July 23 - The Detroit Riots Begin

This Day in History: 23 July 2020

 

23 July 1967

 

53 years ago, today, the Detroit riots began, which were among the bloodiest in American history. The violence occurred during a period of Detroit's history when the city was struggling economically, with race relations nationwide also being at an all-time low. The Detroit Police Department's vice squad often raided illegal drinking establishments in the poorer neighbourhoods of the city, and in the early morning on this day, they moved against a club that was hosting a party for returning Vietnam War veterans. The police activity in the early hours drew a crowd of onlookers, causing the situation to rapidly deteriorate.

 

Thousands of people had quickly spilled out onto the street from nearby buildings. They began to throw rocks and bottles at the police, who rapidly fled the scene. On 12^th Street, where the illegal club was located, looting and ransacking of shops and businesses began. The first fire broke out by dawn, setting much of the street ablaze. A few hours later, every policeman and fireman in Detroit was called, but officers still struggled to control the crowd on 12^th Street. Firemen were also attacked as they tried to fight the flames. This riot continued throughout the week, and even the US Army and National Guard were called in. Once the violence had ended, around 43 people had died, many more were seriously injured and nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned or ransacked.

 

Want to find out more about the 1967 Detroit riots? Click here for more information, or here for how the riots reshaped Detroit.

Boris Johnson on the Croydon riots

I was delighted to be invited to a Conservative party event last Tuesday evening. The special guest of the night was the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who gave a speech about the riots that occurred last month.

Although he spoke about the riots as a whole, he predominantly focused on repairing Croydon and restoring faith into the citizens that reside there. His aim now is to recreate Croydon to be even better than it was before, by including new tram links and generating business incentives to stimulate the town’s economy.

At the moment, there seems to be a lot of disillusionment with the police. During the first days of the riots, the police took a laid-back approach and looters were free to ransack stores. This seems to be a huge concern for Johnson, therefore he emphasised that the police force is robust and resilient to bounce back from the criticisms.

He then opened the panel to the residents, including the owner of Reeve’s Corner (the biggest building that was set alight in Croydon). The store owner was reassured that he would have support as he reconstructed his business building.

I happily met Johnson afterwards. It was a great speech and a good night. He definitely left the event having a lot of support from the Conservative members of Croydon.

Many thanks to VD for this report.

England's Summer Riots

The riots in London and elsewhere across the country have clearly been a very significant political event this summer. Many thanks to our politics student VD for this contribution - please let us know your own opinions on what has been taking place.


Over four days earlier this month, riots spread across London and other parts of the country. They was triggered by the shooting of Mark Duggan, an alleged drug dealer who was shot in Tottenham on 4 August. This sparked the controversy if he was lawfully shot. What started as a peaceful protest has now turned into numerous accounts of looting, riots and arson attacks. Five people were killed in connection with the violence. It is obviously that the aim of the protest has been lost by recreational violence.

Many complained about David Cameron’s absence when the riots started, so he returned to London from his Italian holiday and visited the towns which were affected. Boris Johnson and Theresa May also returned. Not many are happy with the actions they have implemented (some say they have not done anything at all). It will be interesting to see if this will have major damage on the Conservative Party’s reputation. Moreover, Boris Johnson has launched his Back Boris campaign for the 2012 London Mayoral elections - this single event could have a detrimental effect. The aftermath of the riots will help us determine the answer to that.