1967 Newark riots

The 1967 Newark riots involved violent, armed conflict in the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Taking place over a four-day period (between July 12 and July 17, 1967), the Newark riots resulted in at least 26 deaths and hundreds more serious injuries. Serious property damage, including shattered storefronts and fires caused by arson, left many of the city's buildings damaged or destroyed. At the height of the conflict, the National Guard was called upon to occupy the city with tanks and other military equipment, leading to iconic media depictions that were considered particularly shocking when shared in the national press. In the aftermath of the riots, Newark was quite rapidly abandoned by many of its remaining middle-class and affluent residents, as well as much of its white working-class population. The large amount of violence led to accelerated flight, followed by a decades-long period of disinvestment and urban blight, including soaring crime rates and gang activity.

The Newark riots represented a flashpoint in a long-simmering conflict between elements of the city's then-growing African-American population, which had recently become a numerical majority, and its old political establishment, which remained dominated by members of non-African ethnic groups (especially Italian, Jewish, and Irish Americans) who had gained a political foothold in Newark during earlier generations. Endemic corruption in local government, combined with widespread racial prejudice, likely contributed to the city's failure, during the leadup to 1967, to include a more representative cross-section of the city's black population in its political power structure. The Newark riots were part of a larger national phenomenon, being among more than 150 race riots that occurred in the United States in the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". Some historians, focusing on the protest element of the conflict, have termed it the 1967 Newark Rebellion.

Background

Deindustrialization and suburbanization were major contributors to changes in Newark's demographics. White middle-class residents left for other towns across North Jersey, in one of the largest examples of white flight in the country. Between 1960 to 67', the city switched from 65% White to 52% Black and 10% Cuban and Puerto Rican. Due to the legislation of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, increasing numbers of white veterans, who had recently returned from fighting in World War II, emigrated from Newark to the suburbs where there was improved access to interstate highways, low-interest mortgages, and colleges. The outflow suburban sprawl of white veterans from Newark was rapidly replaced with an influx of black people moving into the Central Ward; blacks, however, faced discrimination in jobs and housing,

Racial profiling, redlining, and lack of opportunity in education, training, and jobs led the city's African–American residents to feel powerless and disenfranchised. In particular, many felt they had been largely excluded from meaningful political representation and often subjected to police brutality.

Newark established a Community Relations Bureau in their police department as early as March 1966. Newark's Police Department director, Dominick Spina, rejected the budget request as he thought it would not be approved. This was much to the disliking to the residents of the Central Ward and it led to more tensions growing in the area as residents saw that in cases of police brutality on black residents, the police would not be held accountable.

thumb|Hugh Addonizio

Many African Americans, especially younger community leaders, felt they had remained largely disenfranchised in Newark, despite massive changes in the city's demographic makeup. Mayor Hugh J. Addonizio – to date the last white mayor of the city – took few steps to adjust to the changes and provide African Americans with civil leadership positions and better employment opportunities.

Despite being one of the first cities in the country to hire black police officers, the department's demographics remained at odds with the city's population, leading to poor relations between black people and the police department. Only 145 of the 1,322 police officers in the city were black (11%), mirroring national demographics, while the city grew to be over 50% black. Black leaders were increasingly upset that the Newark Police Department remained dominated by white officers, who would routinely stop and question black youths with or without provocation. The riots in Newark occurred two years after riots in Los Angeles and came at a time when racial tensions were high. Historians believe that the shrinking of the economy, increased unemployment, and a city with a majority African American population which was being run by white politicians increased tensions during that era.

Smith was originally from the South, where he was a trumpet player but had moved to Newark to help pay for his expenses. Smith got a job at a local taxi company, renting himself a one-room apartment in the Ironbound District along with a yellow taxi cab for $16.50 per day.

One witness to the initial arrest contacted members of the Congress of Racial Equality, the United Freedom Party, and the Newark Community Union Project for further investigation; they were subsequently granted access to Smith's 4th Precinct holding cell.

