Day 5 The following is my account of the 1967 Detroit Riot, as excerpted from a diary I kept and I am now posting, in advance of each day, 50 years later.

Thursday July 27, 1967
Thursday was the last day of the 1967 riot. There seemed to be no reason why but my speculation is that the rioting side, if that can be defined as such, simply wore out while the law enforcement side had steadily established its grip.

“At last the riot seems to be getting under control. The rain today seemed to help cool things. My crosstown bus to work that cuts to the westside is dramatically changed. In many places several establishments have been burnt or looted.

“Again tonight, I only managed four hours of work. The curfew which at first was lifted was, wisely I think, resumed. Again I barely made the bus connections in time.

“Gunfire and the sirens were quite infrequent tonight although there was some sniper fire activity.

“Peace seems to have come to Detroit.”

The eastside had quieted down by Wednesday. Due to the efficiency of the Federal airborne troops, the rioting and damage never became as widespread as the westside rebellion. I remember many of us wondering why the Airborne weren’t deployed to the hotter westside. But since the westside had been the flash point, it was where the first arriving troops, the Michigan National Guard, had been deployed and removing them for the Airborne would have been logistically complicated, not to mention embarrassing.

Read: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4