The Philadelphia race riot, or Columbia Avenue Riot, took place in the predominantly black neighborhoods of North Philadelphia from August 28 to August 30, 1964. Tensions between black residents of the city and police had been escalating for several months over several well-publicized allegations of police brutality.

This riot was one of the first in the civil rights era and followed the 1964 Rochester race riot and Harlem riot of 1964 in New York City.

Background

In 1964, North Philadelphia was the city's center of African-American culture, and home to 400,000 of the city's 600,000 black residents. The Philadelphia Police Department had tried to improve its relationship with the city's black community, assigning police to patrol black neighborhoods in teams of one black and one white officer per squad car and having a civilian review board to handle cases of police brutality. The summer of 1964 was at the peak of the civil rights movement with rioting breaking out in black areas of other northern cities including New York City; Rochester, N.Y.; Jersey City, N.J., and Elizabeth, N.J. stemming from allegations of police brutality against black residents.

Aftermath

The riot was reported to have caused $4,000,000 worth of damages, . Business activity in North Philadelphia declined even further after the riots, as many of the damaged or destroyed stores never re-opened for business. The riots also helped to facilitate the political rise to power of Frank Rizzo, who favored more punitive approaches to crime.

In 1987, Columbia Avenue between Front and 33rd Streets was renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue after the influential and often controversial Civil Rights leader. Although his role was limited, Moore has been regarded as a pacifying figure who helped quell the rioting.

Cultural references

A fictionalized version of the events of the Philadelphia riots of 1964 are depicted in the first season finale of the NBC television series American Dreams.

See also

  • Race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer
  • George Floyd protests in Philadelphia
  • Ethnic conflict
  • 1964 in the United States
  • Urban riots
  • List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States

References