1967 Time Magazine featuring report on 12th Street riot

The 12th Street Riot in Detroit began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. Vice squad officers executed a raid at a blind pig, an illegal after-hours drinking establishment on the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount on the city's near westside. The confrontation with the patrons there evolved into one of the most deadly and destructive riots in modern U.S. history, lasting five days and far surpassing the 1943 riot the city endured. Before the end, the state and federal governments sent in National Guard and U.S. Army troops and the result was forty-three dead, 467 injured, over 7,500 arrests and more than 2,000 buildings had burned down. The scope of the riot was eclipsed in scale only by the riots. Detroit has never fully recovered from the after-affects of the riot.

Background edit

The seeds of the 12th Street riot had been planted in the extraordinary growth of Detroit as the auto industry that placed the city at the industrial center of the nation. The availabilty of high-paying and unskilled work in auto plants attracted many from the south, both black and white, who brought their often conflicting cultures into the community. The civil rights movement was in full swing at the time, and black demands for power and the antipathy of the white establishment created a tinderbox. Detroit mayor Jerome Cavanagh had been elected less than two years previously with promises of progressive reforms and an end to the cronyism that had marked his predecessor's tenure. The federal government, with Cavanugh prodding, pumped money into the city's urban renewal and Head Start programs. Despite this, the confrontation occurred that many viewed as inevitable.

The auto industry and growth of Detroit edit

Federal programs and local politics edit

Chronology edit

On that summer Sunday morning, the officers had expected to find only a handful of individuals in the bar, but instead there were 82 people celebrating the return of two local veterans from the war in Vietnam. Despite the large number, police decided to arrest everyone present. A crowd soon gathered around the establishment, protesting as patrons were led away. In 1967, the Detroit Police Department's Tac Squads, each made up of four police officers (predominantly white), had a reputation among the black residents of Detroit for harassment and brutality. After the last police car left, a group of angry black males, who had observed the incident, began breaking the windows of the adjacent clothing store. Shortly thereafter, full-scale rioting began throughout the neighborhood, which continued into Monday, July 24, 1967, and for the next few days. Despite a conscious effort by the local news media to avoid reporting on it so as not to inspire copy-cat violence, the mayhem expanded to other parts of the city with theft and destruction beyond the 12th Street/Clairmount Avenue vicinity.

File:Riot tank.jpg
U.S. Army tanks brought in to quell riots

National Guardsmen were deployed to quell the disorder and their numbers had swelled to some 8,000 within 48 hours, but their presence only fueled more violence. Willie Horton, a black Detroit resident, and left fielder for the Detroit Tigers, arrived after a game and stood on a car in the middle of the crowd while he was still wearing his uniform. However, despite his impassioned pleas, he could not calm the angry mob. U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) likewise attempted to ease tensions but was equally unsuccessful. Michigan Governor George Romney and President Lyndon Johnson disagreed about the legality of sending in federal troops. Johnson said he could not send federal troops in without Romney declaring a "state of insurrection"; Romney was reluctant to make that declaration for fear that doing so would relieve insurance companies of their obligations to reimburse policyholders for the damage being done. Almost 48 hours after the disturbances began, Johnson sent in federal troops from the 82nd Airborne who had earlier been positioned at nearby Selfridge Air Force Base in suburban Macomb County—without a "state of insurrection" being officially declared. The national guard troops were federalized at that time.

The Toll edit

The toll of the ‘67 riots included forty-three by the time the 1967 Detroit riot ended on July 28 and 1189 injured. The majority of riot fatalities were black. Tonya Blanding, aged four, was the youngest victim. The oldest victim of the riot was Krikor "George" Messerlian, a 68 year-old white male who owned a shoe repair shop.

