American Experience (1988–…): Season 20, Episode 3 - Eyes on the Prize II (Parts I & II): The Time Has Come/Two Societies - full transcript
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♪ I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
♪ WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON. ♪
THERE IS NOTHING MORE DANGEROUS
THAN TO BUILD A SOCIETY
WITH A LARGE SEGMENT OF PEOPLE
IN THAT SOCIETY
WHO FEEL THAT THEY HAVE
NO STAKE IN IT,
WHO FEEL THAT THEY HAVE
NOTHING TO LOSE.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE A STAKE
IN THEIR SOCIETY
PROTECT THAT SOCIETY,
BUT WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE IT,
THEY UNCONSCIOUSLY
WANT TO DESTROY IT.
Narrator:
AUGUST 1965...
BLACK RESIDENTS IN WATTS,
A LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD,
TOOK TO THE STREETS IN ANGER.
THE UPRISING LASTED SIX DAYS
AND LEFT 34 PEOPLE DEAD.
WATTS WAS A CHALLENGE
TO THE NATION,
AND TO THE NONVIOLENT PHILOSOPHY
OF MARTIN LUTHER KING.
AND FOR THE RESPECT
OF DR. KING THAT WE HAVE
HERE, I SAY THIS:
SURE, WE LIKE
TO BE NONVIOLENT,
BUT WE UP HERE
IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
WILL NOT TURN
THAT OTHER CHEEK!
Narrator:
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
KING LED
HAD WON A MAJOR VICTORY
DAYS EARLIER
WHEN PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON
SIGNED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
BUT OUTSIDE THE SOUTH,
LITTLE HAD CHANGED;
ANGER WAS BUILDING.
IT WAS TIME FOR KING
AND HIS STAFF TO MOVE NORTH.
♪ GOIN' TO CHICAGO,
SORRY, BUT I CAN'T TAKE YOU. ♪
Narrator:
THEIR FIRST TARGET:
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, THE
SECOND LARGEST CITY IN AMERICA.
A FOURTH OF CHICAGO'S RESIDENTS
WERE BLACK.
DESPITE A DECADE OF PROTEST
AND SOME SUCCESSES,
MANY FACED PROFOUND
POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION.
Woman:
WHEN I FIRST HEARD THAT DR. KING
WAS GOING TO COME TO CHICAGO,
I WAS ELATED.
I SAID, "OH, MY GOSH,
CHICAGO'S GOING TO GET INVOLVED
"IN ALL OF THIS, YOU KNOW,
"DR. KING HAS GOT A POWERFUL
FOLLOWING, A POWERFUL MESSAGE,
"AND HE'S GOING TO BRING IT
TO CHICAGO
TO HELP WITH THE MOVEMENT HERE...
HE'S SURE NEEDED."
WHEN WE WENT TO CHICAGO,
WE WERE TRYING TO SEE
WOULD NONVIOLENCE WORK
IN THE NORTH
AND WHAT ELEMENTS
OF NONVIOLENCE WOULD WORK:
VOTER REGISTRATION,
MARCHES AND DIRECT ACTION;
COULD WE END SLUMS
AND CREATE GOOD HOUSING?
COULD WE CREATE JOBS
AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES?
Narrator:
A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN IN CHICAGO
MIGHT PROVIDE A MODEL
FOR COMBATTING PROBLEMS
THROUGHOUT THE NORTH.
OTHER CITIES
HAD BEEN CONSIDERED,
BUT SOME BLACK LEADERS REFUSED
TO WORK WITH KING AND HIS STAFF.
CHICAGO'S CIVIL RIGHTS
LEADERS WELCOMED THEM.
WE HAVE LOOKED FORWARD
TO OUR COMING TO CHICAGO
WITH GREAT AND EAGER
ANTICIPATION.
AND AS WE HAVE SAID IN THE PAST,
WE ARE HERE
TO STUDY THE CONDITIONS
AS THEY RELATE THEMSELVES
IN HOUSING, JOBS
AND THE WHOLE SCHOOL QUESTION.
Narrator:
CHICAGO OFFICIALS WERE CAUTIOUS.
ED MARCINIAK GREETED KING
ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
Marciniak:
THAT WELCOME WAS, I THINK,
BOTH GENUINE
AND PART OF A STRATEGY.
THE STRATEGY WAS, HERE WAS A MAN
COMING TO A CITY HE DIDN'T KNOW,
TO A CITY WHOSE
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
WITH WHICH HE WAS NOT FAMILIAR.
HE WAS DEALING WITH PEOPLE
BASICALLY WHO WERE NONPOLITICAL,
SUSPICIOUS OF THE POLITICAL
ESTABLISHMENT,
AND SO THE ADVICE AND COUNSEL
THAT HE WOULD BE GETTING
WOULD BE, BY AND LARGE,
ADVICE THAT DIDN'T COME THROUGH
THE NORMAL POLITICAL CHANNELS.
Narrator:
CHICAGO WAS
THE POLITICAL DOMINION
OF MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY...
ONE OF THE MOST
POWERFUL MEN IN AMERICA.
DALEY'S INFLUENCE EXTENDED INTO
THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Crowd:
♪ WE LOVE OUR MAYOR,
OH, YES WE DO... ♪
Narrator:
FOR 11 YEARS
DALEY HAD RUN THE NEIGHBORHOODS
AND CITY WARDS OF CHICAGO
THROUGH A POLITICAL MACHINE
BUILT ON PATRONAGE.
SOME BLACKS WERE INCLUDED
IN THE MACHINE,
BUT MANY SAW DALEY
AS THE POWER BEHIND
THE SYSTEM THAT LOCKED THEM OUT.
Woman:
THE DALEY MACHINE WAS...
WELL, I GUESS
I COULD DO THAT BEST
BY TRYING TO DESCRIBE
MAYOR DALEY.
HE SEEMED TO MANY
TO BE OMNIPOTENT.
HE TOOK A MACHIAVELLI
APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT.
HE WAS IN CONTROL, HE WAS
STRONG, DEMANDING AND RUTHLESS.
DALEY HAD BLACKS ON HIS STAFF
AND BLACK OFFICIALS,
AND SOME BLACK MINISTERS
WHO MARCHED
WITH DR. KING IN THE SOUTH
WENT TO SCHOOL
WITH HIM AT MOREHOUSE,
BUT ON DALEY'S PLANTATION,
THEY HAD PRESS CONFERENCES
AND URGED DR. KING
TO LEAVE CHICAGO,
SAYING, "THERE IS NO PLACE
FOR YOU HERE."
IT REALLY BROKE HIS HEART
TO SEE SOME OF HIS CLASSMATES
TURN ON HIM IN CHICAGO.
Narrator:
THE MAYOR HIMSELF HAD SUPPORTED
THE CAMPAIGN FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
IN THE SOUTH.
NOW DALEY KEPT WATCH
AS KING'S ORGANIZATION
AND LOCAL CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS
FORMED THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT.
IN JANUARY 1966, THEY LAUNCHED
A NONVIOLENT WAR ON SLUMS.
Woman:
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE GET OFFENDED
WHEN YOU SAY "SLUMS,"
BUT WE HAVE TO REALIZE
THAT IT'S NOT JUST SOMETHING
THAT YOU CAN SEE IN A COMMUNITY.
IT'S THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T SEE
THAT MAKE THAT SLUM.
SO WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING
ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS
AND THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT
IS TO BE TOGETHER, SEE.
AND WE'RE GOING TO BE TOGETHER,
WE'RE GOING TO GET
SOMETHING DONE HERE,
NOT ONLY IN EAST GARFIELD PARK,
NOT ONLY IN LAWNDALE,
NOT ONLY IN CHICAGO,
BUT WE'RE GOING TO GET THINGS
DONE IN NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA.
EVERY STATE WE GOT, WE'RE GOING
TO HAVE SOMETHING DONE.
Narrator:
MANY OF CHICAGO'S
BLACK RESIDENTS
WERE TRAPPED IN DECAYING
AND SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS.
THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS
HAD BEEN THE POINT OF ENTRY
FOR SOUTHERN BLACKS RECRUITED
TO WORK IN NORTHERN INDUSTRIES.
OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS HAD WORKED
THEIR WAY OUT OF SLUMS.
STRICT SEGREGATION
LOCKED BLACKS IN.
RENTS WERE HIGH,
SERVICES WERE NEGLECTED.
WHEN I MOVED INTO THE BUILDING
ON 3400 MADISON,
IT WAS PREDOMINANTLY WHITE.
AND WHEN BLACKS STARTED
MOVING INTO THAT BUILDING,
THEN IT SEEMED LIKE WHITE PEOPLE
JUST MOVED OUT OVERNIGHT,
THEY WOULD THERE...
AND THE SERVICES STARTED
TO GO DOWN.
HE STOPPED PAINTING,
HE STOPPED DOING ANY REPAIRS
AND THINGS IN THE BUILDING.
Woman:
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
Woman in window:
MY NAME IS MRS. WEEMS.
Man:
YEAH, SEE WE'RE TRYING
TO GET SOME MEETINGS TOGETHER
WITH THE PEOPLE IN THIS BUILDING
SO WE CAN DEAL WITH SOME
OF THE PROBLEMS AROUND HERE.
Woman in window:
WELL, UH, JUST A MINUTE,
LET ME COME DOWN.
Man:
ALL RIGHT, YOU COME ON DOWN.
I WORK FOR
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING.
Dunlap:
SO I SORT OF MADE
MYSELF AN ORGANIZER.
I STARTED TALKING
WITH THE TENANTS
THAT WERE IN THE BUILDING
ABOUT HOLDING THEIR RENT.
SO I GOT ONLY
ABOUT SEVEN OF THEM
TO SAY THAT THEY WOULD WORK
WITH ME AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
THE OTHERS, I FELT, THAT WANTED
TO WORK WITH ME BUT WERE AFRAID
BECAUSE THEY WERE
ON FIXED INCOMES,
PARTICULARLY PUBLIC ASSISTANCE,
AND THEY WERE AFRAID
THAT THE LANDLORD WOULD
GET THEIR CHECKS CUT OFF.
Narrator:
OPPOSITION TO THE MAYOR
COULD BE COSTLY.
DALEY'S POLITICAL MACHINE
CONTROLLED CITY SERVICES
AND HAD INFLUENCE OVER
PUBLIC HOUSING AND WELFARE.
THE MAYOR USED THAT POWER
AGAINST THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT.
Woman:
HE OWNED THAT SYSTEM,
RICHARD J. DALEY DID,
AND I REMEMBER THE INSPECTORS
WERE GOING FROM DOOR TO DOOR
TO THOSE OF US THAT WERE
PARTICIPATING
WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING,
AND THEY CAME TO MY HOUSE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE
HARASSED AT THAT LEVEL...
INSPECTORS... FOR VIOLATIONS
THAT THEY COULDN'T FIX.
SO WHEN YOU GOT A VIOLATION,
WHO DID YOU HAVE TO GO TO?
YOU HAD TO GO TO ONE OF DALEY'S
MEN TO FIX... FIX THE CODE
OR ELSE, YOU KNOW,
YOU WERE FINED.
WHEN KING ACTUALLY CAME TO TOWN,
DALEY RECEIVED HIM POLITELY.
AND THEN EVERY TIME DR. KING
OR THE MOVEMENT
WOULD RAISE AN ISSUE
DALEY WOULD INSTITUTE
SOME KIND OF RESPONSE OR PROGRAM
TO SHOW THAT THE MOVEMENT
WASN'T NEEDED
AND THAT THE CITY
WAS ON TOP OF THE PROBLEM.
THIS WAS PARTICULARLY TRUE IF
IT HAD TO DO WITH CITY SERVICES.
IF DR. KING WOULD GO TO...
AS HE DID... TO THE WEST SIDE
AND HELP TO SHOVEL OUT
THE FILTH IN AN APARTMENT
IN A VERY DIRTY,
RUNDOWN SECTION OF TOWN,
WHY, THE NEXT DAY
THE GARBAGE TRUCKS WOULD ARRIVE
AND THE PLACE
WOULD BE ALL CLEANED UP.
AND IT IS TRUE, IN THE MINDS
OF THE PEOPLE AND THE PRESS,
IT BECAME HARD TO SEE
DALEY AS SOME KIND OF ENEMY
BECAUSE HE WOULD ALWAYS RESPOND.
WE'D LIKE TO KNOW
WHERE PLACES ARE RUNDOWN
OR IT'S A HAZARD TO HUMAN LIFE.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
WANTS TO KNOW IF A BUILDING
IS IN SUCH SHAPE
THAT IT'S A DANGER TO LIFE
OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN IT.
AND THEY CAN BE OF GREAT HELP
IN GIVING US THIS INFORMATION.
IT WAS CLEAR, I THINK,
TO US AT THE TIME
THAT WHAT THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT WANTED
WAS A WAY TO GET A CONFRONTATION
WITH CITY HALL.
AND OUR PURPOSE WAS TO SEE IF
WE COULD AVOID A CONFRONTATION,
TO DEFUSE ANY ISSUE THAT MIGHT
PRECIPITATE A CONFRONTATION.
WE WERE NOT BIRMINGHAM; WE WERE
NOT SELMA; WE WERE CHICAGO.
♪ WE SHALL OVERCOME ONE DAY,
WE SHALL OVERCOME... ♪
Narrator:
KING HAD CHOSEN CHICAGO
AS THE PROVING GROUND
FOR A NONVIOLENT
CAMPAIGN IN THE NORTH.
BUT SIX MONTHS HAD GONE BY
AND THERE WERE NO
VICTORIES IN SIGHT.
ON JULY 10, 1966,
THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT
HELD A RALLY AT SOLDIER FIELD.
SOME WERE QUESTIONING
THE STRATEGY OF NONVIOLENCE.
KING ARGUED IN ITS DEFENSE.
King:
WE ASSEMBLE HERE TODAY
TO MARCH TO CITY HALL
TO DEMAND REDRESS
OF OUR LEGITIMATE GRIEVANCES.
I WANT EVERY ONE OF YOU HERE
TO MARCH WITH US TODAY.
BY THE THOUSANDS, WE WILL MARCH
THERE IN A FEW MINUTES
AND MAKE OUR GREAT WITNESS.
I'M STILL CONVINCED
THERE'S NOTHING MORE POWERFUL
TO DRAMATIZE AND EXPOSE
A SOCIAL EVIL
THAN THE TRAMP, TRAMP
OF MARCHING FEET.
