Detroit's 1943 "Race Riot" - Anniversary.

**marshamusic** · June-20-13, 03:56 PM

I understand that today is the 70th anniversary of the 1943 riots in Detroit; here are a few photos from Life magazine.

One photo that I always remember is not in this colllection - a group of whites preparing to rush a street car on Woodward, in front of the Bonstelle Theatre, its beautiful dome in the background of the madness.

Elders in my family, who were kids at the time, would talk about being chased down by angry rioters. Our current divisions have roots in this explosion. The 1967 Riots were a generation later.

Lest we forget.

http://life.time.com/history/detroit-race-riots-1943-photos-from-a-city-in-turmoil-during-wwii/#1

**Wintersmommy** · June-20-13, 04:19 PM

In the spring of 1943, more than 20,000 white workers at a Detroit plant that produced engines for bombers and PT boats walked off the job in protest over the promotion of a small handful of black workers

Read more: http://life.time.com/history/detroit...#ixzz2WnGazrCe

*SMH* thats a damn shame

**jt1** · June-20-13, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by Wintersmommy

In the spring of 1943, more than 20,000 white workers at a Detroit plant that produced engines for bombers and PT boats walked off the job in protest over the promotion of a small handful of black workers

Read more: http://life.time.com/history/detroit...#ixzz2WnGazrCe

*SMH* thats a damn shame

Interesting that in all the pictures the only aggressors shown are white but the only people being detained are black. Ahhhh, those are the good old days that so many speask of.

**maverick1** · June-20-13, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by jt1

Interesting that in all the pictures the only aggressors shown are white but the only people being detained are black. Ahhhh, those are the good old days that so many speask of.

Right. lol. From what I understand a lot of the racial tensions in that time [[and the racial problems in Metro Detroit overall) were caused by White Southerners moving to Detroit.

**canuck** · June-20-13, 07:20 PM

I'm white and I can't help but feel resentful for all that happened to blacks for so long. I get even more insensed when confronted with people who pretend the playing field is level. It isnt. It is unfortunate, but I think that these events and the reasons they happened should become a greater part of the collective memory.

**jt1** · June-20-13, 07:37 PM

Agreed canuck. It is also important that these events are represented as they truly happened, not the white washed version. Heck, people still insist the 67 riots were strictly due to a blind pig being broken up and nothing more.

**compn** · June-20-13, 07:54 PM

i saw a short film about the 1943 riot, i thought it was talking about the 1967 riot until it mentioned 1943. i didnt remember hearing about this riot. we all tend to focus on the 67 riot, thats when my grandparents moved out of the city. is there some memorial for the 30+ people who died in 1943 ?

i couldnt find the film online , so i uploaded it for you to enjoy:
https://ia601803.us.archive.org/10/i...4.AC3-BgFr.mkv

should be up here in more formats later, processing now: https://archive.org/details/Rumour.1956

RUMOR
Discussion film on prevention of rumors 9 8 minutes. CU 244

Drawn by the celebrated cartoonist, Robert Osborn, this highly original,
animated film traces the development of an idle rumor into a city-wide
riot, and poses the question What Defense Against Rumors? Pro-
duced with the cooperation of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
One of the Challenge films designed as discussion springboards.
Authorized for television.

the rumor in the film reminds me of the similar rumor what caused the 'black wall street' riot in 1921.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Race_Riot

it seems like a common propaganda 'the negro will get our white women!' and i guess it worked well for racism and lynching so why not.

you still see that xenophobia today with people saying all muslims are terrorists.
are they out to get our white women too?
have you seen the rumors of SHARIA LAW ? it seems like at any point we might be under SHARIA LAW. or its just a rumor, started by a troublemaker, to get people to lynch the muslims.

we havent learned shit since the 40s. those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

**canuck** · June-20-13, 09:34 PM

Originally Posted by jt1

Agreed canuck. It is also important that these events are represented as they truly happened, not the white washed version. Heck, people still insist the 67 riots were strictly due to a blind pig being broken up and nothing more.

Exactly. A slight veneer of truth to explain a convenient short and sweet version of history. That is almost as bad as denying the multiple ordeals along the tortuous path to emancipation.