467 injured: 181 civilians, 167 Detroit police officers, 83 Detroit firefighters, 17 National Guard troops, 16 State Police officers, 3 U.S. Army soldiers.
7,231 arrested: 6,528 adults, 703 juveniles; 6,407 blacks, 824 whites. The youngest, 10; the oldest, 82. Half of those arrested had no criminal record. Three percent of those arrested went to trial; half of them were acquitted.
2,509 stores looted or burned, 388 families homeless or displaced and 412 buildings burned or damaged enough to be demolished. Dollar losses from arson and looting ranged from $40 million to $80 million[1]

The dead included:

Name[1] Race Age Date of fatal injury Comment
Krikor “George” Messerlian white 68 7/27/67 Messerlian was killed while defending his shoe repair shop.
Willie Hunter black 26 7/23/67 Hunter was found in the basement of Brown's Drug store, believed to have been asphyxiated while store burned down.
Prince Williams black 32 7/23/67 Williams was also found in the basement of Brown's Drug store asphyxiated.
Sheren George black 23 7/24/67 George was shot while riding in the front seat of a car driven by her husband.
Julius Dorsey black 55 7/25/67 Dorsey worked as a security guard and was shot by a National Guardsman under questionable circumstances.
Clifton Pryor white 23 7/24/67 Mistaken for a sniper, Pryor was shot by a National Guardsman.
John Ashby white 26 8/4/67 Ashby was a firefighter with the Detroit Fire Department and was electrocuted by a high-tension wire that had fallen.
Herman Ector black 30 7/24/67 Ector intervened in a dispute between a groups of youths and a security guard, Waverly Solomon, who shot Ector with his rifle.
Fred Williams black 49 7/24/67 Williams stepped on a downed power line and was killed.
Daniel Jennings black 36 7/24/67 Jennings broke into Stanley’s Patent Medicine and Package Store and was shot by the owner, Stanley Meszezenski
Robert Beal black 49 7/24/67 Beal was shot by a Detroit Police officer at a burned out auto parts store.
Joseph Chandler black 34 7/24/67 Chandler was shot by police while engaged in looting at the Food Time Market.
Herman Canty black 46 7/24/67 Canty was observed loading merchandise from the rear door of the Bi-Lo Supermarket. Police fired several rounds at the truck until it stopped and found Canty dead inside.
Alfred Peachlum black 35 7/24/67 As A&P supermarket being looted, Peachlum was inside with a shiny object in his hand. Police opened fire. Theobject turned out to be a piece of meat wrapped in shiny paper
Alphonso Smith black 35 7/24/67 The police version was that Smith and four other men were cornered while looting the Standard Food Market. Other sources claim that an officer fired through a window.
Nathaniel Edmonds black 23 7/24/67 Richard Shugar, a 24-year-old white male, accused Edmonds of breaking into his store, grabbed a shotgun and shot Edmondson in his chest. Shugar was charged with first-degree murder.
Charles Kemp black 35 7/24/67 Kemp took five packs of cigars and was observed removing a cash register from Borgi’s Market. He ran, police officers gave chase, and shots were fired.
Richard Sims black 35 7/24/67 Sims was shot after he attempted to break into the Hobby Bar.
John Leroy black 30 7/24/67 Leroy was a passenger in a vehicle and National Guard and police opened fire at the occupants of the car alleging it was tryoing to break through a roadbloack.
Carl Smith white 30 7/25/67 Smith was attempting organize firefighter units when gunshots were fired. At the end, Smith was lying dead.
Emanuel Cosby black 26 7/25/67 Cosby broke into N&T Market, police arrived just as he was making his escape. Cosby ran and was shot while running away with the loot.
Henry Denson black 27 7/25/67 Denson was a passenger in a car with two other black males when they came upon roadblocks erected by National Guardsmen and the vehicle was fired upon for allegedly trying to break the roadblock.
Jerome Olshove white 27 7/25/67 The only policeman killed in the riot, Olshove shot in scuffle outside an A&P supermarket.
William Jones black 28 7/25/67 Jones broke into a liquor store and was caught and attempted escape. Police orders were given to halt, but he continued to run and the officers opened fire.
Ronald Evans black 24 7/25/67 Was shot with William Jones in liquor store looting.
Roy Banks black 46 7/27/67 Banks was a deaf mute and was walking along the street when he was shot by Guardsmen who alleged he was an escaping looter.
Frank Tanner black 19 7/25/67 Tanner and his friends broke into a store and was shot while making an escape from a National Guardsman.
Arthur Johnson black 36 7/25/67 Shot inside looted pawn shop.
Perry Williams black 36 7/25/67 Shot with Johnson inside pawn shop.
Jack Sydnor black 38 7/25/67 Snydor shot a policeman investigating a potential sniper. In response, police fired a barrage of bullets into in the apartment.
Tanya Blanding black 4 7/26/67 Blanding died as a result of a gunfire from a National Guard tank stationed in front of her house. Guardsmen claim that they were responding to sniper fire from the second floor.
William N Dalton black 19 7/26/67 The police report claimed that he was an arsonist and was attempting to flee from the police.
Helen Hall white 51 7/26/67 Hall, a native of Illinois, was visiting Detroit on business. The police report claims she was shot by a sniper while staying at the Harlan House Motel.
Larry Post white 26 7/26/67 Post was Sergeant in the National Guard. After an exchange with a car with three white men, Post was found wounded with a gunshot to the stomach.
Aubrey Pollard black 19 7/26/67 Pollard was killed after a group of policemen and National Guardsmen stormed the Algiers motel in search of snipers.
Carl Cooper black 17 7/26/67 Was killed with Pollard at the Algiers motel.
Fred Temple black 18 7/26/67 Also killed in the Algiers motel
George Tolbert black 20 7/26/67 Tolbert was killed as he walked past a National Guard checkpoint at Dunedin and LaSalle when a bullet fired by a Guardsman hit him.
Julius Lawrence Lust white 26 7/26/67 Lust and his friends decided to steal a car part from a junkyard and continued to run despite being told to stop by police.
Albert Robinson black 38 7/26/67 The police report claims the guardsmen came under fire from snipers and returned fire. At the end of the exchange, Robinson was dead.
Ernest Roquemore black 19 7/28/67 Roquemore was hit in the back by the army paratrooper and was declared dead on arrival at Detroit General Hospital.