♪ WE SHALL ALL HAVE PEACE,
LORD, LORD, ONE DAY ♪
♪ YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH,
PEACE IN OUR HEARTS! ♪
Narrator:
IN SWELTERING HEAT, 5,000 MARCH
WITH KING TO CITY HALL.
HE TAPED A LIST OF DEMANDS
TO THE DOOR
CALLING FOR CITY ACTION
TO END DISCRIMINATION.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, MOVEMENT
LEADERS MET WITH THE MAYOR.
THE TALKS REACHED AN IMPASSE.
WELL, I ASKED FOR THEIR ANSWER
TO THE SOLUTION OF
ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS,
AND THEY HAD NO SOLUTION.
THEY HAD THE RECITATION
OF THE PROBLEM, BUT I SAID,
"WELL, HOW DO YOU ELIMINATE
THE SLUM AND BLIGHT OVERNIGHT?
WHAT WOULD YOU MEN DO THAT
WE HAVEN'T DONE IN CHICAGO?"
NO SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
WERE MADE.
WE REQUESTED, FOR INSTANCE,
A POLICE OR A CIVILIAN
REVIEW BOARD.
AND THAT, AGAIN,
NO COMMITMENT WAS MADE.
IN THE HOUSING AREA,
NO COMMITMENTS WERE MADE.
AND FOR THIS REASON
WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE
RIGHT ON WITH OUR PROGRAM,
OUR ACTION PROGRAM
TO DRAMATIZE THESE ISSUES
AND TO BRING IT SQUARELY
BEFORE NOT ONLY THE ATTENTION
BUT THE CONSCIENCE
OF THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY.
♪ NOWHERE TO RUN TO, BABY,
NOWHERE TO HIDE ♪
♪ GOT NOWHERE TO RUN TO, BABY,
NOWHERE TO HIDE... ♪
Narrator:
A DAY LATER, THE MOVEMENT'S
PLANS WERE INTERRUPTED.
THE OPPRESSIVE JULY HEAT
HAD FUELED GROWING TENSION
IN THE CITY.
WHEN OFFICIALS CLOSED FIRE
HYDRANTS IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD
TEMPERS FLARED.
LEADERS OF THE FREEDOM
MOVEMENT MOBILIZED QUICKLY;
THE FUTURE OF THEIR NONVIOLENT
CAMPAIGN WAS AT STAKE.
Man:
DR. KING AND I
AND ANDY, UH... DROVE AROUND
TRYING TO PERSUADE,
PARTICULARLY YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE,
THAT THEY WERE, ONE,
NOT HELPING THE PROBLEM.
WE UNDERSTOOD THEIR FRUSTRATION,
WE WERE TRYING TO ADDRESS IT
AND FIND AVENUES FOR THAT ENERGY
AND FRUSTRATION AND ANGER
TO BE CHALLENGED
IN A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY.
AND THAT THE MOST
DANGEROUS SITUATION
WAS THAT THE POLICE
WOULD OVERREACT
AND THEY WOULD, IN FACT,
BE PHYSICALLY HURT OR DAMAGED
OR END UP IN JAIL.
Narrator:
THE BATTLE ON THE STREETS
CONTINUED FOR FOUR DAYS.
TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED.
BUT CHICAGO WAS SPARED
THE DEVASTATION
THAT HAD HIT WATTS
A YEAR EARLIER.
SOME CREDITED KING
AND THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT;
MAYOR DALEY FELT OTHERWISE.
Marciniak:
THE MAYOR DID FEEL THAT
THERE WAS NO NEED FOR OUTSIDERS
TO STIR UP THE TROOPS
IN CHICAGO.
AND THEREFORE I THINK HIS
NATURAL INCLINATION WAS TO SAY,
"WELL, WE HAVE NEVER
HAD THESE THINGS BEFORE.
"NOW THEY'RE HAPPENING.
"WHAT'S THE EXPLANATION?
"IT MUST BE THESE EVENTS
AND THESE PEOPLE
"AND THE WAY THEY'RE DOING
THINGS THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE RIOTING
THAT TOOK PLACE."
WE ARE TRYING TO CONDUCT
A NONVIOLENT MOVEMENT HERE
IN CHICAGO.
AND WE ARE GOING ON
WITH THAT PROGRAM.
BUT WE NEED SUPPORT,
AND THERE'S NO POINT
IN THE POWER STRUCTURE
AND ANYBODY ELSE SAYING
THAT BECAUSE WE ARE PEACEFULLY
GOING AROUND
TRYING TO CHANGE CONDITIONS
THAT WE ARE THE CAUSE
OF THE RIOTS.
THAT'S DISHONEST; IT IS UNTRUE;
IT IS UNFAIR TO SAY IT
TO THE PUBLIC
BECAUSE WE HAVE STOOD
UP FOR NONVIOLENCE
WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.
AND THOSE WHO WILL MAKE THIS
PEACEFUL REVOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE
WILL MAKE A VIOLENT
REVOLUTION INEVITABLE.
AND WE'VE GOT TO GET THIS OVER.
I NEED HELP.
I NEED SOME VICTORIES.
I NEED SOME CONCESSIONS
TO TAKE BACK.
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, LEADERS OF THE
FREEDOM MOVEMENT SHIFTED FOCUS.
THEY TOOK THEIR PROTEST OUT OF
THE SLUMS THAT CONTAINED BLACKS
AND INTO THE WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
THAT EXCLUDED THEM.
Man:
THERE WERE PATTERNS
OF SEGREGATION AND
DISCRIMINATION... CLEAR PATTERNS.
FOR AN EXAMPLE
THERE WERE NO SIGNS
THAT SAID,
"BLACKS CANNOT LIVE HERE."
BUT IT WAS WHITE ONLY,
AND IT WAS OBVIOUSLY WHITE ONLY.
AND THERE WERE REASONS
WHY IT WAS WHITE...
NOT BECAUSE BLACKS CHOSE NOT
TO LIVE IN THOSE COMMUNITIES;
IT'S BECAUSE THEY WERE
SYSTEMATICALLY DENIED
PRIMARILY BY
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT.
Protesters:
♪ KUMBAYA, MY LORD, KUMBAYA... ♪
Narrator:
PROTESTERS CHARGED REALTORS,
BANKS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES
WITH BLOCKBUSTING.
WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
WERE TARGETED;
HOMEOWNERS WERE PRESSURED
TO SELL LOW AND FLEE
AND HOMES WERE RESOLD
TO BLACKS AT A PREMIUM.
WITHIN MONTHS,
AREAS WERE CHANGED
FROM ALL WHITE TO ALL BLACK
AND CITY AND FINANCIAL
SERVICES DECREASED.
THE WHITE PEOPLE
DIDN'T MAKE MONEY.
THE BLACK PEOPLE
DIDN'T MAKE MONEY.
THE REAL ESTATES MADE MONEY.
AND THEY DO IT
BECAUSE OF THAT.
THEY CAN MOVE THE BLACKS
INTO MIDDLE-CLASS WHITE
NEIGHBORHOODS,
THEY CAN MOVE THE WHITES OUT
OF MIDDLE-CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS
INTO THE SUBURBS.
THEY MAKE THE MONEY...
WE DON'T MAKE ANYTHING.
BUT THEY PROPAGATE THE IDEA
THAT BECAUSE BLACKS MOVE
INTO WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
YOUR HOUSE VALUES
ARE GOING TO GO DOWN.
Narrator:
FREEDOM MOVEMENT VOLUNTEERS
CROSSED THE LINE
THAT DIVIDED
BLACK AND WHITE CHICAGO.
THEY BEGAN MARCHING
INTO ALL-WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS.
TELL THEM NIGGERS
TO GO HOME!
McDermott:
THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS CONVINCED
THAT WE WERE THERE TO TAKE AWAY
THEIR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION,
THEIR HOMES, AND THE BEAUTY
OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND AS WE WALKED DEEPER
AND DEEPER INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
YOU HAD A GREAT
SENSE OF ISOLATION:
"WOULD I EVER GET OUT OF HERE?"
AND THE EXPRESSIONS
OF ANGER AND HATE,
THE SWASTIKAS WHICH WERE
HELD UP... JUST UNBELIEVABLE.
AND IT SHOWED THE PROBLEM.
AFTER ALL, THE POINT
WAS TO SHOW THE PROBLEM...
TO SHOW THE FEAR, TO SHOW THE
REJECTION, TO SHOW THE HATE...
TO SHOW THE PROBLEM THAT WE WERE
TRYING TO SOLVE.
Jackson:
IT WAS SAID
THAT YOU COULD NOT EXPOSE
SEGREGATION IN THE NORTH
BECAUSE IT WAS SUBTLE.
THE FACT IS,
IT WAS EVERYTHING EXCEPT SUBTLE.
IT WAS DYNAMIC, IT WAS REAL,
BLATANT, UGLY, VIOLENT.
I WAS HIT THREE TIMES.
WERE ANY OF YOUR
OTHER PEOPLE HIT?
I DON'T KNOW.
HOW MANY OF YOUR
PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED?
I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator:
THREE DAYS OF MARCHING
EXPOSED WHITE RESISTANCE
AND HEIGHTENED BLACK SKEPTICISM
ABOUT THE USE OF NONVIOLENCE.
Dunlap:
I WAS SICK THAT SUNDAY.
BUT WHEN I WATCHED IT ON TV
I GOT ANGRY, I GOT SAD,
I GOT UPSET.
YOU KNOW, WHEN I WATCH
THAT KIND OF HOSTILITY
AND THAT KIND OF PREJUDICE
THAT I DID NOT UNDERSTAND
SO I JUST COULDN'T SEE
WHY THEY WOULD DO THAT.
AND LOOKING AT THAT,
I SAID, "GEE, I'M NOT
AS NONVIOLENT AS I THINK I AM."
ESPECIALLY AND DR. KING
WANTED US TO BE NONVIOLENT.
BECAUSE IF I HAD BEEN THERE
AND THEY HAD THREW THOSE
ROTTEN EGGS AND HAD SPIT ON ME
I THINK I WOULD HAVE
JUST HIT BACK.
WE'VE SENT NEGROES
IN LARGE NUMBERS
TO THE REAL ESTATE OFFICES
IN GAGE PARK.
EVERY TIME NEGROES WENT IN,
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT SAID,
"OH, I'M SORRY, WE DON'T HAVE
ANYTHING LISTED.
NOW, YOU CAN FIND
SOMETHING SOMEWHERE ELSE"...
AND IT WAS ALWAYS BACK
IN THE GHETTO,
BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING.
AND THEN SOON AFTER THAT
WE SENT SOME OF OUR FINE
WHITE STAFF MEMBERS
INTO THOSE SAME REAL
ESTATE OFFICES
AND THE MINUTE
THE WHITE PERSON GOT IN
THEY OPENED THE BOOKS... "OH,
YES, WE HAVE SEVERAL THINGS.
NOW, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT?"
Narrator:
ON AUGUST 5, THE MARCHERS
RETURNED TO THE SOUTHWEST SIDE.
MAYOR DALEY HAD SENT
1,200 POLICE OFFICERS.
THEY ESTIMATED
THE MOB AT 5,000.
Crowd:
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
Young:
NOW, IN THE SOUTH WE FACED MOBS
BUT IN THE SOUTH
IT WOULD BE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED,
OR EVEN 50 OR 75.
THE VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH ALWAYS
CAME FROM A RABBLE ELEMENT.
BUT THESE WERE WOMEN AND
CHILDREN AND HUSBANDS AND WIVES
COMING OUT OF THEIR HOMES,
BECOMING A MOB.
AND IN SOME WAYS,
IT WAS FAR MORE FRIGHTENING.
Young:
THERE WAS JUST A RAIN OF ROCKS
AND CHERRY BOMBS
SO YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS.
Lafayette:
THEN MARTIN LUTHER KING
WAS STRUCK ON THE HEAD.
AND I REMEMBER THE REACTION
EVERYBODY HAD.
THEY ALL SURGED FORWARD
AND THE MARCH WAS STOPPED.
EVERYBODY SAID, "HALT, WAIT."
AND I REMEMBER
JESSE JACKSON RUNNING IN,
BECAUSE HE WAS RIGHT NEAR
MARTIN LUTHER KING
AND HE HELD MARTIN LUTHER KING'S
HEAD DOWN BECAUSE WE KNEW
HE WOULD BE THE TARGET
OF ANY KIND OF PERSONAL ATTACK.
AND WE TRIED TO REGROUP
OURSELVES.
I REMEMBER THE TENSION THAT
PEOPLE HAD
AND I... WE FELT COMPLETELY
SURROUNDED.
Narrator:
THE MARCHERS REMAINED
NONVIOLENT,
BUT MANY WERE ANGRY.
Jefferson:
DR. KING WAS ONLY TRYING
TO SAY TO AMERICA,
TRYING TO SAY TO GAGE PARK,
"WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS."
I AM A CITIZEN OF THIS CITY.
I'M A BLACK AMERICAN.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO MOVE
WHEREVER I WANT TO MOVE
IF I HAVE THE MONEY
TO MOVE THERE.
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT,
YOU KNOW?
AND I THINK
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT.
IT WAS THAT I DARE
ONE PART OF THIS SOCIETY
TO SAY THAT YOU CAN'T MOVE
WHEREVER YOU WANT TO MOVE.
I THINK THAT WAS
THE ANGER THAT WAS IN US.
THERE'S A POSSIBILITY
THAT WE MIGHT GET ARRESTED.
Narrator:
ACTING ON HIS OWN, JESSE JACKSON
ANNOUNCED A MARCH INTO CICERO,
A WHITE SUBURB KNOWN
FOR RACIAL HOSTILITY.
HIS CHALLENGE CAUGHT
BOTH CITY OFFICIALS
AND MOVEMENT LEADERS OFF GUARD.
IS ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL,
OR ANY ONE LEADER
OR ANY ONE GROUP OF LEADERS
WORTH THE PERPETUATION
OF THE HISTORICAL DEPRIVATION
OF NEGRO PEOPLE?
THAT'S THE QUESTION
THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH.
AND I HAVE COUNTED UP THE COSTS:
MY LIFE, BEVEL'S LIFE,
EVEN DR. KING'S LIFE
OVER AND AGAINST A GENERATION
AND THE CONTINUATION
OF A KIND OF SIN
THAT'S GOING TO INTERNALLY
DISRUPT THIS COUNTRY
AND POSSIBLY THIS WORLD.
