Detroit Riots of 1967

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The late 60s were a time of unrest in the United States; many cities were experiencing race riots. The riot in Detroit started on July 23, 1967, this ended up being the deadliest race riot in the history of the United States, and the riot lasted five days. During the course of the Detroit riot forty-three people were killed, 1,189 people were injured, and more than 7,000 were arrested. After the riot President Lyndon B. Johnson established a commission to investigate the riots in Detroit in 1967. President Johnson informed the commission that they had the freedom to follow the truth where ever it would take them. The commission was chaired by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois. According to the report President Johnson instructed the commission to find the answers to three questions. “First, what happened? Second, why did it happen? Third, what can be done to prevent it from happening again?” The commissions’ conclusion was that, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, and one white— separate and unequal.” The commission’s report also states that “Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans.”

Many black Detroiters prefer to call it a rebellion and not a riot. "When I hear the word 'riot' I just get the chills," said Brenda Dixon, 45, of Detroit. "The word 'riot' just seems inhumane, like people acting savagely."

According to http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_index.htm was “rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors.” These included but were not limited to police abuse, lack of affordable housing, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change.

Blacks were treated badly by police, they were manh...

... middle of paper ...

...and Revitalization in the Rust Belt: A report of findings from the University of Michigan’s

http://www.archive.org/stream/kernerreportrevi00asse/kernerreportrevi00asse_djvu.txt

Nichols, Darren A.; Lee, Amy. 2007. Fears of Police Harassment Linger. http://detnews.com/article/20070720/METRO/707200381/Fears-of-police-harassment-linger

Stuart, Reginald. "ON THE RISE?" Crisis (15591573) 114.4 (2007): 16-20. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20070719/METRO/707190402/Disparity-may-lead-to-unrest#ixzz1ZswmrHQm

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20070724/METRO/707240370/Metro-gathers-to-show-unity#ixzz1Zt9LoKNE

http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/causes1.htm#

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Lee, Paul. UPRISING. July 2007. www.michigancitizen.com

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