Race riots at the beginning of the twentieth century were generally white rampages through black neighborhoods, shooting and burning. By the 1960s, they had become uprisings within the black communities themselves.

Some historians argue that the increased black militancy led to disenchantment among whites, to the white backlash and the demise of the Democratic Party’s consensus on civil rights and eradicating racial discrimination. Others have argued that black militancy increased because the kind of commitment made to real changes seemed so minimal, and that militancy brought about change where none had been occurring.

Throughout the civil-rights era, while political changes were occurring in the South, things worsened for Northern urban African Americans. As blacks entered the cities, whites and businesses left for the suburbs, leaving impoverished segregated neighborhoods with few employment opportunities.

Between 1964 and 1968, a large number of cities witnessed major rioting. The first riot occurred in Harlem, NY after a policeman shot a black criminal suspect. In August riots broke out in Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, IL. But the riot that had the most symbolic impact broke out in Watts (Los Angeles) in 1965, also sparked following a case of police brutality. Thirty-four African Americans died in this riot in a section of the city where 60 percent of the adult population was on welfare relief. Coming five days after President Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act, the riot seemed to highlight the limited effectiveness of the Civil Rights movement.

The worst summer of rioting happened in 1967. Twenty-two cities witnessed riots that July and August. Forty-three people were killed in Detroit, MI (site of the infamous Algiers Motel incident), nearly all of them black, and at least a quarter of the city was burned, with $50 million worth of property destroyed. Federal paratroopers, some just back from the Vietnam War, were sent in to restore order.

The riots provoked a response from the federal government, most notably the Kerner Commission, which reported in March of 1968, and urged more development of inner cities, which President Johnson incorporated into his War on Poverty. Within a few days of the report’s release, on May 4, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, leading to further rioting.

Apart from obvious conditions of deprivation that have been smoldering in the inner cities for decades, a major reason for this rioting has been police brutality. In this regard, the more recent events in 1992, in South Central Los Angeles, were typical. Rodney King, stopped for a traffic violation, was beaten senseless by white policemen from the notorious LAPD, and the incident was captured in graphic detail on video. When the policemen were acquitted of any wrong doing, the city erupted in a day of looting, burning and interracial violence that spread across the country. The riots were followed by tours from presidential candidates and by promises, still largely unfulfilled, of funding for redevelopment.