WEBVTT 00:00.766 --> 00:03.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% In the long, hot summer of 1967, 00:03.533 --> 00:06.833 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% protests and violence broke out across Detroit, Newark 00:07.033 --> 00:11.066 align:left position:15% line:77% size:75% and more than 150 towns and cities across the United States. 00:11.466 --> 00:16.133 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% People were glued to their TVs as national news coverage showed cities burning. 00:16.766 --> 00:20.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The 1960s media referred to these events as lawless “riots”, 00:20.800 --> 00:25.033 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% but Martin Luther King Jr more aptly countered that “riots do not develop 00:25.033 --> 00:30.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% out of thin air” and described them as “the language of the unheard.” 00:31.133 --> 00:33.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So, what were those unheard Americans 00:33.766 --> 00:36.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% trying to tell their fellow citizens? 00:36.900 --> 00:39.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Welcome to the Anatomy of Unrest. 00:50.100 --> 00:53.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Historically, black Americans experienced widespread 00:53.300 --> 00:56.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and in many cases, legalized forms of discrimination. 00:56.833 --> 01:00.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Segregation, lack of jobs, inadequate housing, 01:00.200 --> 01:04.100 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% racial profiling, and underfunded schools were just some of the systems 01:04.100 --> 01:07.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% impacting the daily lives of black Americans in the 1960s. 01:08.500 --> 01:10.800 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% A report from the Michigan Civil Rights Commission 01:10.800 --> 01:12.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% underscored this, stating, 01:12.866 --> 01:16.066 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% “discrimination and police brutality in the United States 01:16.066 --> 01:18.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% was a serious and continuous problem.” 01:19.833 --> 01:22.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% These all too common police practices, 01:22.000 --> 01:26.666 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% combined with other forms of systemic racism, directly led to heightened tensions 01:26.666 --> 01:28.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in cities across the country. 01:31.500 --> 01:32.566 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5% In most cases, 01:33.333 --> 01:36.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% an inciting incident caused tensions that had been simmering below the surface 01:36.600 --> 01:38.566 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% to reach a breaking point. 01:39.166 --> 01:41.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% In Newark, two white police officers pulled over 01:41.800 --> 01:45.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a black cab driver, beat him and then arrested him, 01:45.200 --> 01:47.700 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% sparking rumors he was beaten to death. 01:49.066 --> 01:53.000 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% In Detroit, police raided a bar during a homecoming party for a G.I., 01:53.000 --> 01:56.366 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% roughly arresting the owner and his daughter as a crowd gathered. 01:57.000 --> 02:00.433 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% And in Tampa, police shot and killed Martin Chambers, 02:00.433 --> 02:04.633 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% an unarmed 19 year old in the back as he fled the scene of a robbery. 02:08.566 --> 02:10.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% These acts of state violence 02:10.100 --> 02:12.066 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% triggered protests from the community in Newark. 02:12.333 --> 02:14.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% In Newark crowds of people arriv 02:14.366 --> 02:18.233 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% at the Fourth Precinct to protest the unjust treatment of the cab driver. 02:18.800 --> 02:21.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Once one person threw a stone, the floodgates opened. 02:22.600 --> 02:27.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Then, police responded with nightsticks, shields and more violence. 02:30.966 --> 02:34.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Unconfirmed reports of citizen violence surrounding the protest 02:34.366 --> 02:37.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% added to the already volatile situation. 02:38.433 --> 02:41.600 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% In Newark, the Director of Police investigated reports of sniper fire 02:41.600 --> 02:43.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% near a public housing project. 02:43.766 --> 02:45.066 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% Instead of civilians, 02:45.300 --> 02:48.066 align:left position:15% line:77% size:75% he found that a National Guardsman had been shooting to scare 02:48.066 --> 02:50.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a resident away from his window. 02:51.033 --> 02:53.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Later on, he found more evidence 02:53.133 --> 02:56.433 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% that the other gunshots were actually just fireworks. 02:57.566 --> 03:00.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But the reports were enough to trigger mass hysteria 03:00.866 --> 03:03.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and an escalation of police violence. 03:11.066 --> 03:14.633 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% Perhaps seduced by the gripping images of inner cities in chaos, 03:14.833 --> 03:18.300 align:left position:15% line:77% size:75% the news media of the day portrayed events as more destructive 03:18.300 --> 03:20.600 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% and widespread than they actually were. 03:21.466 --> 03:25.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% By depicting Black Americans in an unfair, often racist way a 03:25.066 --> 03:27.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and hinting at outside agitators 03:27.266 --> 03:30.233 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% this news coverag firmly shaped public perception. 03:30.733 --> 03:35.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And since media organizations at the time were largely populated by white, 03:35.233 --> 03:39.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% middle class journalists with no connection or understanding o these communities, 03:39.400 --> 03:43.233 align:left position:17.5% line:77% size:72.5% the real issues at play were not explored or reported on. 03:43.966 --> 03:45.100 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% As a result, 03:45.366 --> 03:48.833 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% officials didn't understan what was happening on the ground 03:52.066 --> 03:53.900 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% President Lyndon B. Johnson 03:53.900 --> 03:57.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% appointed the National Advisory on Civil Disorders to find out what happened. 03:58.400 --> 04:01.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This bipartisan group, made up of mayors, business leaders, 04:02.100 --> 04:05.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% law enforcement and others were with figuring out how to prevent 04:05.766 --> 04:08.133 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% similar from taking place in the future. 04:09.333 --> 04:12.200 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% After months of in-depth, on-the-ground research, 04:12.200 --> 04:14.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% they concluded that white institutional racism 04:14.900 --> 04:16.400 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% was undoubtedly the cause 04:16.400 --> 04:19.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of the long, hot summer of 1967. 04:26.466 --> 04:30.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Published in 1968 the Kerner Report was an instant 04:30.266 --> 04:33.933 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% warning that, “Our natio is moving towards two societies 04:33.933 --> 04:37.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% one black, one white, separate and unequal.” 04:39.066 --> 04:40.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% How did this group of people 04:40.500 --> 04:43.566 align:left position:12.5% line:77% size:77.5% from across the political spectrum come to a consensus? 04:43.566 --> 04:46.733 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% And what did the America people think of their findings? 04:46.733 --> 04:50.966 align:left position:15% line:77% size:75% For more, watch American Experiences documentary, The Riot Report.