**old guy** · June-20-13, 11:49 PM

It's hard to deny the truth in a photograph.

**EastsideAl** · June-21-13, 03:07 AM

In June of 1943 my father had just graduated from Denby and was working at the Hudson Motor Car plant on Jefferson [[which was building naval equipment for WWII).

One of his vivid memories of the riot was when he first heard about it. He was on a Jefferson streetcar on his way to Belle Isle on the Sunday that the riot really flared up, and around Van Dyke the car was stopped by police who told everyone to go back east on Jefferson and go home.

His other vivid memory is of working at Hudson, alongside black workers, while the plant was surrounded by heavily armed police and troops. Because streetcars had been attacked on Woodward, and the riot was raging through the neighborhoods just to the east of there over to Hastings St., many people couldn't get to work and many of his fellow workers couldn't get home and had to stay at the plant. Everyone was told that if things got really bad they all would be forced to sleep in the factory and to work the shifts of those who couldn't make it in.

Part of the reason why the riot, awful as it was, was quelled so quickly with the use of federal troops, and why it was also pretty well hushed up after it happened, was that Washington was very afraid of anything that might disrupt war production. But this also left resentments unresolved and simmering...

**marshamusic** · June-21-13, 06:01 AM

I found a version of the image that I referenced in the original post. In the view that I saw, the whites had gotten to the streetcar and mobbed it [[and its black passengers).

This is a very good photo gallery of the '43 Riot:

http://detroitnews.mycapture.com/myc...tegoryID=71178

**Pam** · June-21-13, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by maverick1

Right. lol. From what I understand a lot of the racial tensions in that time [[and the racial problems in Metro Detroit overall) were caused by White Southerners moving to Detroit.

No, I think we had plenty of homegrown racists too. It can't all be blamed on southerners.

**Zacha341** · June-21-13, 07:13 AM

Are you suggesting some 'PC' selection of the photos, then?

Originally Posted by jt1

Interesting that in all the pictures the only aggressors shown are white but the only people being detained are black. Ahhhh, those are the good old days that so many speask of.

**Zacha341** · June-21-13, 07:17 AM

Thank you for pointing that fact out. Another false alignment busted! There were and are racists down south and up south [[north)...

Originally Posted by Pam

No, I think we had plenty of homegrown racists too. It can't all be blamed on southerners.

**Detroitnerd** · June-21-13, 11:14 AM

This article is kind of old, but it tells the story.

http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=5041

**DetroitPlanner** · June-21-13, 11:27 AM

Happy Anniversary Race Riot!

Why we have not had a good ole fashioned riot since 1968... 45 years now. We should really let these things go and stop bringing them up all the time.

Not saying we should forget, but we keep ripping off the band-aid and wondering why we can't heal. Ireland is healing, why can't we?

**48205to24** · June-21-13, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Happy Anniversary Race Riot!

Not saying we should forget, but we keep ripping off the band-aid and wondering why we can't heal. Ireland is healing, why can't we?

If you dont recognize this past you are destined to repeat it. Ignorance of the past is a big reason why Detroit is in the situation it is in today. There may not be the threat of a race riot, but race relations arent much better.

**DetroitPlanner** · June-21-13, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by 48205to24

If you dont recognize this past you are destined to repeat it. Ignorance of the past is a big reason why Detroit is in the situation it is in today. There may not be the threat of a race riot, but race relations arent much better.

In 1943 a 'negro' could not sit at the counter at the dime store and order a soda. Today we have black presidents and congress-people. I'd say things are much better. Yes there are still folks out there who see color first, but they are the same as the irish who saw religion first. It is stupid, divisive and keeps people oppressed. I treat everyone the way I want to be treated. I don't have many problems with people accepting me.

**48205to24** · June-21-13, 12:10 PM

We have 1 black president and no black senators. Things are better but that is because of a hard fought civil rights battle. There are many civil rights battles still being fought today not just for black people. No one asks a person of Jewish heritage to refrain from making movies of the holocaust or discussing the horrors they went through.

**DetroitPlanner** · June-21-13, 12:19 PM

Note there are currently two black senators serving in Congress. There would be three, but one of them is President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tates_Senators

The number of representatives in Congress are many.