Sources:

Detroit Police Department, Homicide Bureau, Inter-Office Memorandum October 26, 1967;

“The 43 Who Died: An Investigation Into How and Why Detroit’s Riot Victims Were Slain” Detroit Free Press 9/3/67 B1-B5;

Sauter Van Gordon and Burleigh Hines. Nightmare in Detroit: A Rebellion and Its Victims. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1968

467 injured: 181 civilians, 167 Detroit police officers, 83 Detroit firefighters, 17 National Guard troops, 16 State Police officers, 3 U.S. Army soldiers.
7,231 arrested: 6,528 adults, 703 juveniles; 6,407 blacks, 824 whites. The youngest, 10; the oldest, 82. Half of those arrested had no criminal record. Three percent of those arrested went to trial; half of them were acquitted.
2,509 stores looted or burned: One month after the riot, a city tally showed 388 families homeless or displaced and 412 buildings burned or damaged enough to be demolished. Dollar losses from arson and looting ranged from $40 million to $80 million.[2]

Contrary to popular belief, black-owned businesses were not spared. One of the first stores looted in Detroit was Hardy's drug store, owned by blacks, and known for filling prescriptions on credit. Detroit's leading black-owned clothing store was burned, as was one of the city's best-loved black restaurants. In the wake of the riots, a black merchant noted "you were going to get looted no matter what color you were." (Thernstrom, Abigail and Stephen. America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible: Race in Modern America. Pages 162-4).

Beyond the immediate destruction of a considerable section of the city, the disturbances are thought to have accelerated white flight (and also middle-class black flight) to the surrounding suburbs and led to an increased fear of the city among many suburbanites which continues to this day. While the city of Detroit still had a white majority in 1967, it would gain a black majority by the early 1970s. Furthermore, Detroit's overall population within the city limits (today more than 80% black) has been sliced in half within the space of five decades. In the 1950 census, there were more than 1,800,000 residents within the city limits, more than three-fourths of whom were white. By the 2000 census, however, there were only about 950,000 city residents—the first time since the 1910 census that Detroit had officially recorded fewer than a million inhabitants—and whites making up less than 15% of the population. As conditions have deteriorated in the city—notably in the performance of its public school system and in its (at times) notoriously high crime rate—some of the city's suburbs have become predominantly black, such as Southfield in neighboring Oakland County. Many observers trace the dramatically quickened pace of these developments to the 1967 unrest and to public school desegregation orders by federal courts in the early 1970s.