I'VE COUNTED THE COSTS!
I'M GOING TO CICERO!
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CICERO
MEANT TO PEOPLE IN CHICAGO.
YOU DON'T GO UNDER
THE VIADUCT, HONEY,
BECAUSE IF YOU DO,
YOU MAY NOT GET BACK.
CICERO WAS ON THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE VIADUCT.
AND YOU DIDN'T WALK
THROUGH CICERO ALONE.
YOU DIDN'T LET YOUR CAR
BREAK DOWN IN CICERO
AND GET OUT TO CHANGE A TIRE.
Narrator:
15,000 BLACKS WORKED IN CICERO.
NONE LIVED THERE.
THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD
ONES THAT WORK HERE
BUT STILL WE DON'T WANT TO MIX
WITH THEM, TO LIVE WITH THEM.
Reporter:
WHY? YOU WORK
WITH THEM...
BUT I DON'T WANT
TO LIVE WITH THEM.
BECAUSE I MOVED OUT OF A
NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WAS COLORED.
EVERYBODY THAT LIVES WITH
THE COLORED HAS TO MOVE.
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SAFE WALKING
THE STREETS AT NIGHT.
NEGROES HAVE A RIGHT TO MOVE IN
UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.
THE ONLY THING IS,
WHAT KIND OF A NEGRO?
THE CICERO COMMUNITY
HAS BEEN A VERY HOSTILE
COMMUNITY TO BLACKS FOR YEARS...
EVER SINCE I CAN REMEMBER.
AND I LOOKED FORWARD TO THE TIME
THAT I COULD MARCH DOWN
THOSE STREETS
IN DEFIANCE
OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE THERE.
Man:
THERE WAS A LOT OF FEAR
IN THE WHITE COMMUNITY
AND SOME PARTS
OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE SOME
SORT OF BIG RACIAL EXPLOSION.
THERE WERE A LOT OF DEMANDS
ON THE PART OF THE CITIZENS,
PARTICULARLY THE WHITE CITIZENS,
ON MAYOR DALEY
TO STOP THE MARCHES.
THERE WERE SOME DEMANDS ON
THE PART OF THE BLACK LEADERSHIP
TO MARTIN LUTHER KING
TO STOP THE MARCHES.
SO YOU SEE, EVERYBODY
WANTED A WAY OUT.
BOTH SIDES WANTED A WAY OUT.
Narrator:
RELIGIOUS LEADERS LED THE CALL
FOR A CITYWIDE SUMMIT
THAT WOULD STOP THE MARCHES.
KING AGREED TO NEGOTIATE,
BUT HE VOWED TO CONTINUE
MARCHING
UNTIL A SETTLEMENT WAS REACHED.
King:
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO CHICAGO, OR TO ANYBODY,
I'M TIRED OF MARCHING.
I'M TIRED OF MARCHING
FOR SOMETHING
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
MINE AT BIRTH.
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT...
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT
THAT I'M TIRED OF THE TENSIONS
SURROUNDING OUR DAYS.
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT
THAT I'M TIRED OF LIVING EVERY
DAY UNDER THE THREAT OF DEATH.
I HAVE NO MARTYR COMPLEX.
I WANT TO LIVE AS LONG AS
ANYBODY IN THIS BUILDING TONIGHT
AND SOMETIMES I BEGIN TO DOUBT
WHETHER I'M GOING
TO MAKE IT THROUGH.
I MUST CONFESS I'M TIRED.
Narrator:
KING AND HIS STAFF HAD HOPED
THEIR CAMPAIGN IN CHICAGO
WOULD SERVE AS A MODEL
FOR OTHERS IN THE NORTH.
BUT THEIR WORK IN CHICAGO HAD
FAILED TO WIN SUPPORT
INCLUDING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
AND NORTHERN LIBERALS.
IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON.
Young:
THE S.C.L.C. WENT TO CHICAGO
TO SEE IF NONVIOLENCE
WOULD WORK IN THE NORTH
AND SO WE WERE DOING
A NUMBER OF THINGS;
THE MARCHES WERE ONLY ONE.
BUT CHICAGO WAS SO MUCH BIGGER
THAN ANY CITY THAT WE'D
WORKED IN IN THE SOUTH.
WE KNEW WE COULDN'T
DO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME
AND THAT WE COULDN'T
SUSTAIN AN AGGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
AS LONG AS...
YOU KNOW, MUCH LONGER.
SO WE WERE TRYING
TO FIND A WAY TO WIND IT UP.
WE REACHED THE POINT IN WHICH
WE THOUGHT THAT WE HAD ACHIEVED
NOT EVERYTHING WE WANTED,
BUT EVERYTHING WE COULD ACHIEVE.
AND THERE WERE THOSE
WHO DISAGREED WITH THAT.
BUT WE HAD THE BURDEN
OF DECISION.
WE MADE THE BEST ONE WE COULD
AS HONESTLY AS WE COULD
WITH ALL THE SUSPICIONS
THAT WERE SHARED BY THOSE OF US
WHO WERE CRITICIZING US.
Narrator:
AUGUST 26, 1966.
BOTH SIDES SIGNED
A TEN-POINT AGREEMENT.
THE CITY PROMISED TO ENFORCE
ITS OPEN HOUSING LAWS
AND DESEGREGATE PUBLIC HOUSING.
BANKS AND REALTORS
AGREED TO COMPLY.
CRITICS DOUBTED THE AGREEMENT
WOULD BE ENFORCED,
BUT KING SAW IT AS A FIRST STEP.
HE AGREED TO STOP THE MARCHES,
INCLUDING THE MARCH INTO CICERO.
THE CHICAGO FREEDOM MOVEMENT
HAS PLEDGED ITS RESOURCES
TO ASSIST IN THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THESE PROGRAMS
AND HEREBY AGREES TO HALT
NEIGHBORHOOD MARCHES
AND DEMONSTRATIONS IN CHICAGO
ON THE ISSUE OF OPEN HOUSING
SO LONG AS THESE PLEDGED...
Narrator:
KING'S ANNOUNCEMENT IMMEDIATELY
SPLIT THE CHICAGO MOVEMENT.
WHEN HE CALLED OFF THE MARCH, WE
WERE SURPRISED, WE WERE SHOCKED.
THIS IS THE MARCH
WE'D LOOKED FORWARD TO.
THE OTHER MARCHES WERE NICE
BUT THE ONE IN CICERO
HAD SPECIAL MEANING FOR US.
WE DON'T CARE ABOUT SUMMITS
TAKING PLACE WITHOUT US.
WE DON'T CARE ABOUT COVENANTS.
WE WANT CONTRACTS
IN BLACK AND WHITE
WITH SOME HARD ANSWERS FOR US,
WITH SOME SIGNATURES
AND SOME PEOPLE
WE CAN HOLD RESPONSIBLE TO
AND SOME TIME FRAMES.
BUT NONE OF THIS WAS THERE.
Narrator:
LOCAL GROUPS ANNOUNCED
THEIR OWN MARCH INTO CICERO.
IT WOULD TAKE PLACE WITHOUT
JESSE JACKSON OR DR. KING.
WE ARE NOT MARCHING INTO CICERO
TO APPEAL TO
THE WHITE CONSCIENCE,
BUT TO DEMONSTRATE TO EVERYBODY
THAT RANK-AND-FILE PEOPLE
NOW ARE A NEW BREED...
A NEW KIND OF CAT, WITHOUT FEAR.
WE DO NOT COME HAT IN HAND,
SCRATCHING OUR HEADS,
SHUFFLING OUR FEETS
TO BEG FOR A FEW CONCESSIONS.
IN THIS MARCH,
WE ARE SERVING NOTICE:
BEGINNING TODAY, EVERY NEGRO
CAN SEIZE, ACT
AND LIVE OUT THE ASSUMPTION
THAT HE CAN WALK ANYWHERE,
THAT HE IS A HUMAN LIKE ANYBODY
AND IS TO BE TREATED
LIKE ANYBODY ELSE.
THE DAY THAT
THE MARCH TOOK PLACE,
DR. KING CALLED ME AT HOME
AND HE SAID TO ME:
"YOU KNOW, BOB, WE WOULD
LIKE TO SAVE CICERO
"TO USE IT, YOU KNOW,
LATER ON FOR SOMETHING
AND THAT I WISH
THAT YOU WOULDN'T GO."
AND I TOLD DR. KING, I SAID:
"WELL, DOC, YOU KNOW,
MY CONSCIENCE DICTATES TO ME
THAT I MUST LEAD
THAT MARCH INTO CICERO."
WE GOT THERE AND WITH SUCH FEW,
WE BECAME A LITTLE FRIGHTENED.
AND WE KEPT STANDING AROUND
AND FINALLY IT WAS 12:00,
I BELIEVE IT WAS 12:00,
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN,
GUYS STARTED GETTING OUT OF CARS
AND PEOPLE STARTED
COMING OUT OF DOORWAYS
AND THEY SAID,
"OKAY, LUCAS, STEP-OFF TIME."
Narrator:
ABOUT 250 MARCHERS
BEGAN WALKING INTO CICERO.
OVER 3,000 LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENTS WERE ON HAND.
Man:
YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE!
YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE!
Man:
DON'T STOP,
JUST KEEP COMING!
JUST KEEP COMING,
DON'T STOP.
YOU FAT PUNK... I SEE
WHAT YOU MADE OUT OF.
YOU FAT PUNK...
AND YOUR MAMA, TOO!
Bryant:
IT WAS NOT A KING MARCH.
YOU KNOW, WE JUST
WENT OUT THERE ON FAITH.
WE JUST WENT, LITTLE PEOPLE,
AND THAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE.
IT WAS A GROUNDSWELL
OF GRASSROOTS PEOPLE.
AND WHEN THEY THREW BRICKS,
THEY GOT THEM BACK.
WE CAUGHT THEM
AND WE THREW THEM BACK.
SO IT WAS GIVE-AND-TAKE IN
CICERO FOR, OH, A MILE OR SO.
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET IT.
Narrator:
AS THE MARCHERS LEFT CICERO,
LITTLE HAD BEEN RESOLVED.
THE SOUTHERN
CIVIL RIGHTS VICTORIES
HAD NOT BEEN REPEATED
IN THE NORTH.
THE PROBLEMS, AND THE ANGER,
REMAINED.
THE TENSION BUILDING BETWEEN
BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA
WOULD EXPLODE WITH GREATEST
FORCE IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN.
Martha and the Vandellas:
♪ CALLING OUT AROUND THE WORLD ♪
♪ ARE YOU READY
FOR A BRAND-NEW BEAT? ♪
♪ SUMMER'S HERE
AND THE TIME IS RIGHT ♪
♪ FOR DANCING IN THE STREET ♪
♪ DANCING IN CHICAGO... ♪
Narrator:
MOTOWN, U.S.A.
IN 1967, DETROIT WAS BOOMING.
FEDERALLY FUNDED URBAN RENEWAL
BROUGHT HIGHWAYS
AND SKYSCRAPERS.
THE AUTO INDUSTRY
BROUGHT EMPLOYMENT.
BUT SUCCESS LOOKED DIFFERENT
TO DETROIT'S BLACK COMMUNITY.
URBAN RENEWAL BUILT EXPRESSWAYS
THROUGH BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS.
IT TOOK JOBS AND RESOURCES
TO WHITE SUBURBS.
IT LEFT BLACK RESIDENTS BEHIND.
Woman:
THE EXPRESSWAY DIVIDED
THE COMMUNITY.
WHEN YOU COULD WALK
ACROSS THE STREET
AND TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOR,
IT'S NO LONGER THERE.
YOU GOT TO GO ACROSS THE BRIDGE,
AND IF YOU GO ACROSS
THAT BRIDGE,
YOU AIN'T GOING TO FIND
THAT SAME NEIGHBOR
BECAUSE THAT SPACE,
THE STREET IS GONE,
ALL THOSE HOUSES IN THAT
NEIGHBORHOOD IS GONE.
YOU CONSTANTLY SAW WHITE GUYS
ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE,
FOREMEN IN WHITE SHIRTS,
WHO WOULD LEAVE AND WHO WOULD
DRIVE TO A BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD,
WHO WOULD DRIVE A BETTER CAR,
AND SO FORTH.
AND THERE WASN'T
THE OPPORTUNITY THERE.
THERE WASN'T THE OPPORTUNITY.
Narrator:
OPPORTUNITY CAME WITH POWER.
IN DETROIT,
THAT MEANT WHITE POWER.
IT WAS SYMBOLIZED BY A POLICE
FORCE THAT WAS 95% WHITE.
GENERATIONS OF BLACK RESIDENTS
HAD CONTENDED WITH POLICE,
ESPECIALLY FOUR-MAN SQUADS
KNOWN AS THE BIG FOUR.
Man:
WHEN THE BIG FOUR PULLED UP,
YOU JUMPED.
WHEN THEY SAID,
"MOVE OFF THE CORNER,"
YOU MOVED OFF THE CORNER.
WHERE DO YOUNG BLACK MEN HAVE
BUT A CORNER?
THEY DON'T HAVE SWIMMING POOLS,
THEY DON'T HAVE ESTATES...
THEY HAVE CORNERS IN CITIES.
AND THEY STAND AROUND,
THEY HARMONIZE,
THEY CLOWN, THEY HAVE FUN.
BUT WHEN THE BIG FOUR WOULD SAY,
"GIVE ME THAT CORNER,"
YOU GAVE THEM THAT CORNER,
OR ELSE.
AND IT WASN'T UNUSUAL TO SEE THE
COPS COMING INTO NEIGHBORHOODS
AND JUST ARBITRARILY
GRABBING PEOPLE
WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PROVOCATION
AND SLAM US UP AGAINST THE WALL,
ASK US FOR IDENTIFICATION...
"WHERE YOU GOING?
WHAT YOU BEEN DOING?"
ANY KIND OF SUSPICION WHATSOEVER
WOULD BE CAUSE FOR THEM
TO JUST GO AHEAD AND ACCOST YOU.
Narrator:
POLICE/COMMUNITY TENSION
WAS NEAR COMBUSTION
BY THE SUMMER OF 1967.
THE SPARK CAME ON JULY 23.