**48205to24** · June-21-13, 12:25 PM

[QUOTE=DetroitPlanner;389635]Note there are currently two black senators serving in Congress. There would be three, but one of them is President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tates_Senators
QUOTE]

I stand corrected.

**TKshreve** · June-21-13, 12:36 PM

VERY COOL SITE:

http://www.detroits-great-rebellion.com/Index.html

Enjoy.

**EastsideAl** · June-21-13, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

In 1943 a 'negro' could not sit at the counter at the dime store and order a soda. Today we have black presidents and congress-people. I'd say things are much better. Yes there are still folks out there who see color first, but they are the same as the irish who saw religion first. It is stupid, divisive and keeps people oppressed. I treat everyone the way I want to be treated. I don't have many problems with people accepting me.

In 1943 a negro could sit at the lunch counter in Detroit [[which never had Jim Crow like in the south). Doesn't mean they'd be treated well or not ignored though. And being able to sit at a lunch counter, or sit in the front of the bus, in Detroit certainly didn't mean that they weren't discriminated against in terms of jobs, housing, or police treatment.

In 2013, after several decades of hard struggle to have basic human and legal rights recognized, an African-American still cannot drive through certain Detroit suburbs without fear of being stopped by the police for no reason. And there are certainly still whole parts of this area where they would have no hope of renting an apartment or buying a house, to say nothing of being hired for a job.

So, while there has been some significant [[and hard-won) progress, I think it would be a real reach to say "Jim Crow gone, check, half-black president elected, check, well, no more problems here, so everyone please forget what happened over the past 200+ years of our history and go about your business."

**Danny** · June-21-13, 02:00 PM

It all started in the summer of 1943. A 'he said she said that' rumor. Or in case 'Black man kill white woman or White man kill black girl' rumor over the Belle Isle Bridge incident. This race riot wasn't started by black folks, but by white folks by invading Black Bottom and Paradise Valley all the way further north to Woodward and Warren Ave. White Detroit residents were fed up of black folks causing trouble so they destroy and black businesses and black families that stand in their way. Basically they want them out of Detroit for good. 70 years later black folks are still living in Detroit while most white folks are out of the their hoods and living the suburbs.

**Detroitnerd** · June-21-13, 02:35 PM

Well, in all honesty, there were five distinct phases:

The MacArthur Bridge Riot: The mostly black crowds leaving Belle Isle for the day were caught up in a feud involving a few black toughs who were gunning for revenge after getting beaten up at Eastland Park. It was a free-for-all that drew hundreds of white sailors from the nearby Naval Armory.
No known deaths occured.

Hastings Street Riot: When the rumor of a black baby being thrown off the Belle Isle Bridge hit Hastings Street, blacks smashed shop windows and attacked white motorists, leaving 2 whites dead. Reports at the time said that there was no looting, just destruction and battery.

Detroit Police Riot: Cops raced into the Hastings Street neighborhood, shooting to kill. Several blacks were killed, including at least one person shot in the back.

Woodward's White Riot: Thousands of white crowded Woodward, pulling black straphangers off streetcars, pulling blacks from their cars and overturning the vehicles, setting them on fire. Dozens of blacks, some hapless enough to be leaving all-night theaters, were beaten very badly. All police could do was try to protect individual blacks and stop the white mobs from entering the black quarter. A troop of G.I.s marched through this chaos holding an American flag, until a disgusted G.I. in town on leave walked up to them and tore the banner away from them. The Army could have come in and stopped this, but the mayor dickered with the governor over the terms of martial law, while people were being beaten and killed outside. Police used persuasion on whites, but they didn't stint on force against blacks. On [[probably fraudulent) reports of a "sniper," sheriffs and police opened up on the Frazer Hotel with heavy ammunition and tear gas. Casualties were considerable, and all black.

The Heavy-Handed Occupation: The arrival of the Army and the declaration of martial law convinced many whites to return home. During the occupation, a few more blacks died, one for mouthing off to a state trooper.

As bad as all this was, the most shameful episode came afterward, when the riot was blamed on the NAACP.