The Aftermath edit

President Lyndon Johnson formed a Commission on Civil Disorders to explore the reasons for the riots that plagued Detroit and other cities beginning in 1964. Known as the Kerner Report, the commission stated that the nation was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal."

Detroit's Mayor at the time, Jerome Cavanagh, whose political career ended with the riot, lamented upon surveying the damage, "today we stand amidst the ashes of our hopes. We hoped against hope that what we had been doing was enough to prevent a riot. It was not enough."

Reflecting on the riots, Cavanagh's successor, Mayor Coleman Young, wrote:

"The heaviest casualty, however, was the city. Detroit's losses went a hell of a lot deeper than the immediate toll of lives and buildings. The riot put Detroit on the fast track to economic desolation, mugging the city and making off with incalculable value in jobs, earnings taxes, corporate taxes, retail dollars, sales taxes, mortgages, interest, property taxes, development dollars, investment dollars, tourism dollars, and plain damn money. The money was carried out in the pockets of the businesses and the white people who fled as fast as they could. The white exodus from Detroit had been prodigiously steady prior to the rebellion [sic], totally twenty-two thousand in 1966, but afterwards it was frantic. In 1967, with less than half the year remaining after the summer explosion—the outward population migration reached sixty-seven thousand. In 1968 the figure hit eighty-thousand, followed by forty-six thousand in 1969." (Hard Stuff, page 179)

Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot commented on the rioting in his song "Black Day In July", and Iggy Pop's observations of the riots inspired David Bowie's "Panic in Detroit". John Lee Hooker wrote "The Motor City is Burning" with the lyrics "It started at 12th and Clairmount", a song later covered by Detroit's MC5.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Michigan State Insurance Commission estimate of December, 1967, quoted in the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders' a/k/a "Kerner Report."
  2. ^ The 43 Who Died: An Investigation Into How and Why Detroit’s Riot Victims Were Slain” Detroit Free Press 9/3/67, B1-B5.

See also edit

External links edit


Month[1] Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Avg high °F (°C) 31 (0) 33 (0) 44 (7) 58 (15) 70 (19) 79 (26) 83 (29) 81 (28) 74 (23) 62 (17) 48 (9) 35 (2)
Avg low °F (°C) 16 (-9) 18 (-6) 27 (-3) 37 (3) 48 (10) 57 (14) 62 (18) 60 (17) 53 (13) 46 (8) 32 (0) 22 (-5)
Rainfall in. (mm) 1.9 (50) 1.7 (43) 2.4 (71) 3.0 (80) 2.9 (78) 3.6 (92) 3.1 (80) 3.4 (88) 2.8 (75) 2.2 (66) 2.7 (67) 2.5 (64)
Building Storys/height Square footage Principle tenant Opened
Marriott Hotel 73, 727 foot (221 m) Marriot 1977
Southeast Tower 39, 522 feet (159 m) 554,000 General Motors 1977
Southwest Tower 39, 522 feet (159 m) 554,000 General Motors 1977
Northeast tower 39, 522 feet (159 m) 554,000 General Motors 1977
Northwest Tower 39, 522 feet (159 m) 554,000 General Motor 1977
Atrium 5 Various retailers, GM Wintergarden 1977-2001
Tower 500 21, 339 feet (103 m) General Motors 1981
Tower 600 21, 339 feet (103 m) General Motors 104

The Battle of the Overpass edit

The Battle of the Overpass was an incident on 26 May, 1937, in which labor organizers clashed with Ford Motor Company security.

The United Auto Workers had planned a leaflet campaign entitled, "Unionism, Not Fordism," at the pedestrian overpass over Miller Road at Gate 4 of the Rouge complex. Demanding an $8 six-hour day for workers, in contrast to the $6 eight-hour day then in place, the campaign was planned for shift change time, with an expected 9,000 workers both entering and leaving the plant.

