Reading and Writing About History:

The Detroit Riots of 1967

 by Douglas Perry, Monica L. Jones, Vicki Hooks, and Amy Frontier

 

The Black Jesus

First painted black in July 1967

The Start of the Riots:

12th Street (Renamed Rosa Parks Blvd)

 

 

 

 

Frank Rashid’s Father’s Shop

 

Former Location of the Blind Pig: Clairmount & 12th Street 

 

 

      They said it could never happen in Detroit.  They said that its Negro citizens had too much to lose.  However, after one thousand, six hundred eighty fires, fifty million dollars of damage, seven million people detained in twenty different locations spread over six counties, forty-three deaths and seven hundred injuries, people still call this a race riot.  Hardly.  Both Black and White were arrested for looting.  Both Black and White were snipers and killed by snipers.  Men and women from all races willingly participated in the worst case of urban violence and guerilla warfare in twentieth century American history.  

           --Glynn Borders  

            Age 12 at the time of the riots

      “One day during the riot, there was a traffic jam in both directions on Chicago Boulevard, the location of the Sacred Heart Seminary.  Pedestrians, drivers and passengers alike were looking at something.  White people seemed shocked, while Negroes were amused.  The face and hands of Jesus Christ have been painted brown.  The brothers of the seminary would repaint the statue white.  However, soon after, the statue was painted black.   It’s been painted black ever since.  I was confused.  All of my life, to be called black was an insult.  We were Negroes.  Now, all of a sudden we were Black, and being called a Negro, especially colored, was a huge insult.”

                                          Excerpt from “For Sale Signs,” 

                                                by Glynn Borders

 

 

Teaching the 1967 Detroit Riot:

Resources

A.  Resources for Designing a Classroom Unit:

            These materials are presented so teachers can take them and design a unit of study appropriate to the grade and reading level of their students.  The resources below are divided into “Resources for Classroom Unit Design” and  “Supplemental Resources for Students and Teacher.”

            The “Design” sources should guide the teacher is selecting the best material for a specific group of students.  The “Supplemental” sources would help the teacher with background material on the riot of 1967 in Detroit and also provide sources that students could use for projects and research that the teacher may include in a larger curriculum unit of study.

            The main focus of this curriculum is writing about history.   How teachers can guide students through this project of conducting an oral interview is described in detail at the end of this page under the title “Oral History – Interviewing an Eyewitness.”  Students will interview an eyewitness to an event in more recent American history, namely from the Great Depression to the 1990s.

            Additionally, a free writing exercise is included to get students engaged and thinking about the 1967 riots in Detroit.  Also, several assessment items are included for a unit on the ’67 riots.
 
1.  Primary Documents:
 
"Interview with Frank Rashid." Detroit, July 22, 2001.  Mr. Rashid was 
sixteen at the time of the riot and accompanied  his father to the two 
stores he owned in the riot area.
 
"Interview with Theo Broughton," Detroit, July 22, 2001.  Ms. Broughton 
lived near the riot area.
 
Borders, Glynn. "For Sale Signs"(a selection from the film script),  unpublished manuscript,  
1998.
 
Gracie, Rev. David.  "Eyewitness to Disaster."  Pp. 492-495.  In 
Hendrickson, Wilma Wood (ed.).  Detroit Perspectives:  Crossroads and Turning 
Points.  Detroit:  Wayne State University Press, 1991.  On July 30, 
1967, one week after the riot started, Gracie gave this sermon.
 
Norris, Harold.  "Oral History," Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes:  An Oral 
History of Detroit’s African American Community, 1918-1967 edited and 
compiled by Elaine Latzman Moon.  Detroit:  Wayne State University 
Press, 1994.  Pp. 357-360.  An African-American  constitutional lawyer, 
Norris gives his account and reflection on the 1967 riot.
 
Romney, George.  "Oral History," Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes:  An Oral 
History of Detroit’s African American Community, 1918-1967 edited and 
compiled by Elaine Latzman Moon.  Detroit:  Wayne State University 
Press, 1994.  Pp. 386-389.  Romney was governor of Michigan and a Republican 
presidential hopeful at the time of the Detroit riot.
 
Stanton, Barbara, William  Serrin and Gene Goltz.  "Newsgathering 
during Turmoil," Detroit Free Press.  Pp. 496-504.  This Pulitzer Prize 
winning piece of journalism gives an account of six who died in the riots.
 