POLICE CONDUCTED A ROUTINE RAID
ON A BLIND PIG...
AN ILLEGAL AFTER-HOURS CLUB.
THIS PARTICULAR TIME,
THERE WAS MORE THERE
THAN THE CREW EXPECTED.
IT REQUIRED SHUTTLING
SEVERAL TIMES
FROM THE STATION TO THE SCENE,
TAKING PRISONERS BACK AND FORTH
AND THE CROWD BECOME RESTIVE
AND WHAT WAS KIND OF
A MOOD OF HILARITY
GREW INTO SOME DERISIVE TALK
TO THE POLICE
AND ULTIMATELY WAS STONING
THE CARS.
THAT'S WHY THE NEGROES ARE
RIOTING ALL UPTOWN,
ALL THESE POLICE...
EVERY TIME YOU SEE ONE OF THEM,
HE GONNA STOP A BROTHER,
HE DON'T NEVER STOP NO WHITE.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE
OUT HERE RIOTING,
AND WE'RE GONNA KEEP ON RIOTING
UNTIL THEY STOP ALL THIS.
Narrator:
IT WAS SUNDAY MORNING.
FEW POLICE WERE IN THE AREA.
REINFORCEMENTS WERE CALLED IN
AS THE GROWING CROWD
BEGAN LOOTING AND BURNING.
Boyd:
THE FEELING IN THE STREETS
AT THAT TIME,
A KIND OF A SENSE OF EUPHORIA,
OF FREEDOM AND REBELLION.
EVERYBODY FELT LIKE UNIFIED
THAT THE REVOLUTION
WAS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
BECAUSE WE HAD BEEN TALKING
ABOUT THOSE THINGS
IN THE COMMUNITY ANYWAY,
SO EVERYBODY FELT
THAT THIS WAS THE CATALYST,
THIS WAS THE CHARGE,
THIS WAS THE IGNITER.
WHEN MY DAUGHTER GOT TO CHURCH,
SHE CALLED BACK AND SAID:
"MAMA, IT'S JUDGMENT DAY."
I SAID, "WHAT YOU MEAN?"
SHE SAID, "EVERYTHING IS
BURNING."
SHE SAID, "THEY SAY
THERE'S A RIOT GOING ON."
I ALMOST HAD A FIT BEHIND THAT.
Narrator:
MODERATE BLACK LEADERS
OFFERED TO HELP POLICE.
DR. ARTHUR JOHNSON
DROVE INTO THE AREA
WITH CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS.
Man:
THE CROWD, THE WHOLE
SCENE WAS SUCH
THAT I COULD NOT
DRIVE MY CAR FURTHER.
JOHN CONYERS FINALLY
GOT OUT OF THE CAR,
STOOD ON THE HOOD OF IT AND
ATTEMPTED TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE
ABOUT LEAVING THE STREET
AND RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES.
AND FINALLY I GOT OUT OF MY CAR,
I WHISPERED IN JOHN'S EAR:
"I WOULD LIKE TO GET MY CAR
OUT OF HERE IF I CAN."
THE CITY WAS BURNING,
AND ALL THE WORK THAT WE
HAD DONE WAS BEING DESTROYED.
THE DISTRESS WAS MORE THAN
DISTRESS, IT WAS AGONY,
AND TEARS CAME TO MY EYES
AND IT WAS...
WE THOUGHT WE HAD THE ANSWERS
AND THE FACT IS,
NOBODY HAD THE ANSWERS.
INSIDE OF MOST BLACK PEOPLE
THERE WAS A TIME BOMB;
THERE WAS A POT
THAT WAS ABOUT TO OVERFLOW
AND THERE WAS RAGE
THAT WAS ABOUT TO COME OUT
AND THE REBELLION JUST PROVIDED
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT.
I MEAN, WHY ELSE
WOULD PEOPLE GET UPSET
ABOUT COPS RAIDING A BLIND PIG?
THEY'D DONE THAT
NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE.
BUT PEOPLE JUST GOT TIRED,
PEOPLE JUST GOT TIRED OF IT
AND IT JUST EXPLODED.
RETURN TO YOUR HOMES
TO PROTECT YOUR OWN PROPERTY!
IT'S THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO...
PROTECT YOUR OWN PROPERTY.
Narrator:
12 HOURS AFTER
THE INITIAL POLICE RAID,
GOVERNOR GEORGE ROMNEY CALLED IN
THE MICHIGAN NATIONAL GUARD.
7,000 GUARDSMEN BEGAN ARRIVING
AS NIGHT FELL.
MOST WERE YOUNG, WHITE
AND HEAVILY ARMED.
THEY HAD LITTLE OR NO TRAINING
IN RIOT CONTROL.
100 CITY BLOCKS WERE IN TURMOIL.
Woman:
IT LOOKED LIKE A WAR-TORN ZONE.
THAT'S ALL YOU COULD
THINK OF WAS,
"MY GOD, THIIS 20 MILES
FROM WHERE IIVE
AND IT'S...
THEY'VE DROPPED A BOMB."
THAT WAS WHAT
YOU SAW ON TELEVISION
AND WHAT YOU HEARD
IN THE COMMUNITY WAS,
"WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?"
THIS IS A RACIAL INCIDENT.
IT REPRESENTS A RACIAL REBELLION
THAT GOES FROM COAST TO COAST.
IN THE CITY OF DETROIT, IT
REPRESENTS ONE SIMPLE THING:
BLACK PEOPLE WANT CONTROL
OF BLACK COMMUNITIES.
Narrator:
DESPITE A 9:00 P.M. CURFEW,
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
WERE ON THE STREET.
Man:
BURN, BABY, BURN!
Man:
A HARDWARE STORE WAS BEING
LOOTED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE,
APPARENTLY PEOPLE WHO LIVED
IN THAT COMMUNITY.
AND A CARLOAD OF BROTHERS
ROLLED UP
AND THEY ASKED EVERYONE,
HAD THEY GOTTEN ENOUGH
AND DID THEY NEED ANYTHING ELSE?
AND PEOPLE SAID, FINALLY SAID NO
AFTER THEY HAD GOTTEN
WHAT THEY WANTED.
AND SO THESE BROTHERS SAID FINE,
AND SO THEY GOT EVERYBODY
OUT OF THE STORE
AND THEY FIRE-BOMBED IT
AND THEY LEFT.
THEY DIDN'T TAKE
ANYTHING THEMSELVES.
THE CRY IN THE AIR WAS,
"LET'S BURN THIS PLACE DOWN.
"THIS SUCKER WAS ALWAYS
RIPPING US OFF ANYWAY.
THEY NEVER HIRED
MANY BLACK PEOPLE."
SO IT'S KIND OF ANGER AND
FRUSTRATION WAS IN THE WIND.
Narrator:
PROTECTED BY POLICE
AND GUARDSMEN,
FIRE FIGHTERS FACED AN ONSLAUGHT
OF ROCKS AND DEBRIS.
REPORTS OF GUNFIRE INCREASED
THROUGH THE NIGHT.
POLICE SUSPECTED SNIPERS.
Jimi Hendrix:
♪ THERE MUST BE SOME KIND
OF WAY OUT OF HERE ♪
♪ SAID THE JOKER
TO THE THIEF ♪
♪ THERE'S TOO MUCH CONFUSION ♪
♪ I CAN'T GET NO RELIEF. ♪
Woman:
WE SMELLED SMOKE.
THOSE PEOPLE'S HOUSE
ACROSS THE STREET IS ON FIRE.
I DON'T SEE NOBODY...
EVERYBODY IN THAT BLOCK
GOT ALONG FINE.
NOBODY IN THAT BLOCK,
WITH THEIR CHILDREN EVEN...
THEY PLAYED NICE TOGETHER.
I DON'T SEE WHY
THIS HAD TO HAPPEN.
THERE WERE FIRES GOING ON.
THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL
OF EXCITEMENT.
STREETLIGHTS WERE BEING
SHOT OUT BY THE POLICE.
THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF NOISE,
A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION.
NOBODY KNEW WHERE THEIR
PARENT ORGANIZATIONS WERE.
THE ENTIRE SITUATION WAS
ONE OF SEMI-CONTROLLED CHAOS.
EVERYBODY WAS UPTIGHT,
VERY UPTIGHT.
Guardsmen:
TURN AROUND, GO OUT, FIRE!
TURN AROUND, GET OUT OF HERE!
Guardsman:
WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING AT?
Friley:
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING
SHOT BY A NATIONAL GUARDSMAN,
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT
BY POLICE OFFICERS,
AND I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT
BY LOOTERS AND RIOTERS.
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT,
PERIOD.
Guardsman:
LISTEN... LISTEN IN THERE.
Narrator:
IN AN ATMOSPHERE FED
BY RUMORS AND FEAR,
EVERYONE WAS AT RISK.
Man:
GOING INTO
THE FIVE-AND-TEN-CENT STORE,
WE DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT DANGER WE WERE IN.
AND I HEAR
THIS POLICE OFFICER SAY:
"ALL OF YOU BLACK
COME OUT FROM BACK THERE."
I IMMEDIATELY GET UP
AND COME TO THE DOOR,
HEAD FOR THE DOOR, THE ARCHWAY
OF THE DOOR, TO DO WHAT HE SAYS
WHEN I'M TOLD... I HEAR A VOICE,
ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS...
I KNEW IT WAS HER VOICE...
AND SHE TOLD ME, "DON'T GO OUT
THERE, COME BACK, COME BACK."
AND AT THAT TIME,
I WENT TO TURN TO GO BACK
AND GET THERE NEXT TO HER,
BEHIND THIS BOLT END
OF CARPETING
AND I JUST REMEMBER SEEING
A FLASH OF LIGHT AT THAT TIME
AND GOING BACK THERE
TO LAY DOWN ON A BOLT END
TO WAKE UP I GUESS
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER
AND TO HEAR A DOCTOR
TELL MY MOTHER
THAT THE BULLET
HAD INJURED MY SPINE
AND I PROBABLY
WOULDN'T WALK AGAIN.
MAKE A HOLE!
GET OUT OF THE WAY,
DAMN IT.
Narrator:
BY MONDAY MORNING,
HUNDREDS HAD BEEN INJURED.
SIX PEOPLE WERE DEAD.
FOUR HAD BEEN SHOT,
TWO OTHERS DIED IN FIRES.
Johnson:
THE GROWING SENSE OF...
OF CONCERN IN THE COMMUNITY
WAS THAT THE SITUATION
WAS OUT OF HAND,
THAT NO ONE KNEW
WHERE IT WAS GOING,
WHEN IT WOULD END,
OR EVEN HOW TO END IT.
AS GOVERNOR
OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
I DO HEREBY OFFICIALLY RECOMMEND
THE IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT
OF FEDERAL TROOPS INTO MICHIGAN
TO ASSIST STATE AND LOCAL
AUTHORITIES...
GOVERNOR ROMNEY HAD CALLED U.S.
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAMSEY CLARK
TO RECOMMEND THAT PRESIDENT
JOHNSON SEND FEDERAL TROOPS.
AND HE INDICATED THAT WE WOULD
GET FEDERAL ASSISTANCE,
THAT THE TROOPS
WOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE.
THEN HE CALLED US BACK
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
TO INDICATE THAT HE'D HAVE
TO HAVE A WRITTEN STATEMENT
INDICATING THAT THE RIOT
WAS COMPLETELY BEYOND
OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL.
WELL, THE DIFFICULTY OF THAT WAS
THAT IT WOULD HAVE NULLIFIED
ALL OF THE INSURANCE POLICIES
OVER THE WHOLE AREA.
AND FURTHERMORE, WE DIDN'T
KNOW WITH CERTAINTY
WE DID... WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT
NOT BE ABLE TO.
SO I INDICATED THAT TO HIM.
Man:
FINALLY THEY REACHED A
COMPROMISE, AND JOHNSON DECIDED
THAT A NUMBER OF US
WOULD GO TO DETROIT.
AND OCCASIONALLY HE WOULD BE
ON THE PHONE TO FORT BRAGG
TO THE GENERAL IN CHARGE
OF THE 82nd AIRBORNE,
AND ONE THING HE KEPT SAYING:
"I DON'T WANT BULLETS
IN THOSE GUNS.
I DON'T WANT OUR TROOPS
TO HAVE BULLETS IN THOSE GUNS."
AND HE WENT ON AND ON AND HE
JUST GOT HIMSELF ALL WORKED UP,
AND HE SAID,
"I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO SAY
THAT MY TROOPS SHOT
A PREGNANT NIG..."
AND HE LOOKED AT ME
AND HIS FACE WENT RED
AND THEN HE FINISHED
HIS SENTENCE
WITHOUT FINISHING THAT WORD.
AND HE THEN SENT US OUT
TO GO AND PACK
AND THEN GO OVER
TO ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE.
Narrator:
4,700 PARATROOPERS
FROM THE 101st AND 82nd
AIRBORNE DIVISIONS
BEGAN ARRIVING
MONDAY AFTERNOON.
SOLDIERS FROM THESE SAME UNITS
HAD BEEN SENT
TO PROTECT BLACK SCHOOLCHILDREN
IN LITTLE ROCK IN 1957
AND JAMES MEREDITH
AT OLE MISS IN 1962.
AT THE PRESIDENT'S ORDER,
THEY WOULD NOT BE DEPLOYED
IN DETROIT
UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
JOHNSON'S ENVOYS
ASSESSED THE SITUATION.
Man:
THE NATIONAL GUARD
HAD BEEN VERY SPOTTY.
THERE HAD BEEN MUCH TOO MUCH
INDISCRIMINATE SHOOTING.
THEY HAD SHOT OUT
THE STREETLIGHTS,
WHICH IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN
DO IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT
BECAUSE THAT MAKES IT
EVEN MORE LIKELY
THAT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE
ARE GOING TO BE SHOT AT.
IT CREATES A FEAR
IN THE COMMUNITY.
IT CREATES FEAR, REALLY, IN THE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AS WELL.
SO THAT IT WAS NOT GOING WELL
WHEN WE ARRIVED.
Narrator:
LOOTING AND BURNING HAD
CONTINUED INTO THE SECOND DAY.
FIRE FIGHTERS FROM OVER 35
COMMUNITIES WERE ON THE STREETS.
POLICE ARRESTED 3,900 PEOPLE
BY MONDAY NIGHT.
THERE WAS NO END IN SIGHT.
Friley:
I WAS TOTALLY WIPED OUT.
