thousand injured, nearly 4,000

arrested and hundreds of buildings destroyed.

There were many factors that played a part in causing the riots such

as a failing education system, damaged relations between the police

force and minority groups (especially black African Americans) and

poor medical care. High unemployment within these groups and an

unwillingness for change amongst the majority of state governments

also contributed to the problems seen in 1965.

Poor housing was a major problem at the time for African Americans. It

was almost impossible for these people to get loans, due both to

prejudice and the fact most black people had very low-income jobs.

Banks were understandably reluctant to hand out money to high risk

borrowers such as these. This lead to a great deal of discontent

within the community and the lack of money also meant that any

accommodation they could afford was of a very poor standard. As a

result many lived in damp, squalid conditions.

In addition there were certain areas set aside purely for white people

where black people were forbidden to move next to or even near a white

person. This meant that the housing available to Black People was

severely limited, even if they did have money available to...

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...ust as a bully in a school may pick on someone different, racists

will continue to discriminate against black Americans because of the

colour of their skin. This however will become less prominent every

year.

To sum up, I do not believe that past events and attitudes have a very

significant influence on peoples' attitudes today. People look back on

mistakes of the past and use them as a reminder not to allow anything

similar to happen again, and in my opinion this is how most people in

America regard racism. Education has meant that children are now

taught about racism, and with every new generation the current

attitude that black people are equal is strengthened. There are of

course a minority who choose still to discriminate against

African-Americans; however this is nothing like as widespread as it

used to be.