Sample Essay On The Detroit Riot Of 1967

The Detroit riot of 1967 is a public disturbance which became a violent civil disorder in the City of Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as the 12th Street Riot which resulted to 42 deaths and thousands of injured. The objective of this essay is to analyze the major cause of the violent riot that shattered the streets of Detroit in 1967.
It was just a normal night. Normal events are happening around the 12th Street, legal or illegal. The place has two faces, when it is daytime and when it is night time. At day, the place was peaceful as it gets but when the night comes, that is when the place could be called Sin Strip. Cars are lined up across the street. Pimps are out on the street and so as the Hustlers. It was the busiest place in Detroit. But as July 23 comes, an unfortunate event happened.
There was an ongoing party at Economy Printing, located at 12th Street, for two veterans who came back from Vietnam. The place was under surveillance by three police officers: Sgt. Howison, Patrolman Henry and Patrolman Brown. They failed to enter the establishment. Blind pigs, like the one in Economy Printing, are another term for an illegal after hours drinking and gambling place. It was a normal routine for them. After failing to make an arrest to the other blind, they came back to Economy Printing. They entered and arrested some men but they did not expect the number of people inside the establishment. They called the other precinct to send their wagons to accommodate the other people being arrested. But just outside the place, about 200 people, mostly African-American, gathered. Two days before July 23, rumors spread that police had shot and killed an African-American prostitute, which is later to be proved untrue. Another rumor is that a woman, who was arrested, was beaten by a vice squad. These events triggered tension on the area. In the crowd were a black man, also known as Green Sleeves, shouted” Black power, don’t let them take our people away; look what they are doing to our peopleLet’s kill them whitey mother f-----s!” It agitated the crowd and a bottle was thrown at a patrol car, then, the riot started.
The riot may come from a simple events but it could easily break the existing tension for the whites and the blacks. The riot is also viewed by the whites and the blacks differently. The riot caused economic disturbance as well as deaths and injuries. The cause of the riot might come from a small event. However, its aftermath and its implication have been carved in the history of the City.

Works Cited:

Stahl, Kenneth “The Great Rebellion: A Socio-economic Analysis of the 1967 Detroit Riot.” Detroit- Blood that never dried. 2014. Web. 20 January 2015 < http://www.detroits-great-rebellion.com/ >
“12th Street Riot.” General Interest. History, n.d. Web. 20 January 2015 < http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-12th-street-riot >
“Blind pigs.” Definition. Urban Dictionary. 2006. Web. 20 January 2015 < http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Blind+Pig >