IT GOT TO A POINT WHERE I HAD TO
WATCH OUT FOR MY TEMPER.
IT GOT TO A POINT
WHERE THOSE PERSONS WHO WERE
YELLING AND SCREAMING ABOUT
"DOWN WITH THE WHITEY"
AND ALL OF THAT,
I WAS LOOKING INTO HIS EYES
AND WANTING TO KNOCK
THE HELL OUT OF HIM
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT
THE HELL HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
I GOT A CHANCE TO SNEAK
A PHONE CALL HOME ONE NIGHT
JUST TO LET MY PARENTS KNOW
I WAS ALL RIGHT,
BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN
THREE OR FOUR DAYS
SINCE I'D LET THEM KNOW
WHAT WAS GOING ON,
AND MY MOTHER
EXPRESSED A THOUGHT THEN
I GUESS HAS STUCK IN MY MIND
EVER SINCE.
SHE SAID, "HERE I HAVE ONE SON
IN VIETNAM IN A COMBAT ZONE
AND NOW I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU
IN OUR OWN HOMETOWN."
YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN DETROIT.
Narrator:
AT 11:20 MONDAY NIGHT,
PRESIDENT JOHNSON SENT THE
FEDERAL TROOPS INTO DETROIT.
THEY WERE ORDERED TO CARRY
UNLOADED WEAPONS.
AT LEAST 19 PEOPLE HAD DIED
SINCE THE RAID ON THE BLIND PIG.
Reporter:
SERGEANT, YOU'VE JUST RECENTLY
RETURNED
FROM VIETNAM.
COULD YOU TELL US
HOW IT FEELS
TO HAVE TO COME
FROM ONE ZONE OF COMBAT
IN A FOREIGN LAND
TO ONE IN
YOUR OWN LAND?
IT'S NOT A GOOD FEELING,
NOT ONE I'M KIND OF PROUD OF,
BUT IT'S A JOB, IT'S A DUTY
THAT HAVE TO BE DONE.
AND IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
DID YOU EVER
EXPECT THIS
KIND OF CALL
WHEN YOU JOINED
THE SERVICE?
I EXPECTED CALLS,
BUT IT KIND OF SURPRISED ME
WHEN I GOT THERE THAT MORNING
AND THEY SAID, "FALL OUT WITH
ALL YOUR GEAR, YOU'RE GOING."
AND I SAID, "WHERE?"
CLEARLY, THE PRESENCE
OF A LARGE NUMBER
OF NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
AND FEDERAL TROOPS
ALONG WITH A BOLSTERED
POLICE DEPARTMENT...
THEY HAD THEIR ARMED
PRESENCE OUT THERE...
SO THE LOOTING WAS ALL OVER, THE
CURFEW HAD BEEN PUT INTO EFFECT.
Narrator:
IN TOTAL, THERE WERE 17,000
LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE
IN DETROIT.
THE DISORDER WAS THREE DAYS OLD.
MUCH OF THE LOOTING
AND BURNING HAD ENDED,
BUT EXHAUSTED
AND STILL HEAVILY ARMED,
NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
AND STATE AND LOCAL POLICE
CONTINUED THEIR PATROLS.
Wilkins:
ONE NIGHT, A BLACK
CO-WORKER AND I
WERE DRIVING UP GRAND RIVER,
WHICH IS A MAJOR ARTERY
IN DETROIT,
AND WE'RE ABOUT TO
TURN LEFT ONTO JOY ROAD
WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE REALIZE
THAT THIS CONVOY
OF STATE POLICE CARS
HAD MADE A U-TURN
AND WERE PULLING US OVER.
SO I CAME OUT OF THE CAR WITH
MY HANDS UP AND WHAT I SAW WAS,
I WAS CIRCLED BY PEOPLE
WITH LONG GUNS AND PISTOLS,
AND THEY WERE ALL
POINTING AT ME.
THEY WERE ALL NERVOUS PEOPLE
AND THEY WERE ALL WHITE.
AND I'M A BLACK GUY AND I'M
A HIGH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL,
BUT I WAS A NIGGER
IN WHITE AMERICA
AND I THOUGHT AT THAT MOMENT
I WAS GOING TO BE DEAD...
35 YEARS OLD AND DEAD
AT THE CORNER OF JOY ROAD
AND GRAND RIVER.
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, POLICE ARRESTED
7,200 PEOPLE.
MOST WERE YOUNG BLACK MEN.
Man:
THE POLICE STATIONS WERE
ALL OVERRUN
AND THE JAILS WERE FILLED,
SO THEY JUST CREATED
DETENTION CENTERS.
SO PEOPLE WERE CALLING UP,
REPORTING WHAT THE POLICE
WERE DOING OR DID
OR REPORTING MISSING PEOPLE,
PEOPLE WANTING
TO FILE COMPLAINTS.
FEAR, ANGER...
THIS, IT WAS THIS...
COULD THIS BE HAPPENING
IN AMERICA?
Narrator:
AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE DIED
WHEN NATIONAL GUARDSMEN,
FEARING SNIPERS,
SPRAYED BUILDINGS WITH GUNFIRE.
Woman:
IT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE
IN VIETNAM OR SOMETHING,
ALL THIS EXCITEMENT,
AND BOY, I WAS PANICKED.
I TOLD MY HUSBAND ABOUT IT
AND THEN HE SAYS,
"GET ON THAT FLOOR."
THEN WE WENT
IN THIS WOMAN'S APARTMENT
AND THEN THE COP SAYS
TO COME OUTSIDE...
"PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD."
Scott:
AND I OPENED THE DOOR,
AND THERE WERE ABOUT FOUR,
FIVE NATIONAL GUARDSMEN,
ALL YOUNG, ALL WHITE,
LOOKING AROUND
WITH RIFLES AND BAYONETS
AND THIS ONE GUY, HE SAYS,
"WE HEARD SOME SHOOTING HERE."
AND EVERYBODY WHO HAD BEEN SHOT
UP TO THIS POINT
THAT WE'D HEARD ABOUT,
THEY ALL SAID
THAT THEY HAD A GUN
AND THAT THEY WERE
SHOOTING AT THE POLICE.
THAT BECAME THE LINE...
THIS GUY WAS A SNIPER,
HE WAS SHOOTING AT THE POLICE.
AND I KNEW THAT IF I WAS SHOT,
IF MY FAMILY WAS SHOT,
THAT THEY COULD CLOSE
THE DOOR IN THIS APARTMENT
AND NOBODY WOULD EVER KNOW
WHAT HAPPENED.
Narrator:
AS THE NIGHTMARE IN DETROIT
BEGAN TO END,
THE PRESS UNCOVERED A STORY
ABOUT THREE YOUNG BLACK MEN
KILLED DURING A POLICE RAID
AT THE ALGIERS MOTEL.
MURDER CHARGES WERE BROUGHT
AGAINST A WHITE POLICE OFFICER.
TWO OTHER OFFICERS AND A BLACK
SECURITY GUARD
WERE ALSO IMPLICATED.
THERE WERE NO CONVICTIONS.
FIVE DAYS AFTER THE RAID
ON THE BLIND PIG,
DETROIT HAD REACHED
A TENTATIVE PEACE.
43 PEOPLE WERE DEAD,
33 WERE BLACK.
INSURANCE ESTIMATES OF PROPERTY
LOSS NEARED $50 MILLION.
THE UPRISING IN DETROIT
MARKED THE FIFTH YEAR
OF CIVIL UNREST IN AMERICA.
THE NATION AND ITS PRESIDENT
STRUGGLED FOR ANSWERS.
Lyndon Johnson:
CIVIL PEACE HAS BEEN SHATTERED
IN A NUMBER OF CITIES.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
ARE DEEPLY DISTURBED.
NO SOCIETY CAN TOLERATE
MASSIVE VIOLENCE
ANY MORE THAN A BODY
CAN TOLERATE MASSIVE DISEASE,
AND WE IN AMERICA
SHALL NOT TOLERATE IT.
BUT JUST SAYING THAT
DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
WE NEED TO KNOW
THE ANSWER, I THINK,
TO THREE BASIC QUESTIONS
ABOUT THESE RIOTS:
WHAT HAPPENED?
WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT IT
FROM HAPPENING AGAIN AND AGAIN?
Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT APPOINTED
AN ADVISORY COMMISSION
TO INVESTIGATE.
ON MARCH 1, 1968, THE KERNER
COMMISSION PUBLISHED A REPORT
THAT SAID AMERICA WAS
BECOMING TWO SOCIETIES:
BLACK AND WHITE,
SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL.
IT URGED THE NATION
TO TEAR DOWN RACIAL BARRIERS
TO OPPORTUNITY
IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT,
HOUSING, GOVERNMENT
AND THE MEDIA.
"THE NEED IS NOT SO MUCH
"FOR GOVERNMENT
TO DESIGN NEW PROGRAMS
AS IT IS FOR THE NATION
TO GENERATE NEW WILL."
IT WAS A MANDATE,
HAD THE PRESIDENT CHOSEN
TO TAKE IT AND SAY:
"BY GOD, WE DIDN'T KNOW
HOW SERIOUS THE PROBLEM WAS.
"THERE IS RACISM
IN THIS SOCIETY, IT IS DEEP,
"AND SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT I AM
GOING TO BE THE PRESIDENT
WHO FINISHES
WHAT LINCOLN STARTED"...
HE COULD HAVE USED THAT
AS A SPRINGBOARD
FOR MORE SOCIAL ACTION.
INSTEAD, HE REFUSED EVEN
TO HAVE THE COMMISSION COME OVER
AND PRESENT IT TO HIM.
Narrator:
PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS FACED
WITH THE COST OF
AN ESCALATING WAR IN VIETNAM
AND GROWING POLITICAL
CONSERVATISM AT HOME.
Josaitis:
THERE BEGAN TO BE A FEELING
THAT '68 WAS GOING TO BE
A VERY HOT SUMMER.
SO THE TALK
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS,
"WE HAVE TO STOCK
OUR BASEMENT WITH FOOD.
"THAT'S THE FIRST THING
WE HAVE TO DO.
"WE MUST GO OVER TO DEARBORN AND
TAKE PISTOL PRACTICE LESSONS.
"WHEN DO WE WANT TO
SIGN UP FOR THE VIGILANTE?
"WHEN DO YOU WANT TO STAND AT
THE OVERPASS ON TELEGRAPH ROAD
"AND WAIT FOR ALL THE BLACK
FOLKS TO COME OUT FROM THE CITY
AND RIOT IN OUR COMMUNITY?"
AND THERE WAS SO MUCH FEAR
THAT THAT WAS
GOING TO TAKE PLACE
THAT IT WAS GOING TO COME,
SO WE BETTER BE PREPARED FOR IT.
Cleage:
BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT WORRIED
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS TO
CONTROL OUR OWN COMMUNITY,
BUILD OUR OWN BLACK COMMUNITY
AND MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL.
SELF-DETERMINATION
AS A CONCEPT FOR BLACK PEOPLE
IS A PART OF THE REBELLION.
IT'S A BLACK REVOLUTION,
IT'S SWEEPING AMERICA,
AND SELF-DETERMINATION
IS THE EXPRESSION.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT,
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REBELLING FOR.
Man:
OPPRESSION DOESN'T
DESTROY PEOPLE.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF OPPRESSION
DESTROYS ANY PEOPLE.
Narrator:
TWO SOCIETIES...
SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL.
WHAT LAY AHEAD FOR AMERICA?
Aretha Franklin:
♪ YOU BETTER THINK... ♪
♪ THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE
TRYIN' TO DO TO ME ♪
♪ THINK, LET YOUR MIND GO,
LET YOURSELF BE FREE ♪
♪ LET'S GO BACK,
LET'S GO BACK ♪
♪ LET'S GO WAY ON,
WAY BACK WHEN ♪
♪ I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU ♪
♪ YOU COULDN'T HAVE BEEN
TOO MUCH MORE THAN TEN... ♪
♪ OH, FREEDOM ♪
♪ FREEDOM ♪
♪ OH, FREEDOM ♪
♪ YEAH, FREEDOM! ♪
THERE'S MORE ABOUT THE CFUNDIG
FOR AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE with captioning
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
♪ I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
♪ WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON. ♪
THERE IS NOTHING MORE DANGEROUS
THAN TO BUILD A SOCIETY
WITH A LARGE SEGMENT OF PEOPLE
IN THAT SOCIETY
WHO FEEL THAT THEY HAVE
NO STAKE IN IT,
WHO FEEL THAT THEY HAVE
NOTHING TO LOSE.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE A STAKE
IN THEIR SOCIETY
PROTECT THAT SOCIETY,
BUT WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE IT,
THEY UNCONSCIOUSLY
WANT TO DESTROY IT.
Narrator:
AUGUST 1965...
BLACK RESIDENTS IN WATTS,
A LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD,
TOOK TO THE STREETS IN ANGER.
THE UPRISING LASTED SIX DAYS
AND LEFT 34 PEOPLE DEAD.
WATTS WAS A CHALLENGE
TO THE NATION,
AND TO THE NONVIOLENT PHILOSOPHY
OF MARTIN LUTHER KING.
AND FOR THE RESPECT
OF DR. KING THAT WE HAVE
HERE, I SAY THIS:
SURE, WE LIKE
TO BE NONVIOLENT,
BUT WE UP HERE
IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
WILL NOT TURN
THAT OTHER CHEEK!
Narrator:
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
KING LED
HAD WON A MAJOR VICTORY
DAYS EARLIER
WHEN PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON
SIGNED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT.
BUT OUTSIDE THE SOUTH,
LITTLE HAD CHANGED;
ANGER WAS BUILDING.
IT WAS TIME FOR KING
AND HIS STAFF TO MOVE NORTH.
♪ GOIN' TO CHICAGO,
SORRY, BUT I CAN'T TAKE YOU. ♪
Narrator:
THEIR FIRST TARGET:
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, THE
SECOND LARGEST CITY IN AMERICA.
A FOURTH OF CHICAGO'S RESIDENTS
WERE BLACK.
DESPITE A DECADE OF PROTEST
AND SOME SUCCESSES,
MANY FACED PROFOUND
POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION.
Woman:
WHEN I FIRST HEARD THAT DR. KING
WAS GOING TO COME TO CHICAGO,
I WAS ELATED.
