Detroit Riots :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many civil disorders have erupted across the United States. Racial tensions were at a highpoint in the 1960’s with riots and looting throughout the major cities in the United States. This was not such a problem in the rural areas but the urban areas had serious racial problems between black and white people. Throughout the 1960’s blacks and whites clearly demonstrated that they had many problems living segregated in the urban areas. It was a civil explosion that you can clearly see from the Detroit riots in 1967. Detroit experienced the worst civil disorder of any American city in the 20th century. Prior to July 23, 1967 Detroit had managed to avoid riots that had erupted in other major cities such as Harlem, Cleveland, Chicago, and Los Angeles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Day 1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At 3:45 a.m. on Sunday July 23, 1967 twelve officers did a routine raid in a Blind Pig on 12th street. There were 82 people arrested. As the last squad car was loading with prisoners, a crowd of about 200 people gathered. They made threats towards the police and incited the crowd that had gathered. The squad car began to leave and the crowd began to throw bottles and rocks, which shattered the back window of the squad car. This started off the worst riot of the 20th century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shortly after 5 a.m. stores were being broken into, rocks and bricks were smashing through windows. By 11 a.m. a crowd of about a thousand people were surrounding a smaller crowd of about a hundred or so people that were swarming the streets taunting the police and firemen. After that the looting began to take off in different spots all over the entire city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Day 2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the second day of rioting the Mayor issued a curfew. All people had to be off the streets between 9 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. and no alcoholic beverages were to be sold or possessed which was not followed the rioters. At 12:25 the first death was reported. A 45 year-old white male life was claimed when he was shot by a white store owner who claimed the man was looting his store. This was only the beginning for the many more fatalities that continued throughout the riots.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The burning and looting continued throughout the night. An entire block was reported on fire in the area of Dexter and Davison. This was just one of the some 1,680 fires that would be set during the riots and looting.