Where were you during the 1967 Detroit Riot?

**English** · July-26-10, 05:30 PM

I was born more than a decade after the riots. I've heard the stories. I've read the literature. But I don't have the lived experiences that seem to have shaped the fate of the city and the region. I'm not alone. No one under 45 remembers any of this.

I appreciated the reminiscing during the 40 year anniversary, but was hoping for grander gestures of reconciliation from the SE Michigan community at large, from both Detroiters and suburbanites, and people of all races. Yet 43 years after the riots, we are more racially divided than ever in this region. 43 years later and there's still so much finger-pointing and anger on all sides. This isn't natural. 43 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States and Japan were trading partners and kids my age were sent there on exchange trips. 43 years after the Berlin Wall was constructed, Germany had been reunified for years.

Do you mean to tell me that what happened in July 1967 was comparable to nuclear warfare or genocide??? How come others can get over inhuman atrocities and build prosperous cities and societies fit for the 21st century, and we can't? What has gone so terribly wrong in Detroit?

43 years after the 12th Street Riot, so many people have yet to move on from 1967. What's so different here? Why the blanket demands for apologies from one group or the other? Why? This racialized acrimony in Detroit almost reminds me of how fresh the Civil War still is in parts of the South, but even the South hasn't let their anger kill their economic prospects. There were riots all over this country in the 1960s. There have been riots in other cities during my lifetime. Yet other cities haven't suffered the fate of Detroit, and there isn't this persistent bitterness. What will it take to let this feud go?

**Wintersmommy** · July-26-10, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by English

I was born more than a decade after the riots. I've heard the stories. I've read the literature. But I don't have the lived experiences that seem to have shaped the fate of the city and the region. I'm not alone. No one under 45 remembers any of this.

I appreciated the reminiscing during the 40 year anniversary, but was hoping for grander gestures of reconciliation. 43 years later and there's still so much finger-pointing and anger on all sides. 43 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States and Japan were trading partners and kids my age were sent there on exchange trips. 43 years after the Berlin Wall was constructed, Germany had been reunified for years.

But 43 years after the 12th Street Riot, so many people have yet to move on from 1967. What's so different here? Why the blanket demands for apologies from one group or the other? Why? This racialized acrimony in Detroit almost reminds me of how fresh the Civil War still is in parts of the South. There were riots all over this country in the 1960s. There have been riots in other cities during my lifetime. Yet other cities haven't suffered the fate of Detroit, and there isn't this persistent bitterness. What will it take to let this feud go?

Very well said...

**Detroit Stylin** · July-26-10, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by English

I was born more than a decade after the riots. I've heard the stories. I've read the literature. But I don't have the lived experiences that seem to have shaped the fate of the city and the region. I'm not alone. No one under 45 remembers any of this.

I appreciated the reminiscing during the 40 year anniversary, but was hoping for grander gestures of reconciliation from the SE Michigan community at large, from both Detroiters and suburbanites, and people of all races. Yet 43 years after the riots, we are more racially divided than ever in this region. 43 years later and there's still so much finger-pointing and anger on all sides. This isn't natural. 43 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States and Japan were trading partners and kids my age were sent there on exchange trips. 43 years after the Berlin Wall was constructed, Germany had been reunified for years.

Do you mean to tell me that what happened in July 1967 was comparable to nuclear warfare or genocide??? How come others can get over inhuman atrocities and build prosperous cities and societies fit for the 21st century, and we can't? What has gone so terribly wrong in Detroit?

43 years after the 12th Street Riot, so many people have yet to move on from 1967. What's so different here? Why the blanket demands for apologies from one group or the other? Why? This racialized acrimony in Detroit almost reminds me of how fresh the Civil War still is in parts of the South, but even the South hasn't let their anger kill their economic prospects. There were riots all over this country in the 1960s. There have been riots in other cities during my lifetime. Yet other cities haven't suffered the fate of Detroit, and there isn't this persistent bitterness. What will it take to let this feud go?

Beautifully stated and totally agreed with....

**English** · July-26-10, 11:01 PM

Thanks, wintersmommy, DetroitStylin, canuck & EastsideAl. I appreciate hearing the stories about the long hot summer of '67 and love Detroit's history, and have been really enjoying the memories from people here who are just sharing what happened during one of our most tragic moments. I just wish we could find a way to honor our past, AND move forward without hating each other so much.

I've always thought that someone should make the '67 riots into a serious feature-length film or [[better yet) a cable television series. Have a strong ensemble cast, explore that time period from all points of view and all walks of life, perhaps add a prologue or epilogue set in today's Detroit. They could interview many of you who are posting here, use all the books and documentaries that have been produced about '67, and I'm sure we all have friends and folks who'd love to help with the oral history. I mean, my grandma still has the LIFE magazine with the picture of the tank in front of their house. With all the filming being done here lately, it'd be great to see that happen. Besides, it would have one of the best soundtracks ever.

It might be cathartic for us as a city and region, and it might help explain why Detroit is the way that it is to outsiders. It would provide some nuance to a discussion that's usually only told from one or two points of view. It might do for the city of Detroit what something like "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" did for the Funk Brothers. I don't know... maybe I'm just dreaming here.

**carlscomputers** · July-26-10, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by English

Thanks, wintersmommy, DetroitStylin, canuck & EastsideAl. I appreciate hearing the stories about the long hot summer of '67 and love Detroit's history, and have been really enjoying the memories from people here who are just sharing what happened during one of our most tragic moments. I just wish we could find a way to honor our past, AND move forward without hating each other so much.

I've always thought that someone should make the '67 riots into a serious feature-length film or [[better yet) a cable television series. Have a strong ensemble cast, explore that time period from all points of view and all walks of life, perhaps add a prologue or epilogue set in today's Detroit. They could interview many of you who are posting here, use all the books and documentaries that have been produced about '67, and I'm sure we all have friends and folks who'd love to help with the oral history. I mean, my grandma still has the LIFE magazine with the picture of the tank in front of their house. With all the filming being done here lately, it'd be great to see that happen. Besides, it would have one of the best soundtracks ever.

It might be cathartic for us as a city and region, and it might help explain why Detroit is the way that it is to outsiders. It would provide some nuance to a discussion that's usually only told from one or two points of view. It might do for the city of Detroit what something like "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" did for the Funk Brothers. I don't know... maybe I'm just dreaming here.

Bravo! It's enough script material in this thread alone! I hope there's some screenwriters out there. I would like to see it real & gritty, not sugar coated, include some of those indirect stories as well...

**Susan Messer** · July-27-10, 10:14 AM

English, etc., In this context I'd like to speak up for my novel--Grand River and Joy. It looks mainly at the black-Jewish piece of the story, and the northwest side of the city. But in a larger sense, it's concerned with the lack of understandings that are so difficult to resolve and that have such explosive potential.