Wilds, Roy.  "Oral History," Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes:  An Oral 
History of Detroit’s African American Community, 1918-1967 edited and 
compiled by Elaine Latzman Moon.  Detroit:  Wayne State University Press, 
1994.  pp. 390-393.  Wilds reflects on what happened in his hometown of 
Detroit vis-a-vis what was going on in America at the time.
 
 
2.  Literature:
 
Hughes, Langston.  "Harlem [2]," The Collected Poems of Langston 
Hughes.  New York, NY: Random House, 1994.  This signature poem for Lorraine 
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun has a poignant message in light of the 
1960s riots in the United States. 
 
Harper, Michael.  "A Mother  Speaks:  The Algiers Motel Incident, 
Detroit," African American Poets Unit 
<http://www.msu.edu/~miazgama/aapoets_day_three_handout.htm>
               A poem sparked by the 1967 Detroit riot.
 
Lenzo, Lisa.  "Burning," Within the Lighted City.  Iowa City, IO:  
University of Iowa Press, 1997.  This coming-of-age short story with a 
female protagonist is set with the 1967 riot as its backdrop.
 
Wallcott, Derek.  "A City’s Death by Fire," American Poets Unit 
<http://www.msu.edu/~miazgama/aapoets_day_three_handout.htm>
  Another poem sparked by the 1967 Detroit riot.
 
 
3.  Historical Background:
 
Sugrue, Thomas J.  The Origins of the Urban Crisis:  Race and 
Inequality in Postwar Detroit.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press, 
1996.  Sugrue gives a four- page historical account of the 1967 riot (pp. 
259-263).
 
4.  Film
 Williams, Juan.  Eyes on the Prize:  America's Civil Rights Years (videorecording). 
Alexandria, VA : PBS Video, 1986 There is a segment of approximately 30 
minutes that is devoted to the Detroit Riot.
 
B.  Supplemental Resources for Students and Teacher:
 
Brinkley, Douglas.  Rosa Parks.  New York:  Penguin Putnam, 2000. Pp. 
202-205.  Brinkley narrates Rosa Parks reactions to the riots; her 
husband’s barber shop burned down in the riots.  Binkley’s biography not 
only characterizes Rosa Parks but also tells the parallel history of the 
Civil Rights Movement.
 
 
Gilje, Paul A.  Rioting in America.  Bloomington, IN:  Indiana 
University Press, 1996. This monograph is a general history and analysis of 
riots in American history.
 
Gordon, Leonard (editor).  A City in Racial Crisis; the Case of Detroit 
Pre- and Post- the 1967 Riot.  Dubuque, IO: W. C. Brown Co., 1971.  A 
collection of materials and articles from a multiplicity of viewpoints.
 
Hampton, Henry and Steve Fayer (editors).  "Detroit, 1967 — Inside of 
Most Black People There Was a Time Bomb," Voices of Freedom:  An Oral 
History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s.  
New York:  Bantam Books, 1990.  Pp. 373-402.  This collection of voices 
represents people connected with the 1967 riot but leans a little more 
toward the political voices.
 
Hersey, John.  The Algiers Motel Incident.  New York, Knopf, 1968.  
Based on interviews, Hersey’s account focuses on a sub-incident in the 
Detroit riot.
 
Hendrickson, Wilma Wood (ed.).  Detroit Perspectives:  Crossroads and 
Turning Points.  Detroit:  Wayne State University Press, 1991.  This 
collection of readings, arranged chronologically, had four pieces dealing 
with the riots of 1967 in Part XIV, pp. 484-505.  Three are listed 
below and one by Gracie is cited above under "Primary Documents."
 
	—Hersey, John.  "The Death Games at the Algier Motel," pp. 505-511.  
	These are selections from two chapters of Hersey’s The Algiers Motel 
	Incident:  chapter 27, "The Death Game" and chapter 28 "The Death Game 
	Played Out."
 
	—Widick, B. J.  "Mayor Cavanagh and the Limits of Reform," pp. 484-491
 
	—"Newsgathering during Turmoil," Detroit Free Press, pp. 496-504
 
Locke, Hubert G. The Detroit Riot of 1967.  Detroit:  Wayne State 
University Press, 1969.
 
Moon, Elaine Latzman  (editor and compiler).  Untold Tales, Unsung 
Heroes:  An Oral History of Detroit’s African American Community, 
1918-1967.  Detroit:  Wayne State University Press, 1994.  All the oral 
histories listed below deal with the Detroit riot of 1967.
 
	—Brandley, Leon M.  "Oral History," pp. 365-68.
 
	—Bing, Dave.  "Oral History," pp. 376-89.
 
