Assignment #3- Civil Rights Riots

"Martin Luther King helped blacks get justice. He called for  the use of non-violent civil disobedience, a practice begun by Ghandi in India", this statement sums up much of what I was taught about the Civil Rights Era throughout elementary school and high school. While some teachers did mention the violence blacks and whites advocating equality faced from police officers and vigilante mobs, they often failed to mention many of the less known "heroes" who gave their lives to further the struggle. Throughout the 1960s a series of riots occurred throughout American cities as a result of the culminating tensions between blacks and whites. I wish to place and study three key riots: Detroit riot of 1967,Harlem riot of 1964 and the Watts riot of 1965.

These riots often foreshadowed much of the violence that was to come as blacks remained angry at the lack of equality in schools, housing, police brutality and a variety of other issues. The riots are key part to understanding the history of the Civil Rights era and show that not all individuals followed King's call for non-violent civil disobedience.Whereas in some cases the riots were the result of retaliation after an incident of police brutality , in others they were peaceful demonstrations gone wrong. This information is a good candidate for re-evaluation as it will help students to better grasp an understanding of the social conditions of the U.S. and to understand that the Civil Rights Era is about more than just a bus boycott.