Where were you during the 1967 Detroit Riot?

Shollin · January-01-13, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by serpico

Show me another city besides Detroit [[in metro detroit area) with 300,000 jobs......
Most jobs are still within the city limits.
Yet this still does not answer my question why most whites fled Detroit but didnt in other major cities.....
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...-s-City-Limits

They did flee other cities. About every major city has seen a decline in white population.

Detroit also 6 times the population of the next closest city in the region yet only 3 times as many jobs and over 100,000 more non working residents than jobs.

serpico · January-01-13, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by Shollin

They did flee other cities. About every major city has seen a decline in white population.

Detroit also 6 times the population of the next closest city in the region yet only 3 times as many jobs and over 100,000 more non working residents than jobs.

Detroit today is over 82% black.. no other large American city is even close to that number.. Detroit today is at best 7% white. ... Again show me another American city where the whites fled in such droves. ... Chicago with all its problems isnt anywhere near Detroit in white flight. I still cannot find a reason why white folk fled Detroit after 1967 yet remained for the most part in Chicago and other major northern cities after their riots.....

**LeannaM** · January-02-13, 12:06 AM

I don't know a lot about the Detroit riots, but they seem worse than any other cities' riots [[Watts was pretty bad, though).

Detroit also relied heavily on car manufacturing. Once that left, so did a lot of the jobs [[you guys know more about it than I do).

I'd say most major cities experienced White Flight in the 1950s and since. Some of it was due to racism I'm sure. Some of it was due to increased crime. It's really a vicious cycle. A bunch of citizens left, tax base eroded, schools and crime got worse. Then more people left and it's a downward spiral. Plus some employers moved to the suburbs. I think that Baby Boomer generation also wanted home ownership and their own space and security. They wanted suburbs for the most part.

Why has Detroit fared worse than most other cities? Well the bigger they are the harder the fall. Other cities have blight, but Detroit is just so large that it has a lot more blight to deal with [[and not much money to work with). Detroit had the riots, the White flight, and then losing manufacturing. I think a lot of factors just culminated in Detroit being in the bad shape it is now. Some would argue [[I don't know enough about it to say either way) that bad leadership exacerbated the problem.

As far as Chicago, I'm not sure why it fared better. It has apparently always been a pretty segregated city. Maybe Whites in the northern half didn't see reason to flee to the suburbs. Their economy might also be more diversified. Chicago is not really comparable to any of the smaller cities around it. Chicago is dealing with a big gang problem that seems to be worse than ever before [[if the news is correct).

St. Louis [[for example) didn't have race riots [[East St. Louis had race riots in 1917). It did have a lot of White flight, but still is about 42% White [[in the city, the metro is about 75% White). The city is segregated, not legally, but that's just the way it is. The North Side is mostly Black and has a lot of bad neighborhoods. The South Side is mostly White and has few bad neighborhoods. Its Downtown was a disaster area for many years [[escape from New York was filmed there in 1981), but starting around 1999 the Downtown area improved a lot. The city's biggest industries are finance, utilities/energy, medicine, beer, technology. It has a variety of industries.

Looking at it from an outsider's perspective, I think Detroit has suffered worse because of reliance on the auto industry and the riots [[and bad publicity). Those seem to be the major factors.

**Drexciya68** · January-02-13, 03:09 AM

My mom was pregnant with me at the time of the riots. We lived a block away from the Packard Plant on the East Side.

**1986Tbird** · January-02-13, 09:02 AM

I was nine years old and my family spent the summer visiting relatives in a tiny Northern Italian village with only one TV station. The riots were featured every day in living black-and-white. I'd never felt such embarrassment before, nor since, having to explain to my relatives why such a thing could happen.

**daveyarm** · January-02-13, 12:02 PM

I was in my new home in Novi, where I had recently moved after living my first 26 years in Detroit. I remained in the suburbs for the following 45 years, but always felt slightly guilty about leaving the city of my birth. I am happy to report that nine months ago I moved back to Downtown Detroit, and love it as much as I always did in my youth.

serpico · January-02-13, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by daveyarm

I was in my new home in Novi, where I had recently moved after living my first 26 years in Detroit. I remained in the suburbs for the following 45 years, but always felt slightly guilty about leaving the city of my birth. I am happy to report that nine months ago I moved back to Downtown Detroit, and love it as much as I always did in my youth.

You've come full circle. We need more of you

**Smirnoff** · January-03-13, 03:15 PM

For those still asking why people left & continue to leave the city.....

Detroit News 01/03/2013: Last year was one of the bloodiest in Detroit’s history. Criminal homicides in the city in 2012 rose above the total number of homicides each year since 2008.

**AUSSIE** · January-13-13, 10:19 PM

Of more concern is this:

Causes of the Detroit Riot
The origins of urban unrest in Detroit were rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors including police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change.

What does that sound like.....

Cheers

serpico · January-13-13, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by AUSSIE

Of more concern is this:

Causes of the Detroit Riot
The origins of urban unrest in Detroit were rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors including police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change.

What does that sound like.....

Cheers

Chicago bulldozed its rioted area in 1968 immediately. Detroit chose to hire "consultants" and "study" the effect for 40+ years instead of following the Chicago model.....
Detroit pandered to the extreme elements within its residents rather than ignoring them or locking them up. Detroit Judge Crockett flaunted the law by releasing dozens of police killers in 1969. Max Fisher stood by and allowed the demise of the city to take place in front of him.

**CassTechGrad** · January-14-13, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by AUSSIE

Of more concern is this:

Causes of the Detroit Riot
The origins of urban unrest in Detroit were rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors including police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change.

