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Deadly Rioting in Detroit
Racial unrest engulfed more than 150 US cities in 1967. Hardest hit was Detroit, where a police raid of an unlicensed bar sparked five days of violence and chaos.
Looting and flames ravaged entire blocks of the city. Rioters hurled bottles and bricks. Snipers targeted firefighters, who abandoned burning buildings. Thousands of National Guardsmen and US Army paratroopers swept the city in tanks and helicopters. Police and Guardsmen shot rioters -- many of whom were unarmed -- at will. With 43 people killed, more than 500 buildings destroyed and some $50 million in damage, the riot was one of the deadliest and most destructive in US history.
Urban rage was rooted in racial oppression, poverty and despair, and violence was largely sparked by confrontations with white police. But televised scenes of fire and fury left the impression of black America in violent revolt, damaging white support for civil rights. |