1967 Detroit Riot

The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot, the Uprising of 1967, and the Detroit Rebellion of 1967 exploded in Detroit, Michigan, as pent up anger of the African American residents burst into flames after the police raided an after hours night club. As former Michigan Congressional Representative John Conyers recounted to Madison J. Gray, as published in Ebony magazine, "That night, nearly 100 Detroiters gathered to celebrate the return of two African- American service members from Vietnam. Shortly after the Detroit police vice squad raided the bar, word spread of use of excessive force against the African- American patrons as they were being arrested. Large crowds of community residents started growing at the intersection of 12th and Clairmount Streets in protest."

The police couldn't handle the ensuing riot, or insurrection, as it's called by many in Detroit, and the Governor, George Romney called out the National Guard. That wasn't enough. The 82nd Airborne flew in and Cyrus Vance, the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, flew in to manage the situation for the White House. More than 43 people were killed, hundreds were injured, over 7,000 were arrested, and block after block of the city was torched. The city has never been the same. White flight became a wholesale exodus as they abandoned Detroit en masse. Bluesman John Lee Hooker sang, "The Motor City's burning down and it's worser (sp) than Vietnam." His sentiments were echoed by soldiers who patrolled streets on foot and in tanks after coming home from a tour of duty in the Vietnam War. The American promise hadn't made it to everyone, and President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration was so tapped out trying to fight its War on Poverty while conducting a shooting war in Vietnam that there were no more resources to throw at the problems confronting the United States on the home front. All the U.S. could do was shoot some looters, jail some more, and wait for the paroxysm of anger to dissipate so the tanks and soldiers could redeploy. A missed opportunity of grave consequences. This footage shows the aftermath of the events.
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