I SAID, "OH, MY GOSH,
CHICAGO'S GOING TO GET INVOLVED
"IN ALL OF THIS, YOU KNOW,
"DR. KING HAS GOT A POWERFUL
FOLLOWING, A POWERFUL MESSAGE,
"AND HE'S GOING TO BRING IT
TO CHICAGO
TO HELP WITH THE MOVEMENT HERE...
HE'S SURE NEEDED."
WHEN WE WENT TO CHICAGO,
WE WERE TRYING TO SEE
WOULD NONVIOLENCE WORK
IN THE NORTH
AND WHAT ELEMENTS
OF NONVIOLENCE WOULD WORK:
VOTER REGISTRATION,
MARCHES AND DIRECT ACTION;
COULD WE END SLUMS
AND CREATE GOOD HOUSING?
COULD WE CREATE JOBS
AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES?
Narrator:
A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN IN CHICAGO
MIGHT PROVIDE A MODEL
FOR COMBATTING PROBLEMS
THROUGHOUT THE NORTH.
OTHER CITIES
HAD BEEN CONSIDERED,
BUT SOME BLACK LEADERS REFUSED
TO WORK WITH KING AND HIS STAFF.
CHICAGO'S CIVIL RIGHTS
LEADERS WELCOMED THEM.
WE HAVE LOOKED FORWARD
TO OUR COMING TO CHICAGO
WITH GREAT AND EAGER
ANTICIPATION.
AND AS WE HAVE SAID IN THE PAST,
WE ARE HERE
TO STUDY THE CONDITIONS
AS THEY RELATE THEMSELVES
IN HOUSING, JOBS
AND THE WHOLE SCHOOL QUESTION.
Narrator:
CHICAGO OFFICIALS WERE CAUTIOUS.
ED MARCINIAK GREETED KING
ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
Marciniak:
THAT WELCOME WAS, I THINK,
BOTH GENUINE
AND PART OF A STRATEGY.
THE STRATEGY WAS, HERE WAS A MAN
COMING TO A CITY HE DIDN'T KNOW,
TO A CITY WHOSE
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
WITH WHICH HE WAS NOT FAMILIAR.
HE WAS DEALING WITH PEOPLE
BASICALLY WHO WERE NONPOLITICAL,
SUSPICIOUS OF THE POLITICAL
ESTABLISHMENT,
AND SO THE ADVICE AND COUNSEL
THAT HE WOULD BE GETTING
WOULD BE, BY AND LARGE,
ADVICE THAT DIDN'T COME THROUGH
THE NORMAL POLITICAL CHANNELS.
Narrator:
CHICAGO WAS
THE POLITICAL DOMINION
OF MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY...
ONE OF THE MOST
POWERFUL MEN IN AMERICA.
DALEY'S INFLUENCE EXTENDED INTO
THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Crowd:
♪ WE LOVE OUR MAYOR,
OH, YES WE DO... ♪
Narrator:
FOR 11 YEARS
DALEY HAD RUN THE NEIGHBORHOODS
AND CITY WARDS OF CHICAGO
THROUGH A POLITICAL MACHINE
BUILT ON PATRONAGE.
SOME BLACKS WERE INCLUDED
IN THE MACHINE,
BUT MANY SAW DALEY
AS THE POWER BEHIND
THE SYSTEM THAT LOCKED THEM OUT.
Woman:
THE DALEY MACHINE WAS...
WELL, I GUESS
I COULD DO THAT BEST
BY TRYING TO DESCRIBE
MAYOR DALEY.
HE SEEMED TO MANY
TO BE OMNIPOTENT.
HE TOOK A MACHIAVELLI
APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT.
HE WAS IN CONTROL, HE WAS
STRONG, DEMANDING AND RUTHLESS.
DALEY HAD BLACKS ON HIS STAFF
AND BLACK OFFICIALS,
AND SOME BLACK MINISTERS
WHO MARCHED
WITH DR. KING IN THE SOUTH
WENT TO SCHOOL
WITH HIM AT MOREHOUSE,
BUT ON DALEY'S PLANTATION,
THEY HAD PRESS CONFERENCES
AND URGED DR. KING
TO LEAVE CHICAGO,
SAYING, "THERE IS NO PLACE
FOR YOU HERE."
IT REALLY BROKE HIS HEART
TO SEE SOME OF HIS CLASSMATES
TURN ON HIM IN CHICAGO.
Narrator:
THE MAYOR HIMSELF HAD SUPPORTED
THE CAMPAIGN FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
IN THE SOUTH.
NOW DALEY KEPT WATCH
AS KING'S ORGANIZATION
AND LOCAL CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS
FORMED THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT.
IN JANUARY 1966, THEY LAUNCHED
A NONVIOLENT WAR ON SLUMS.
Woman:
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE GET OFFENDED
WHEN YOU SAY "SLUMS,"
BUT WE HAVE TO REALIZE
THAT IT'S NOT JUST SOMETHING
THAT YOU CAN SEE IN A COMMUNITY.
IT'S THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T SEE
THAT MAKE THAT SLUM.
SO WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING
ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS
AND THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT
IS TO BE TOGETHER, SEE.
AND WE'RE GOING TO BE TOGETHER,
WE'RE GOING TO GET
SOMETHING DONE HERE,
NOT ONLY IN EAST GARFIELD PARK,
NOT ONLY IN LAWNDALE,
NOT ONLY IN CHICAGO,
BUT WE'RE GOING TO GET THINGS
DONE IN NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA.
EVERY STATE WE GOT, WE'RE GOING
TO HAVE SOMETHING DONE.
Narrator:
MANY OF CHICAGO'S
BLACK RESIDENTS
WERE TRAPPED IN DECAYING
AND SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS.
THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS
HAD BEEN THE POINT OF ENTRY
FOR SOUTHERN BLACKS RECRUITED
TO WORK IN NORTHERN INDUSTRIES.
OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS HAD WORKED
THEIR WAY OUT OF SLUMS.
STRICT SEGREGATION
LOCKED BLACKS IN.
RENTS WERE HIGH,
SERVICES WERE NEGLECTED.
WHEN I MOVED INTO THE BUILDING
ON 3400 MADISON,
IT WAS PREDOMINANTLY WHITE.
AND WHEN BLACKS STARTED
MOVING INTO THAT BUILDING,
THEN IT SEEMED LIKE WHITE PEOPLE
JUST MOVED OUT OVERNIGHT,
THEY WOULD THERE...
AND THE SERVICES STARTED
TO GO DOWN.
HE STOPPED PAINTING,
HE STOPPED DOING ANY REPAIRS
AND THINGS IN THE BUILDING.
Woman:
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
Woman in window:
MY NAME IS MRS. WEEMS.
Man:
YEAH, SEE WE'RE TRYING
TO GET SOME MEETINGS TOGETHER
WITH THE PEOPLE IN THIS BUILDING
SO WE CAN DEAL WITH SOME
OF THE PROBLEMS AROUND HERE.
Woman in window:
WELL, UH, JUST A MINUTE,
LET ME COME DOWN.
Man:
ALL RIGHT, YOU COME ON DOWN.
I WORK FOR
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING.
Dunlap:
SO I SORT OF MADE
MYSELF AN ORGANIZER.
I STARTED TALKING
WITH THE TENANTS
THAT WERE IN THE BUILDING
ABOUT HOLDING THEIR RENT.
SO I GOT ONLY
ABOUT SEVEN OF THEM
TO SAY THAT THEY WOULD WORK
WITH ME AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
THE OTHERS, I FELT, THAT WANTED
TO WORK WITH ME BUT WERE AFRAID
BECAUSE THEY WERE
ON FIXED INCOMES,
PARTICULARLY PUBLIC ASSISTANCE,
AND THEY WERE AFRAID
THAT THE LANDLORD WOULD
GET THEIR CHECKS CUT OFF.
Narrator:
OPPOSITION TO THE MAYOR
COULD BE COSTLY.
DALEY'S POLITICAL MACHINE
CONTROLLED CITY SERVICES
AND HAD INFLUENCE OVER
PUBLIC HOUSING AND WELFARE.
THE MAYOR USED THAT POWER
AGAINST THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT.
Woman:
HE OWNED THAT SYSTEM,
RICHARD J. DALEY DID,
AND I REMEMBER THE INSPECTORS
WERE GOING FROM DOOR TO DOOR
TO THOSE OF US THAT WERE
PARTICIPATING
WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING,
AND THEY CAME TO MY HOUSE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE
HARASSED AT THAT LEVEL...
INSPECTORS... FOR VIOLATIONS
THAT THEY COULDN'T FIX.
SO WHEN YOU GOT A VIOLATION,
WHO DID YOU HAVE TO GO TO?
YOU HAD TO GO TO ONE OF DALEY'S
MEN TO FIX... FIX THE CODE
OR ELSE, YOU KNOW,
YOU WERE FINED.
WHEN KING ACTUALLY CAME TO TOWN,
DALEY RECEIVED HIM POLITELY.
AND THEN EVERY TIME DR. KING
OR THE MOVEMENT
WOULD RAISE AN ISSUE
DALEY WOULD INSTITUTE
SOME KIND OF RESPONSE OR PROGRAM
TO SHOW THAT THE MOVEMENT
WASN'T NEEDED
AND THAT THE CITY
WAS ON TOP OF THE PROBLEM.
THIS WAS PARTICULARLY TRUE IF
IT HAD TO DO WITH CITY SERVICES.
IF DR. KING WOULD GO TO...
AS HE DID... TO THE WEST SIDE
AND HELP TO SHOVEL OUT
THE FILTH IN AN APARTMENT
IN A VERY DIRTY,
RUNDOWN SECTION OF TOWN,
WHY, THE NEXT DAY
THE GARBAGE TRUCKS WOULD ARRIVE
AND THE PLACE
WOULD BE ALL CLEANED UP.
AND IT IS TRUE, IN THE MINDS
OF THE PEOPLE AND THE PRESS,
IT BECAME HARD TO SEE
DALEY AS SOME KIND OF ENEMY
BECAUSE HE WOULD ALWAYS RESPOND.
WE'D LIKE TO KNOW
WHERE PLACES ARE RUNDOWN
OR IT'S A HAZARD TO HUMAN LIFE.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
WANTS TO KNOW IF A BUILDING
IS IN SUCH SHAPE
THAT IT'S A DANGER TO LIFE
OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN IT.
AND THEY CAN BE OF GREAT HELP
IN GIVING US THIS INFORMATION.
IT WAS CLEAR, I THINK,
TO US AT THE TIME
THAT WHAT THE CHICAGO
FREEDOM MOVEMENT WANTED
WAS A WAY TO GET A CONFRONTATION
WITH CITY HALL.
AND OUR PURPOSE WAS TO SEE IF
WE COULD AVOID A CONFRONTATION,
TO DEFUSE ANY ISSUE THAT MIGHT
PRECIPITATE A CONFRONTATION.
WE WERE NOT BIRMINGHAM; WE WERE
NOT SELMA; WE WERE CHICAGO.
♪ WE SHALL OVERCOME ONE DAY,
WE SHALL OVERCOME... ♪
Narrator:
KING HAD CHOSEN CHICAGO
AS THE PROVING GROUND
FOR A NONVIOLENT
CAMPAIGN IN THE NORTH.
BUT SIX MONTHS HAD GONE BY
AND THERE WERE NO
VICTORIES IN SIGHT.
ON JULY 10, 1966,
THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT
HELD A RALLY AT SOLDIER FIELD.
SOME WERE QUESTIONING
THE STRATEGY OF NONVIOLENCE.
KING ARGUED IN ITS DEFENSE.
King:
WE ASSEMBLE HERE TODAY
TO MARCH TO CITY HALL
TO DEMAND REDRESS
OF OUR LEGITIMATE GRIEVANCES.
I WANT EVERY ONE OF YOU HERE
TO MARCH WITH US TODAY.
BY THE THOUSANDS, WE WILL MARCH
THERE IN A FEW MINUTES
AND MAKE OUR GREAT WITNESS.
I'M STILL CONVINCED
THERE'S NOTHING MORE POWERFUL
TO DRAMATIZE AND EXPOSE
A SOCIAL EVIL
THAN THE TRAMP, TRAMP
OF MARCHING FEET.
♪ WE SHALL ALL HAVE PEACE,
LORD, LORD, ONE DAY ♪
♪ YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH,
PEACE IN OUR HEARTS! ♪
Narrator:
IN SWELTERING HEAT, 5,000 MARCH
WITH KING TO CITY HALL.
HE TAPED A LIST OF DEMANDS
TO THE DOOR
CALLING FOR CITY ACTION
TO END DISCRIMINATION.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, MOVEMENT
LEADERS MET WITH THE MAYOR.
THE TALKS REACHED AN IMPASSE.
WELL, I ASKED FOR THEIR ANSWER
TO THE SOLUTION OF
ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS,
AND THEY HAD NO SOLUTION.
THEY HAD THE RECITATION
OF THE PROBLEM, BUT I SAID,
"WELL, HOW DO YOU ELIMINATE
THE SLUM AND BLIGHT OVERNIGHT?
WHAT WOULD YOU MEN DO THAT
WE HAVEN'T DONE IN CHICAGO?"
NO SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
WERE MADE.
WE REQUESTED, FOR INSTANCE,
A POLICE OR A CIVILIAN
REVIEW BOARD.
AND THAT, AGAIN,
NO COMMITMENT WAS MADE.
IN THE HOUSING AREA,
NO COMMITMENTS WERE MADE.
AND FOR THIS REASON
WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE
RIGHT ON WITH OUR PROGRAM,
OUR ACTION PROGRAM
TO DRAMATIZE THESE ISSUES
AND TO BRING IT SQUARELY
BEFORE NOT ONLY THE ATTENTION
BUT THE CONSCIENCE
OF THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY.
♪ NOWHERE TO RUN TO, BABY,
NOWHERE TO HIDE ♪
♪ GOT NOWHERE TO RUN TO, BABY,
NOWHERE TO HIDE... ♪
Narrator:
A DAY LATER, THE MOVEMENT'S
PLANS WERE INTERRUPTED.
THE OPPRESSIVE JULY HEAT
HAD FUELED GROWING TENSION
IN THE CITY.
WHEN OFFICIALS CLOSED FIRE
HYDRANTS IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD
TEMPERS FLARED.
LEADERS OF THE FREEDOM
MOVEMENT MOBILIZED QUICKLY;
THE FUTURE OF THEIR NONVIOLENT
CAMPAIGN WAS AT STAKE.