After seeing the injuries Smith sustained from the police, they demanded he be moved to Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, and were granted their request.

Mayor Addonizio seemed unconcerned about the possibility of further violence occurring. On July 13 he met with Robert Curvin of CORE, an Essex County official named Earl Harris, a teacher named Harry Wheeler, and Duke Moore, a member of the UCC's board. They made three demands of the mayor:

Addonizio said that he needed 48 hours to consider these demands. When he left the meeting, he went to the Central Ward where he realized he would need to take action on them much sooner. At close to the time when the meeting was ending, members of the Students for a Democratic Society's Newark branch distributed handwritten leaflets in the area indicating there would be a rally at the 4th Precinct at 7:30pm. By morning, three people had been killed. Rose Abraham, a 45 year old mother was shot while out looking for one of her children. Tedlock Bell Jr. was shot while surrendering to the police. James Saunders was shot while running from a liquor store. Police killed up to five men while shooting at the ground floor of a building, later saying they were "hunting for a sniper" on the upper floors. Three of the men killed had their belongings taken off their bodies. <blockquote>"Oscar Hill was wearing his American Legion jacket. Murray's body was missing $126 and a ring. Robert Lee Martin's family reported that cops stripped money from his body."</blockquote>According to a petition signed by 76 residents of Beacon Street, members of the New Jersey State Police approached the street corner around 5:30 and sprayed bullets from left to right, hitting two people. At 8:30, the National Guard killed ten year old Eddie Moss while shooting at his father's car at a checkpoint. The family was driving to White Castle.

Media coverage

Photographer Bud Lee was in Newark along with Life reporter Dale Wittner during the riots. There, Lee took several grim photos of a police officer gunning down 24-year-old William Furr, who was caught in an act of stealing a six pack of beer from the ransacked Mack's Liquors store; both Lee and Wittner had earlier met Furr who barged into the latter's conversation with a Black Muslim man regarding the rioting situation. He also shot a photo of a 12-year-old civilian, Joe Bass Jr. who was bleeding on the ground after stray pellets from the policeman's shotgun blast that killed Furr accidentally struck him. Bass survived the wounds and his image became the cover of Life magazine on July 28, 1967.

Response

The riots elicited a strong response from law enforcement organizations. 7,917 members of police and National Guard were deployed, leading to 1,465 arrests and 26 deaths.

Further complicating matters was that the National Guard, State Police, and local police forces had difficulty coordinating their actions due to the three organizations communicating on three different assigned radio frequency ranges.

Aftermath and impact

While the riots are often cited as a major factor in the decline of Newark and its neighboring communities, longer-term racial, economic, and political forces contributed towards generating inner city poverty. By the 1960s and 1970s, as industry fled the city, so did the white middle class, leaving behind a poor population.

The ratio of Newark officers respective to their ethnicity has increased as of 2000, when Newark was 52% black, 34% Latino, and 14% white, the Newark Police Department was 37% black, 27% Hispanic and 36% white. As of 2016, the force was 35% black, 24% white, while the Latino portion had increased to 41%.

In popular culture

The riots were depicted in the 1997 Philip Roth novel American Pastoral as well as its 2016 film adaptation, directed by and starring Ewan McGregor, alongside Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning.

The events are the setting of one section of the 2017 novel 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster.

Revolution '67 is a feature-length documentary about the riots by Emmy-nominated, Newark-based filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno. It premiered on PBS in 2007 as part of its series POV and examines the causes and outcome of the Newark 1967 riots.

The Sopranos episode "Down Neck" features a flashback in which Tony Soprano's mother, Livia Soprano, is watching the riots live on television.

In September 2021, a theatrical prequel to The Sopranos premiered, entitled The Many Saints of Newark, which is partially set during the riots.

References

External links

1967 Newark Riots
No Cause For Indictment: An Autopsy of Newark by Ron Porambo