	—Foster, Ollie, Herschel L. Richey and Walter Rosser.  "Discussion on 
		Virginia Perk Community,"  pp. 380-85.
 
	—Hurt III, William Lovell.  "Oral History," pp. 368-75.
 
	—Mickens, Marsha.  "Oral History," pp. 361-64.
 
Sauter, Van Gordon and Burleigh Hines.  Nightmare In Detroit:  A 
Rebellion and Its Victims.  Chicago:  Regnery, 1968.   These authors 
chronicle seven days of the riot and document the deaths of each victim.
 
Singer, Benjamin D., Richard W. Osborn and James A. Geschwender. Black 
Rioters:  A Study of Social Factors and Communication in the Detroit 
Riot.  Lexington, MA:  Heath Lexington Books, 1970.
 
Sugrue, Thomas J.  The Origins of the Urban Crisis:  Race and 
Inequality in Postwar Detroit.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press, 
1996.  Sugrue gives a four- page historical account of the 1967 riot (pp. 
259-263).  He devotes the entire conclusion, "Crisis:  Detroit and the 
Fate of Postindustrial America," to the riots.

Free Writing Exercise

            Write a word on the board, and then give students five minutes to develop an impromptu essay.

           -riot                                        -civil unrest                            -uprising

            -Detroit riot                             -race                                    -white flight

            -police brutality                       -discrimination                    

Detroit Riots of 1967 Assessment

1.     Define the word riot.  

2.     Identify as many riots (within the US) as you can.

3.     Identify the catalyst(s) behind a particular riot.

4.     Identify the difference between a riot and civil unrest/uprising.

5.     Was the 1967 disturbance a riot, civil unrest, or an uprising?

6.     What were the after effects of the 1967 “riots?”

7.     Why was Detroit’s civil unrest identified as the riots?

8.     Was it a race riot?  

9.     What conditions constitute a race riot as opposed to a civil uprising?  

10.   Could it happen again?

 

Oral History — Interviewing an Eyewitness

 
               This oral history project will involve students in these main steps:
	— selecting an event
	— researching the historical event
	— arranging an interview
	— generating a series of questions
	— conducting and taping the interview
	— transcribing and writing a script based on the interview 
	— performing the script in front of the class
 
	What actually happened at an historical event?  At this point students 
have studied the Detroit Riot of 1967 (or some other important 
historical event) from several different perspectives.
 
The Project:
	Choose an event in recent American history, preferably from the Great 
Depression onward. Before you compose a series of questions, make sure 
that you have a good general background of historical information about 
that period of time:  McCarthyism, suburban migration, oil embargo, the 
Persian Gulf War.
 
	Select and interview a person who was an eyewitness to the event.  In 
preparation for the interview, make sure that you choose a person who 
will be willing to sit down with you and answer several question. A good 
interview would take an hour to two hours of time.
 
	Set up a time and place for the interview.  Ask permission to 
audiotape the interview.
 
	As you create a series of questions, compose two that will help open 
the conversation.  For example, if you were doing an interview of an 
eyewitness to the Detroit riot of 1967, you could start with one of the 
following questions:
 
	What sparked or started the riot?
	Who and what did you see?
 
	Depending on how much detail you get from your opening questions, you 
could proceed with some follow-up questions:
 
	Did you fear for your safety?
	Were you confused about what was going on?
	Was anyone giving medical aid to people who were injured in the street?
	Would you point a finger of blame at any one person for the riot?
	How well did the political leaders handle this episode of civil unrest?
	What happened at the Algiers Motel?
	What did you see happening on television?
	There were people taking objects — television  sets, rugs, hams, radios 
		— from stores.  Which word do you thinks best describes their actions:  
		looters or opportunists?
	After the riot, were blacks and white more polarized in the city?
 
	Some of these questions might be covered as you go along, so just 
check them off.  Another question or two might come to mind in the course 
of the interview; ask it.  Most importantly, have a broad understanding 
of the historical event and plan out a series of questions. Being 
prepared will help make the interview more effective and rewarding.
 
	Once the interview is completed, transcribe and write a script based 
on the interview.  Select the core elements of the interview and include 
those in the write-up of the interview.  The interview script should be 
between seven and ten minutes, namely 700-1000 words in length.
 
	At the end of the script, the student should include a reflective 
paragraph which simply answers the question:  What have I learned about 
American history from doing this interview?
 
	As a final step in this process of oral history, students perform the 
script in front of their classmates.
 
	Students might find it most helpful to work in pairs for the research, 
interview and presentation.