1968 Washington, D.C. riots 1772129 213580855 2008-05-19T23:13:59Z Junglecat 404116 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/72.227.145.69|72.227.145.69]] ([[User talk:72.227.145.69|talk]]) to last version by 70.189.185.30 [[Image:Damage to a store following the riots in Washington, D.C., April 16, 1968.jpg|thumb|right|Damage to a store following the riots]] The '''Washington, D.C. riots''' of [[April 4]]–[[April 8|8]], [[1968]] erupted with the [[April 4]], [[1968]] assassination of [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|Civil Rights Movement]] leader [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] [[civil disorder|Civil unrest]] affected at least 110 [[United States|U.S.]] cities; [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], along with [[Chicago]] and [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], was among the most impacted. ==Course of events== The ready availability of jobs in the growing [[United States government|federal government]] attracted many to Washington in the 1960s, and middle class [[African-American]] neighborhoods prospered. Despite the end of legally mandated [[racial segregation]], the historic neighborhoods of [[Shaw, Washington, DC|Shaw]], the [[H Street]] [[Washington DC (northeast)|Northeast]] corridor, and [[Columbia Heights, Washington, DC|Columbia Heights]], centered at the intersection of [[14th Street (Washington, D.C.)|14th]] and [[U Street Corridor|U]] Streets [[Washington DC (northwest)|Northwest]], remained the centers of African-American commercial life in the city. As word of King's murder by [[James Earl Ray]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] spread on the evening of Thursday, [[April 4]], crowds began to gather at 14th and U. [[Stokely Carmichael]], the [[Trinidad and Tobago]]-born activist and [[Howard University]] graduate, had parted with King in 1966, and had been removed as head of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] in 1967, but led members of the SNCC to stores in the neighborhood illegally demanding that they close out of respect. Although supposedly polite at first, the crowd fell out of control and began breaking windows. By 11pm, widespread looting had begun, as well as in over 30 other cities. [[List of mayors of Washington, D.C.|Mayor-Commissioner]] [[Walter Washington]] ordered the damage cleaned up immediately the next morning. However, anger was still evident when Carmichael addressed a rally at Howard warning of, and threatening violence on Friday morning and after the close of the rally, crowds walking down 7th Street NW came into violent confrontations with [[police]], as well as in the H Street NE corridor. By midday, numerous buildings were on fire, with [[firefighter]]s attacked with bottles and rocks and unable to respond to them. Crowds of as many as 20,000 overwhelmed the District's 3,100-member police force, and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] dispatched some 13,600 federal troops, including 1,750 federalized D.C. [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] troops to assist them. Marines mounted machine guns on the steps of the Capitol and Army troops from the 3rd Infantry guarded the White House. At one point, on April 5th, rioting reached within two blocks of the White House before rioters retreated. The occupation of Washington was the largest of any American city since the Civil War. Mayor Washington imposed a curfew and banned the sale of alcohol and guns in the city. By the time the city was considered pacified on Sunday, [[April 8]], twelve had been killed (mostly in burning homes), 1,097 injured, and over 6,100 arrested. Additionally, some 1,200 buildings had been burned, including over 900 stores. Damages reached $27 million. This can be estimated to be equivalent to over $156 million today. ==Impact== [[Image:Leffler -1968 WashingtonDC MLK riots.jpg|thumb|Aftermath from the riots]] The riots utterly devastated Washington's inner city economy. With the destruction or closing of businesses, thousands of jobs were lost, and [[insurance]] rates soared. Made uneasy by the violence, city residents of all races accelerated their departure for [[suburb]]an areas, depressing property values. [[Crime]] in the burned out neighborhoods rose sharply, further discouraging investment. On some blocks, only rubble remained for decades. [[Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.|Columbia Heights]] and the U Street corridor did not begin to recover economically until the opening of the [[U St/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo (Washington Metro)|U St/Cardozo]] and [[Columbia Heights (Washington Metro)|Columbia Heights]] [[Washington Metro|Metro]] stations in 1991 and 1999, respectively, while the H Street NE corridor remained depressed for several years longer. [[Walter Washington]], who reportedly refused [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] director [[J. Edgar Hoover]]'s suggestion to shoot the rioters, went on to become the city's first elected mayor and its first black mayor. ==See also== * [[List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States]] * [[Louisville riots of 1968]] * [[Baltimore riot of 1968]] * [[May 1968]], student-led general strike in France * [[Protests of 1968]] ==References== * Wills, Denise Kersten. "[http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/7080.html "People Were Out of Control": Remembering the 1968 Riots]", ''Washingtonian'', [[April 1]] [[2008]]. * Bean, Jonathan. "[http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_05_2_bean.pdf 'Burn, Baby, Burn': Small Business in the Urban Riots of the 1960s]" (PDF), ''The Independent Review'' 5:2, Fall 2000, pp. 165-187 * CNN.com: "[http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/04/mlk.dc.riots/ Nation's capital still recovering from 1968 riots]," [[April 4]], [[1998]] * New York Avenue Presbyterian Church: "[http://www.nyapc.org/history/?name=DC%20Riots%20of%201968 DC Riots of 1968]" * Tucker, Neely. "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27044-2004Aug23.html The Wreckage of a Dream]," ''[[Washington Post]]'' [[August 24]], [[2004]], p. B01 * Gilbert, Ben W. and the Staff of the Washington Post (1968) ''Ten Blocks from the White House, Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968''. The Washington Post Company. Frederick A. Praeger Publishers. * Warren, Timothy "[http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/BUSINESS/65163448/1006/ D.C. retail center renews '68 riot blot]" [[Washington Times]], March 10, 2008, p.A01 * Williams, Paul K. ''Greater U Street.'' Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002. * Williams, Paul K. & T. Luke Young. ''Washington Then and Now.'' Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002. [[Category:1968 riots|Washington, D.C. riots]] [[Category:1968 in the United States|Washington, D.C. riots]] [[Category:History of Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Crime in Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Race riots in the United States]]