Man:
DR. KING AND I
AND ANDY, UH... DROVE AROUND
TRYING TO PERSUADE,
PARTICULARLY YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE,
THAT THEY WERE, ONE,
NOT HELPING THE PROBLEM.
WE UNDERSTOOD THEIR FRUSTRATION,
WE WERE TRYING TO ADDRESS IT
AND FIND AVENUES FOR THAT ENERGY
AND FRUSTRATION AND ANGER
TO BE CHALLENGED
IN A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY.
AND THAT THE MOST
DANGEROUS SITUATION
WAS THAT THE POLICE
WOULD OVERREACT
AND THEY WOULD, IN FACT,
BE PHYSICALLY HURT OR DAMAGED
OR END UP IN JAIL.
Narrator:
THE BATTLE ON THE STREETS
CONTINUED FOR FOUR DAYS.
TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED.
BUT CHICAGO WAS SPARED
THE DEVASTATION
THAT HAD HIT WATTS
A YEAR EARLIER.
SOME CREDITED KING
AND THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT;
MAYOR DALEY FELT OTHERWISE.
Marciniak:
THE MAYOR DID FEEL THAT
THERE WAS NO NEED FOR OUTSIDERS
TO STIR UP THE TROOPS
IN CHICAGO.
AND THEREFORE I THINK HIS
NATURAL INCLINATION WAS TO SAY,
"WELL, WE HAVE NEVER
HAD THESE THINGS BEFORE.
"NOW THEY'RE HAPPENING.
"WHAT'S THE EXPLANATION?
"IT MUST BE THESE EVENTS
AND THESE PEOPLE
"AND THE WAY THEY'RE DOING
THINGS THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE RIOTING
THAT TOOK PLACE."
WE ARE TRYING TO CONDUCT
A NONVIOLENT MOVEMENT HERE
IN CHICAGO.
AND WE ARE GOING ON
WITH THAT PROGRAM.
BUT WE NEED SUPPORT,
AND THERE'S NO POINT
IN THE POWER STRUCTURE
AND ANYBODY ELSE SAYING
THAT BECAUSE WE ARE PEACEFULLY
GOING AROUND
TRYING TO CHANGE CONDITIONS
THAT WE ARE THE CAUSE
OF THE RIOTS.
THAT'S DISHONEST; IT IS UNTRUE;
IT IS UNFAIR TO SAY IT
TO THE PUBLIC
BECAUSE WE HAVE STOOD
UP FOR NONVIOLENCE
WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.
AND THOSE WHO WILL MAKE THIS
PEACEFUL REVOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE
WILL MAKE A VIOLENT
REVOLUTION INEVITABLE.
AND WE'VE GOT TO GET THIS OVER.
I NEED HELP.
I NEED SOME VICTORIES.
I NEED SOME CONCESSIONS
TO TAKE BACK.
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, LEADERS OF THE
FREEDOM MOVEMENT SHIFTED FOCUS.
THEY TOOK THEIR PROTEST OUT OF
THE SLUMS THAT CONTAINED BLACKS
AND INTO THE WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
THAT EXCLUDED THEM.
Man:
THERE WERE PATTERNS
OF SEGREGATION AND
DISCRIMINATION... CLEAR PATTERNS.
FOR AN EXAMPLE
THERE WERE NO SIGNS
THAT SAID,
"BLACKS CANNOT LIVE HERE."
BUT IT WAS WHITE ONLY,
AND IT WAS OBVIOUSLY WHITE ONLY.
AND THERE WERE REASONS
WHY IT WAS WHITE...
NOT BECAUSE BLACKS CHOSE NOT
TO LIVE IN THOSE COMMUNITIES;
IT'S BECAUSE THEY WERE
SYSTEMATICALLY DENIED
PRIMARILY BY
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT.
Protesters:
♪ KUMBAYA, MY LORD, KUMBAYA... ♪
Narrator:
PROTESTERS CHARGED REALTORS,
BANKS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES
WITH BLOCKBUSTING.
WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
WERE TARGETED;
HOMEOWNERS WERE PRESSURED
TO SELL LOW AND FLEE
AND HOMES WERE RESOLD
TO BLACKS AT A PREMIUM.
WITHIN MONTHS,
AREAS WERE CHANGED
FROM ALL WHITE TO ALL BLACK
AND CITY AND FINANCIAL
SERVICES DECREASED.
THE WHITE PEOPLE
DIDN'T MAKE MONEY.
THE BLACK PEOPLE
DIDN'T MAKE MONEY.
THE REAL ESTATES MADE MONEY.
AND THEY DO IT
BECAUSE OF THAT.
THEY CAN MOVE THE BLACKS
INTO MIDDLE-CLASS WHITE
NEIGHBORHOODS,
THEY CAN MOVE THE WHITES OUT
OF MIDDLE-CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS
INTO THE SUBURBS.
THEY MAKE THE MONEY...
WE DON'T MAKE ANYTHING.
BUT THEY PROPAGATE THE IDEA
THAT BECAUSE BLACKS MOVE
INTO WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS
YOUR HOUSE VALUES
ARE GOING TO GO DOWN.
Narrator:
FREEDOM MOVEMENT VOLUNTEERS
CROSSED THE LINE
THAT DIVIDED
BLACK AND WHITE CHICAGO.
THEY BEGAN MARCHING
INTO ALL-WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS.
TELL THEM NIGGERS
TO GO HOME!
McDermott:
THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS CONVINCED
THAT WE WERE THERE TO TAKE AWAY
THEIR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION,
THEIR HOMES, AND THE BEAUTY
OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND AS WE WALKED DEEPER
AND DEEPER INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
YOU HAD A GREAT
SENSE OF ISOLATION:
"WOULD I EVER GET OUT OF HERE?"
AND THE EXPRESSIONS
OF ANGER AND HATE,
THE SWASTIKAS WHICH WERE
HELD UP... JUST UNBELIEVABLE.
AND IT SHOWED THE PROBLEM.
AFTER ALL, THE POINT
WAS TO SHOW THE PROBLEM...
TO SHOW THE FEAR, TO SHOW THE
REJECTION, TO SHOW THE HATE...
TO SHOW THE PROBLEM THAT WE WERE
TRYING TO SOLVE.
Jackson:
IT WAS SAID
THAT YOU COULD NOT EXPOSE
SEGREGATION IN THE NORTH
BECAUSE IT WAS SUBTLE.
THE FACT IS,
IT WAS EVERYTHING EXCEPT SUBTLE.
IT WAS DYNAMIC, IT WAS REAL,
BLATANT, UGLY, VIOLENT.
I WAS HIT THREE TIMES.
WERE ANY OF YOUR
OTHER PEOPLE HIT?
I DON'T KNOW.
HOW MANY OF YOUR
PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED?
I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator:
THREE DAYS OF MARCHING
EXPOSED WHITE RESISTANCE
AND HEIGHTENED BLACK SKEPTICISM
ABOUT THE USE OF NONVIOLENCE.
Dunlap:
I WAS SICK THAT SUNDAY.
BUT WHEN I WATCHED IT ON TV
I GOT ANGRY, I GOT SAD,
I GOT UPSET.
YOU KNOW, WHEN I WATCH
THAT KIND OF HOSTILITY
AND THAT KIND OF PREJUDICE
THAT I DID NOT UNDERSTAND
SO I JUST COULDN'T SEE
WHY THEY WOULD DO THAT.
AND LOOKING AT THAT,
I SAID, "GEE, I'M NOT
AS NONVIOLENT AS I THINK I AM."
ESPECIALLY AND DR. KING
WANTED US TO BE NONVIOLENT.
BECAUSE IF I HAD BEEN THERE
AND THEY HAD THREW THOSE
ROTTEN EGGS AND HAD SPIT ON ME
I THINK I WOULD HAVE
JUST HIT BACK.
WE'VE SENT NEGROES
IN LARGE NUMBERS
TO THE REAL ESTATE OFFICES
IN GAGE PARK.
EVERY TIME NEGROES WENT IN,
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT SAID,
"OH, I'M SORRY, WE DON'T HAVE
ANYTHING LISTED.
NOW, YOU CAN FIND
SOMETHING SOMEWHERE ELSE"...
AND IT WAS ALWAYS BACK
IN THE GHETTO,
BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING.
AND THEN SOON AFTER THAT
WE SENT SOME OF OUR FINE
WHITE STAFF MEMBERS
INTO THOSE SAME REAL
ESTATE OFFICES
AND THE MINUTE
THE WHITE PERSON GOT IN
THEY OPENED THE BOOKS... "OH,
YES, WE HAVE SEVERAL THINGS.
NOW, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT?"
Narrator:
ON AUGUST 5, THE MARCHERS
RETURNED TO THE SOUTHWEST SIDE.
MAYOR DALEY HAD SENT
1,200 POLICE OFFICERS.
THEY ESTIMATED
THE MOB AT 5,000.
Crowd:
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
WE WANT KING! WE WANT KING!
Young:
NOW, IN THE SOUTH WE FACED MOBS
BUT IN THE SOUTH
IT WOULD BE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED,
OR EVEN 50 OR 75.
THE VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH ALWAYS
CAME FROM A RABBLE ELEMENT.
BUT THESE WERE WOMEN AND
CHILDREN AND HUSBANDS AND WIVES
COMING OUT OF THEIR HOMES,
BECOMING A MOB.
AND IN SOME WAYS,
IT WAS FAR MORE FRIGHTENING.
Young:
THERE WAS JUST A RAIN OF ROCKS
AND CHERRY BOMBS
SO YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS.
Lafayette:
THEN MARTIN LUTHER KING
WAS STRUCK ON THE HEAD.
AND I REMEMBER THE REACTION
EVERYBODY HAD.
THEY ALL SURGED FORWARD
AND THE MARCH WAS STOPPED.
EVERYBODY SAID, "HALT, WAIT."
AND I REMEMBER
JESSE JACKSON RUNNING IN,
BECAUSE HE WAS RIGHT NEAR
MARTIN LUTHER KING
AND HE HELD MARTIN LUTHER KING'S
HEAD DOWN BECAUSE WE KNEW
HE WOULD BE THE TARGET
OF ANY KIND OF PERSONAL ATTACK.
AND WE TRIED TO REGROUP
OURSELVES.
I REMEMBER THE TENSION THAT
PEOPLE HAD
AND I... WE FELT COMPLETELY
SURROUNDED.
Narrator:
THE MARCHERS REMAINED
NONVIOLENT,
BUT MANY WERE ANGRY.
Jefferson:
DR. KING WAS ONLY TRYING
TO SAY TO AMERICA,
TRYING TO SAY TO GAGE PARK,
"WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS."
I AM A CITIZEN OF THIS CITY.
I'M A BLACK AMERICAN.
I HAVE A RIGHT TO MOVE
WHEREVER I WANT TO MOVE
IF I HAVE THE MONEY
TO MOVE THERE.
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT,
YOU KNOW?
AND I THINK
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT.
IT WAS THAT I DARE
ONE PART OF THIS SOCIETY
TO SAY THAT YOU CAN'T MOVE
WHEREVER YOU WANT TO MOVE.
I THINK THAT WAS
THE ANGER THAT WAS IN US.
THERE'S A POSSIBILITY
THAT WE MIGHT GET ARRESTED.
Narrator:
ACTING ON HIS OWN, JESSE JACKSON
ANNOUNCED A MARCH INTO CICERO,
A WHITE SUBURB KNOWN
FOR RACIAL HOSTILITY.
HIS CHALLENGE CAUGHT
BOTH CITY OFFICIALS
AND MOVEMENT LEADERS OFF GUARD.
IS ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL,
OR ANY ONE LEADER
OR ANY ONE GROUP OF LEADERS
WORTH THE PERPETUATION
OF THE HISTORICAL DEPRIVATION
OF NEGRO PEOPLE?
THAT'S THE QUESTION
THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH.
AND I HAVE COUNTED UP THE COSTS:
MY LIFE, BEVEL'S LIFE,
EVEN DR. KING'S LIFE
OVER AND AGAINST A GENERATION
AND THE CONTINUATION
OF A KIND OF SIN
THAT'S GOING TO INTERNALLY
DISRUPT THIS COUNTRY
AND POSSIBLY THIS WORLD.
I'VE COUNTED THE COSTS!
I'M GOING TO CICERO!
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CICERO
MEANT TO PEOPLE IN CHICAGO.
YOU DON'T GO UNDER
THE VIADUCT, HONEY,
BECAUSE IF YOU DO,
YOU MAY NOT GET BACK.
CICERO WAS ON THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE VIADUCT.
AND YOU DIDN'T WALK
THROUGH CICERO ALONE.
YOU DIDN'T LET YOUR CAR
BREAK DOWN IN CICERO
AND GET OUT TO CHANGE A TIRE.
Narrator:
15,000 BLACKS WORKED IN CICERO.
NONE LIVED THERE.
THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD
ONES THAT WORK HERE
BUT STILL WE DON'T WANT TO MIX
WITH THEM, TO LIVE WITH THEM.
Reporter:
WHY? YOU WORK
WITH THEM...
BUT I DON'T WANT
TO LIVE WITH THEM.
BECAUSE I MOVED OUT OF A
NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WAS COLORED.
EVERYBODY THAT LIVES WITH
THE COLORED HAS TO MOVE.
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SAFE WALKING
THE STREETS AT NIGHT.
NEGROES HAVE A RIGHT TO MOVE IN
UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.
THE ONLY THING IS,
WHAT KIND OF A NEGRO?
THE CICERO COMMUNITY
HAS BEEN A VERY HOSTILE
COMMUNITY TO BLACKS FOR YEARS...
EVER SINCE I CAN REMEMBER.
AND I LOOKED FORWARD TO THE TIME
THAT I COULD MARCH DOWN
THOSE STREETS
IN DEFIANCE
OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE THERE.
Man:
THERE WAS A LOT OF FEAR
IN THE WHITE COMMUNITY
AND SOME PARTS
OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE SOME
SORT OF BIG RACIAL EXPLOSION.
THERE WERE A LOT OF DEMANDS
ON THE PART OF THE CITIZENS,
PARTICULARLY THE WHITE CITIZENS,
ON MAYOR DALEY
TO STOP THE MARCHES.