At approximately 2 p.m., several of the leading UAW organizers, including Walter Reuther and Richard Frankensteen, were asked by a Detroit News photographer to pose for a picture at the top of the steps of the overpass. While they were posing, men from Ford's "Service Department", an internal security force led by Harry Bennett, came from behind and began to beat them, then was soon joined by more than 50 employees of the company.

Frankensteen endured perhaps the worst punishment of the 16 people injured in the melee. He had his jacket pulled over his head and was kicked in the stomach, and when he went to protect that area of his body, the group hit him in the head. They then proceeded to continually knock him down, while also spreading his legs apart to kick him in the groin.

The group then beat some of the beret-wearing women arriving to pass out leaflets, along with some reporters and photographers, while Dearborn police at the scene largely ignored the violence.

The mob also attempted to destroy photographic plates, but one News photographer was able to smuggle his away and photos of the brutality were spread across the country. In spite of the many witnesses who had heard his men specifically seek out Frankensteen and Reuther, Bennett claimed, "The affair was deliberately provoked by union officials. . . . They simply wanted to trump up a charge of Ford brutality. ... I know definitely no Ford service man or plant police were involved in any way in the fight."

The incident greatly increased support for the UAW and hurt Ford's reputation. However, it still took 4 more years before Ford agreed to collective bargaining with the UAW.

External links edit

Category:Ford

Detroit, Michigan edit

 

Detroit, Michigan is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat for Wayne County. The city is located on the Detroit River, north of Windsor, Ontario. Established in 1701 by French fur traders, it is the center of an industrial area in the American Rust Belt. Today it is known as the world's traditional automotive center and an important source of popular music—legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, Motor City and Motown. As of 2004, Detroit ranked as the United States' 11th most populous city with 900,198 residents; this is half of the peak population it boasted in the 1950s, and Detroit leads the nation in terms of declining urban population. Detroit's crime rate has created international notoriety and a tarnished reputation. The city continues to struggle with the burdens of racial disharmony between itself and its suburban neighbors, and an antiquated economy. In the 1990s and 2000s the city experienced a moderate revival with the construction of the Compuware headquarters and three gambling casinos, amid budget shortfalls and cuts in city services.

Alpha Phi Alpha edit

 
ΑΦΑ Pledge Line

Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) Fraternity is generally recognized as the first intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity established by African Americans. Founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the fraternity has initiated over 125,000 men into the organization. Alpha has declared 2006 the beginning of its "Centennial Era" to celebrate its first 100 years. The student founders are collectively known as the Seven Jewels and they swiftly expanded the fraternity. Today there are over 700 Alpha chapters in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the West Indies.

The national organization has established a number of community programs and combined its resources with other organizations on philanthropic projects. Some fraternity initiatives include the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. The memorial, which Congress authorized in 1996 with Public Law 104-333, has been beset by problems, including a request from the King Family in 2001 for licensing fees. Other Alpha sponsored programs are the "Go To High School, Go To College" and "Voteless People Is a Hopeless People" programs. Alpha members have included former Jamaican Prime Minister and Rhodes Scholar Norman Manley, Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King, Jr., former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Olympian Jesse Owens, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Atlanta, Georgia Mayors Andrew Young and Maynard Jackson.

Bath School disaster victims edit

The victims of the Bath School disaster were those killed and injured on May 18, 1927. In Bath Township, Michigan, farmer and school board member Andrew Kehoe killed 45 people and injured 58. Most of the victims were children in second to sixth grades attending the Bath Consolidated School. The attack claimed more than three times as many victims as the Columbine High School massacre.

Died before the bombings edit

Ellen (Nellie) Kehoe, age 52, was the wife of Andrew Kehoe. In poor physical health, Nellie suffered from tuberculosis. Sometime after her discharge from St. Lawrence Hospital two days prior to the event, Nellie was bludgeoned to death and her body was found inside a wheel barrow next to the family farm's chicken coop.

Killed in the school bombing edit

At approximately 9:45 a.m., a timer Kehoe planted in the school's north wing triggered an explosion at the school. It was at this point that a majority of the victims were killed, with the blast


Arnold V. Bauerle was eight-years old and a third grade student at the time of the attack.