What does that sound like.....

Cheers

So is this the revisionist history garbage that there’re teaching kids in school today? Every single thing mentioned on that list still exists now or has gotten worse since the riots. Any clear thinking person old enough like me to remember that period knows that compared to today in Detroit, 1968 has to be considered as “The good old days”!

**AUSSIE** · January-14-13, 11:58 PM

Originally Posted by CassTechGrad

So is this the revisionist history garbage that there’re teaching kids in school today? Every single thing mentioned on that list still exists now or has gotten worse since the riots. Any clear thinking person old enough like me to remember that period knows that compared to today in Detroit, 1968 has to be considered as “The good old days”!

Prezactly, thats what i am pointing out, same conditions today

BUT Detroit was not 85% black, so who knows

Keep the peace and show love brothers!

Cheers

**TygardTails** · May-17-14, 04:59 PM

I would like to hear from those who suffered through the horrible riot in Detroit's Virginia Park neighborhood, July 23, 1967. What were your experiences? Mother and I were there when the police arrived; she sold Bibles in the area. We had no idea what happened and like most of us in Detroit, learned that the City was burning from the newsman who told us about it in the Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press and while we sat in front of the Black and White TVs of that era. Many people died; more were jailed. All of it started over the rousting by police of Vietnam Vets celebrating their safe arrival home in a local after-hours club. I'd like to hear from those who lived through that day, that week, that time, and what truly happened to the folks who had to endure those times.

**carlscomputers** · July-21-14, 01:49 AM

Anniversary coming up again in a couple of days...

**Honky Tonk** · July-23-14, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by carlscomputers

Anniversary coming up again in a couple of days...

My family and I get together every year, loot a store, then burn it down. It won't be the same without one of grandma's cocktails this year.

**river rat** · July-21-14, 09:29 PM

Being part of the action at Detroit General Hospital treating gunshot wounds, burns, lacerations from "looters arm", auto injuries & trauma from falls, knife wounds, blunt trauma from beatings. Actually not a lot different than other days except in scale and volume. Heart attacks and strokes as well.

Someone else mentioned the death toll being higher than the reported 45. It was about twice that because only GSW and stabbings counted as "riot related".

**mtburb** · July-23-14, 11:01 AM

Today is the 47th anniversary of the very event discussed here, the very event that caused the city to enter a steep four-decade-long decline. Just reminding you...

**carlscomputers** · July-23-14, 01:09 PM

**bc_n_dtown** · July-23-14, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by carlscomputers

Oh wow! Beginning at 15:44 mark there's a short clip of the Grand River-Oakman intersection, the way I remember it growing up in the '60s.....minus the broken windows of course. Sadly it looks nothing close to that today.

**FormerDetroiter** · July-23-14, 01:30 PM

I spent the day praying that the riot stayed on the west side. Unfortunately my prayers were not answered. By the time it was over the National Guard was going up and down our street, and when smoke cleared there was no place left to shop in the neighborhood.

**Jimaz** · July-23-14, 03:24 PM

I was waiting for the papers for my Detroit News paper route. They never arrived.

It was pretty eerie to know the importance of the news yet not have any newspapers about it.

**garyalex** · July-23-14, 04:59 PM

Second day I was at the corner of Grand River and Joy road. There was a Woolworth's on the corner which had been looted and burned. My friends and I saw a group of children enter the store. We thought it might be dangerous for them and wanted to get them out. There were cops all around the area. Being young, stupid and bulletproof I decided to try to get the kids out. Didn't work, couldn't even find them. Cops saw me coming out of the store and told me to stop. I didn't, at least until one of them hit me in the face with the butt of his shotgun. A few other cops joined in on the fun.

Broke some teeth and opened a gushing wound on my chin. Lots of blood. They put me in a cop car and pounded on me some more, just for good measure I guess. Arrested, locked up, wearing a white t-shirt covered in blood. The charge was looting and assaulting a police office. They eventually just dropped the charges and let me go.

What I realize now, looking back at it, is how scared and and angry those cops were. Also, how incredibly stupid I was.

**Dan Wesson** · July-23-14, 05:35 PM

The night it started Joey decided to quarter carwash the engine of his car at Mack and St. Jean while waiting for his brother to help close the A&P that was on Mack and Conner. Then it wouldn't start of course. It took a while but it finally started and hour or so later. Kind of spooky being we're not on our turf.

The next morning I wake up and go sit on my front porch on Phelps and notice two station wagons drive by stuffed full of groceries right to the ceiling of the car. No grocery bags mind you just groceries. Strange, I thought.

Went through the back yard, down the alley over to the next street,Conger and Vandyke, now all the kids were out and talking about some riot. All the while we are watching Harper and Vandyke burning.

Then we find out Mack avenue was barbed wired what we thought was twenty foot high pile of wire at East Grand Blvd. on the west end and St. Jean on the east end. The firemen attempting to fight fires along Mack were being sniped at. The Cops and Guard ordered them out and sealed Mack off with the barbed wire. How did we see that? Riding our bikes of course.

**unclefrank** · July-23-14, 06:43 PM

I was ten, and lived on the far east side. The highlight was going to see the tanks at the Eastland shopping center.

**Dan Wesson** · July-23-14, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by unclefrank

I was ten, and lived on the far east side. The highlight was going to see the tanks at the Eastland shopping center.

The National Guard had made a base camp behind Burroughs Junior High on St. Cyril. That field was called the Lodge Playfield. It too was full of vehicles, tanks and tents. I went to that school.