The 1967 Detroit Riots were among the bloodiest in American history. The strife occurred during a period of Detroit’s history when the once-affluent city was struggling economically, and race relations nationwide were at an all-time low.
The Detroit Police Department’s vice squad often raided illegal drinking establishments in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, and at 3:35 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 23, they moved against a club that was hosting a party for returning Vietnam War veterans. The early-morning police activity drew a crowd of onlookers, and the situation rapidly deteriorated.
Soon thousands of people had spilled out onto the street from nearby buildings, throwing rocks and bottles at the police, who quickly fled the scene. Looting began on 12th Street, where the club was located, and shops and businesses were ransacked.
By dawn, the first fire broke out, and soon much of the street was ablaze. By midmorning, every policeman and fireman in Detroit was called to duty. Back on 12th Street, officers struggled to control the crowd.
The rioting continued all week, and the U.S. Army and the National Guard were called in to quell the worst of the violence. By the time the bloodshed, burning and looting ended after five days, some 43 people were dead, many more seriously injured and nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned or ransacked.
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Hosting a party for war veterans returning home from Vietnam in a illegal bar,good thing the vice squads had their priorities in order!
“They’ll be swinging, swaying,
Shooting and Blazing…
Dancing In The Streets!”
So, 53 years ago they reacted to the cops disrespect? by burning, looting, and throwing shit at cops and firemen.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Cycles.
Hmmm…any wonder why retail store owners are reluctant to invest in the inner city?
Any wonder why white flight happens? Who wants to raise kids in a jungle, when greener, safer, and more peaceful meadows beckon?
Nowadays, that kind of uppity attitude has infested the suburbs, too.
Cue up some Motown lyrics…
“Nowhere to Run To.
Nowhere to Hide”
In another irony, 12th Street has been renamed to Rosa Parks Blvd.
What if one day a protest backfires and hundreds of the Silent Majority end it once and for always.
We have come a long way , things have really gotten better.
I usually go to downtown Detroit once a week, from my home 40 miles north of the city.
Most of the businesses that used to be along Gratiot are gone- there are plenty of liquor stores, black hair sops, and cell phone stores.
Plenty of people sleeping in front of stores and the plenty of hookers wondering around..
Enough to make me sick when I pass by my Grandparents street or the street where my wife’s Grandparents lived. Trash everywhere and houses falling apart.
I have dinner with a retired police officer every Friday. He is 93. Retired in the late 70’s. Spent 30 years on the force. Said he never fired his weapon in all those years. Took more people home than he arrested.
Yep things are DEFINITELY getting better!