Henry Bergan, age 14, sixth grade student. 4. Herman Bergan age 11, fourth grade student. 5. Emilie M. Bromundt, age 11, fifth grade student. 6. Robert F. Bromundt, age 12, fifth grade student. 7. Floyd E. Burnett, age 12, sixth grade student. 8. Russell J. Chapman, age 8, fourth grade student. 9. F. Robert Cochran, age 8, third grade student. 10. Ralph A. Cushman, age 7, third grade student. 11. Earl E. Ewing, age 11, sixth grade student. 12. Katherine O. Foote, age 10, sixth grade student. 13. Margory Fritz, age 9, fourth grade student. 14. Carlyle W. Geisenhaver, age 9, fourth grade student. 15. George P. Hall Jr., age 8, third grade student. 16. Willa M. Hall, age 11, fifth grade student. 17. Iola I. Hart, age 12, sixth grade student. 18. Percy E. Hart, age 11, third grade student. 19. Vivian O. Hart, age 8, third grade student. 20. Blanche E. Harte, age 30, fifth grade teacher. 21. Gailand L. Harte, age 12, sixth grade student. 22. LaVere R. Harte, age 9, fourth grade student. 23. Stanley H. Harte, age 12, sixth grade student. 24. Francis O. Hoeppner, age 13, sixth grade student. 25. Cecial L. Hunter, age 13, sixth grade student. 26. Doris E. Johns, age 8, third grade student. 27. Thelma I. MacDonald, age 8, third grade student. 28. Clarence W. McFarren, age 13, sixth grade student. 29. J. Emerson Medcoff, age 8, fourth grade student. 30. Emma A. Nickols, age 13, sixth grade student. 31. Richard D. Richardson, age 12, sixth grade student. 32. Elsie M. Robb, age 12, sixth grade student. 33. Pauline M. Shirts, age 10, fifth grade student. 34. Hazel I. Weatherby, age 21, teacher. 35. Elizabeth J. Witchell, age 10, fifth grade student. 36. Lucile J. Witchell, age 9, fifth grade student. 37. Harold L. Woodman, age 8, third grade student. 38. George O. Zimmerman, age 10, third grade student. 39. Lloyd Zimmerman, age 12, fifth grade student.

45. Beatrice P. Gibbs, age 10, fourth grade student.


Killed by explosion of Kehoe's car edit

40. G. Cleo Claton, age 8, second grade student. 41. Emory E. Huyck, age 33, superintendent. 42. Andrew P. Kehoe, age 55, Bath School Board/perpetrator. 43. Nelson McFarren, age 74, retired farmer. 44. Glenn O. Smith, age 33, Postmaster.


Wounded edit

Babcock, Lloyd Babcock, Vera Babcock, Norris Barnes, Ruth M. Braska, Anna Chapman, Earl Delau, Arthur Delau, Ida Detluff, Ida Dolton, Adabelle Echstruth, Iva Echstruth, Raymond Echstruth, Marian England, Josephine Foster, James Frederick, Aletha Fulton, Dorothy Fritz, Mr. F. M. Geisenhaver, Kenneth Gutekunst, Miss Leona, teacher Gubbins, Miss Eva, teacher Hart, Elva Hart, Perry Hobert, Helen E. Hobert, Ralph R. Hollister, Carlton F. Huffman, June Rose Huffman, Donald J. Hunter, Florence Edith Komm, Helen Komm, Florence King, Lester Matson, Miss Nina, teacher McCoy, Pauline Mae McCoy, Willis McKenzie, Harold Mast, Lee Henry Medcoff, Thelma Nickols, Ruth Nickols, Ottelia Perrone, Mrs. J. Proctor, Earl Fred Proctor, Ralph Edmund Reasoner, Lee Reed, Lillian M. Riker, Oral Richardson, Virginia Blanche Richardson, Martha Harriette Rounds, Jack Sage, Norman Seeley, Ivan Freemont Stolls, Lester Stebleton, Gail Edmund Stivaviske, Steve Sweet, Ava Thelma Wilson, Ardis Witchell, Kenneth Zavistoski, Cecelia

  1. ^ Weatherbase: Detroit, Michigan accessed April 25, 2006