THERE WERE SOME DEMANDS ON
THE PART OF THE BLACK LEADERSHIP
TO MARTIN LUTHER KING
TO STOP THE MARCHES.
SO YOU SEE, EVERYBODY
WANTED A WAY OUT.
BOTH SIDES WANTED A WAY OUT.
Narrator:
RELIGIOUS LEADERS LED THE CALL
FOR A CITYWIDE SUMMIT
THAT WOULD STOP THE MARCHES.
KING AGREED TO NEGOTIATE,
BUT HE VOWED TO CONTINUE
MARCHING
UNTIL A SETTLEMENT WAS REACHED.
King:
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO CHICAGO, OR TO ANYBODY,
I'M TIRED OF MARCHING.
I'M TIRED OF MARCHING
FOR SOMETHING
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
MINE AT BIRTH.
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT...
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT
THAT I'M TIRED OF THE TENSIONS
SURROUNDING OUR DAYS.
I DON'T MIND SAYING
TO YOU TONIGHT
THAT I'M TIRED OF LIVING EVERY
DAY UNDER THE THREAT OF DEATH.
I HAVE NO MARTYR COMPLEX.
I WANT TO LIVE AS LONG AS
ANYBODY IN THIS BUILDING TONIGHT
AND SOMETIMES I BEGIN TO DOUBT
WHETHER I'M GOING
TO MAKE IT THROUGH.
I MUST CONFESS I'M TIRED.
Narrator:
KING AND HIS STAFF HAD HOPED
THEIR CAMPAIGN IN CHICAGO
WOULD SERVE AS A MODEL
FOR OTHERS IN THE NORTH.
BUT THEIR WORK IN CHICAGO HAD
FAILED TO WIN SUPPORT
INCLUDING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
AND NORTHERN LIBERALS.
IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON.
Young:
THE S.C.L.C. WENT TO CHICAGO
TO SEE IF NONVIOLENCE
WOULD WORK IN THE NORTH
AND SO WE WERE DOING
A NUMBER OF THINGS;
THE MARCHES WERE ONLY ONE.
BUT CHICAGO WAS SO MUCH BIGGER
THAN ANY CITY THAT WE'D
WORKED IN IN THE SOUTH.
WE KNEW WE COULDN'T
DO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME
AND THAT WE COULDN'T
SUSTAIN AN AGGRESSIVE MOVEMENT
AS LONG AS...
YOU KNOW, MUCH LONGER.
SO WE WERE TRYING
TO FIND A WAY TO WIND IT UP.
WE REACHED THE POINT IN WHICH
WE THOUGHT THAT WE HAD ACHIEVED
NOT EVERYTHING WE WANTED,
BUT EVERYTHING WE COULD ACHIEVE.
AND THERE WERE THOSE
WHO DISAGREED WITH THAT.
BUT WE HAD THE BURDEN
OF DECISION.
WE MADE THE BEST ONE WE COULD
AS HONESTLY AS WE COULD
WITH ALL THE SUSPICIONS
THAT WERE SHARED BY THOSE OF US
WHO WERE CRITICIZING US.
Narrator:
AUGUST 26, 1966.
BOTH SIDES SIGNED
A TEN-POINT AGREEMENT.
THE CITY PROMISED TO ENFORCE
ITS OPEN HOUSING LAWS
AND DESEGREGATE PUBLIC HOUSING.
BANKS AND REALTORS
AGREED TO COMPLY.
CRITICS DOUBTED THE AGREEMENT
WOULD BE ENFORCED,
BUT KING SAW IT AS A FIRST STEP.
HE AGREED TO STOP THE MARCHES,
INCLUDING THE MARCH INTO CICERO.
THE CHICAGO FREEDOM MOVEMENT
HAS PLEDGED ITS RESOURCES
TO ASSIST IN THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THESE PROGRAMS
AND HEREBY AGREES TO HALT
NEIGHBORHOOD MARCHES
AND DEMONSTRATIONS IN CHICAGO
ON THE ISSUE OF OPEN HOUSING
SO LONG AS THESE PLEDGED...
Narrator:
KING'S ANNOUNCEMENT IMMEDIATELY
SPLIT THE CHICAGO MOVEMENT.
WHEN HE CALLED OFF THE MARCH, WE
WERE SURPRISED, WE WERE SHOCKED.
THIS IS THE MARCH
WE'D LOOKED FORWARD TO.
THE OTHER MARCHES WERE NICE
BUT THE ONE IN CICERO
HAD SPECIAL MEANING FOR US.
WE DON'T CARE ABOUT SUMMITS
TAKING PLACE WITHOUT US.
WE DON'T CARE ABOUT COVENANTS.
WE WANT CONTRACTS
IN BLACK AND WHITE
WITH SOME HARD ANSWERS FOR US,
WITH SOME SIGNATURES
AND SOME PEOPLE
WE CAN HOLD RESPONSIBLE TO
AND SOME TIME FRAMES.
BUT NONE OF THIS WAS THERE.
Narrator:
LOCAL GROUPS ANNOUNCED
THEIR OWN MARCH INTO CICERO.
IT WOULD TAKE PLACE WITHOUT
JESSE JACKSON OR DR. KING.
WE ARE NOT MARCHING INTO CICERO
TO APPEAL TO
THE WHITE CONSCIENCE,
BUT TO DEMONSTRATE TO EVERYBODY
THAT RANK-AND-FILE PEOPLE
NOW ARE A NEW BREED...
A NEW KIND OF CAT, WITHOUT FEAR.
WE DO NOT COME HAT IN HAND,
SCRATCHING OUR HEADS,
SHUFFLING OUR FEETS
TO BEG FOR A FEW CONCESSIONS.
IN THIS MARCH,
WE ARE SERVING NOTICE:
BEGINNING TODAY, EVERY NEGRO
CAN SEIZE, ACT
AND LIVE OUT THE ASSUMPTION
THAT HE CAN WALK ANYWHERE,
THAT HE IS A HUMAN LIKE ANYBODY
AND IS TO BE TREATED
LIKE ANYBODY ELSE.
THE DAY THAT
THE MARCH TOOK PLACE,
DR. KING CALLED ME AT HOME
AND HE SAID TO ME:
"YOU KNOW, BOB, WE WOULD
LIKE TO SAVE CICERO
"TO USE IT, YOU KNOW,
LATER ON FOR SOMETHING
AND THAT I WISH
THAT YOU WOULDN'T GO."
AND I TOLD DR. KING, I SAID:
"WELL, DOC, YOU KNOW,
MY CONSCIENCE DICTATES TO ME
THAT I MUST LEAD
THAT MARCH INTO CICERO."
WE GOT THERE AND WITH SUCH FEW,
WE BECAME A LITTLE FRIGHTENED.
AND WE KEPT STANDING AROUND
AND FINALLY IT WAS 12:00,
I BELIEVE IT WAS 12:00,
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN,
GUYS STARTED GETTING OUT OF CARS
AND PEOPLE STARTED
COMING OUT OF DOORWAYS
AND THEY SAID,
"OKAY, LUCAS, STEP-OFF TIME."
Narrator:
ABOUT 250 MARCHERS
BEGAN WALKING INTO CICERO.
OVER 3,000 LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENTS WERE ON HAND.
Man:
YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE!
YOUR MOTHER IS A WHORE!
Man:
DON'T STOP,
JUST KEEP COMING!
JUST KEEP COMING,
DON'T STOP.
YOU FAT PUNK... I SEE
WHAT YOU MADE OUT OF.
YOU FAT PUNK...
AND YOUR MAMA, TOO!
Bryant:
IT WAS NOT A KING MARCH.
YOU KNOW, WE JUST
WENT OUT THERE ON FAITH.
WE JUST WENT, LITTLE PEOPLE,
AND THAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE.
IT WAS A GROUNDSWELL
OF GRASSROOTS PEOPLE.
AND WHEN THEY THREW BRICKS,
THEY GOT THEM BACK.
WE CAUGHT THEM
AND WE THREW THEM BACK.
SO IT WAS GIVE-AND-TAKE IN
CICERO FOR, OH, A MILE OR SO.
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET IT.
Narrator:
AS THE MARCHERS LEFT CICERO,
LITTLE HAD BEEN RESOLVED.
THE SOUTHERN
CIVIL RIGHTS VICTORIES
HAD NOT BEEN REPEATED
IN THE NORTH.
THE PROBLEMS, AND THE ANGER,
REMAINED.
THE TENSION BUILDING BETWEEN
BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA
WOULD EXPLODE WITH GREATEST
FORCE IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN.
Martha and the Vandellas:
♪ CALLING OUT AROUND THE WORLD ♪
♪ ARE YOU READY
FOR A BRAND-NEW BEAT? ♪
♪ SUMMER'S HERE
AND THE TIME IS RIGHT ♪
♪ FOR DANCING IN THE STREET ♪
♪ DANCING IN CHICAGO... ♪
Narrator:
MOTOWN, U.S.A.
IN 1967, DETROIT WAS BOOMING.
FEDERALLY FUNDED URBAN RENEWAL
BROUGHT HIGHWAYS
AND SKYSCRAPERS.
THE AUTO INDUSTRY
BROUGHT EMPLOYMENT.
BUT SUCCESS LOOKED DIFFERENT
TO DETROIT'S BLACK COMMUNITY.
URBAN RENEWAL BUILT EXPRESSWAYS
THROUGH BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS.
IT TOOK JOBS AND RESOURCES
TO WHITE SUBURBS.
IT LEFT BLACK RESIDENTS BEHIND.
Woman:
THE EXPRESSWAY DIVIDED
THE COMMUNITY.
WHEN YOU COULD WALK
ACROSS THE STREET
AND TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOR,
IT'S NO LONGER THERE.
YOU GOT TO GO ACROSS THE BRIDGE,
AND IF YOU GO ACROSS
THAT BRIDGE,
YOU AIN'T GOING TO FIND
THAT SAME NEIGHBOR
BECAUSE THAT SPACE,
THE STREET IS GONE,
ALL THOSE HOUSES IN THAT
NEIGHBORHOOD IS GONE.
YOU CONSTANTLY SAW WHITE GUYS
ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE,
FOREMEN IN WHITE SHIRTS,
WHO WOULD LEAVE AND WHO WOULD
DRIVE TO A BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD,
WHO WOULD DRIVE A BETTER CAR,
AND SO FORTH.
AND THERE WASN'T
THE OPPORTUNITY THERE.
THERE WASN'T THE OPPORTUNITY.
Narrator:
OPPORTUNITY CAME WITH POWER.
IN DETROIT,
THAT MEANT WHITE POWER.
IT WAS SYMBOLIZED BY A POLICE
FORCE THAT WAS 95% WHITE.
GENERATIONS OF BLACK RESIDENTS
HAD CONTENDED WITH POLICE,
ESPECIALLY FOUR-MAN SQUADS
KNOWN AS THE BIG FOUR.
Man:
WHEN THE BIG FOUR PULLED UP,
YOU JUMPED.
WHEN THEY SAID,
"MOVE OFF THE CORNER,"
YOU MOVED OFF THE CORNER.
WHERE DO YOUNG BLACK MEN HAVE
BUT A CORNER?
THEY DON'T HAVE SWIMMING POOLS,
THEY DON'T HAVE ESTATES...
THEY HAVE CORNERS IN CITIES.
AND THEY STAND AROUND,
THEY HARMONIZE,
THEY CLOWN, THEY HAVE FUN.
BUT WHEN THE BIG FOUR WOULD SAY,
"GIVE ME THAT CORNER,"
YOU GAVE THEM THAT CORNER,
OR ELSE.
AND IT WASN'T UNUSUAL TO SEE THE
COPS COMING INTO NEIGHBORHOODS
AND JUST ARBITRARILY
GRABBING PEOPLE
WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PROVOCATION
AND SLAM US UP AGAINST THE WALL,
ASK US FOR IDENTIFICATION...
"WHERE YOU GOING?
WHAT YOU BEEN DOING?"
ANY KIND OF SUSPICION WHATSOEVER
WOULD BE CAUSE FOR THEM
TO JUST GO AHEAD AND ACCOST YOU.
Narrator:
POLICE/COMMUNITY TENSION
WAS NEAR COMBUSTION
BY THE SUMMER OF 1967.
THE SPARK CAME ON JULY 23.
POLICE CONDUCTED A ROUTINE RAID
ON A BLIND PIG...
AN ILLEGAL AFTER-HOURS CLUB.
THIS PARTICULAR TIME,
THERE WAS MORE THERE
THAN THE CREW EXPECTED.
IT REQUIRED SHUTTLING
SEVERAL TIMES
FROM THE STATION TO THE SCENE,
TAKING PRISONERS BACK AND FORTH
AND THE CROWD BECOME RESTIVE
AND WHAT WAS KIND OF
A MOOD OF HILARITY
GREW INTO SOME DERISIVE TALK
TO THE POLICE
AND ULTIMATELY WAS STONING
THE CARS.
THAT'S WHY THE NEGROES ARE
RIOTING ALL UPTOWN,
ALL THESE POLICE...
EVERY TIME YOU SEE ONE OF THEM,
HE GONNA STOP A BROTHER,
HE DON'T NEVER STOP NO WHITE.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE
OUT HERE RIOTING,
AND WE'RE GONNA KEEP ON RIOTING
UNTIL THEY STOP ALL THIS.
Narrator:
IT WAS SUNDAY MORNING.
FEW POLICE WERE IN THE AREA.
REINFORCEMENTS WERE CALLED IN
AS THE GROWING CROWD
BEGAN LOOTING AND BURNING.
Boyd:
THE FEELING IN THE STREETS
AT THAT TIME,
A KIND OF A SENSE OF EUPHORIA,
OF FREEDOM AND REBELLION.
EVERYBODY FELT LIKE UNIFIED
THAT THE REVOLUTION
WAS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
BECAUSE WE HAD BEEN TALKING
ABOUT THOSE THINGS
IN THE COMMUNITY ANYWAY,
SO EVERYBODY FELT
THAT THIS WAS THE CATALYST,
THIS WAS THE CHARGE,
THIS WAS THE IGNITER.
WHEN MY DAUGHTER GOT TO CHURCH,
SHE CALLED BACK AND SAID:
"MAMA, IT'S JUDGMENT DAY."
I SAID, "WHAT YOU MEAN?"
SHE SAID, "EVERYTHING IS
BURNING."
SHE SAID, "THEY SAY
THERE'S A RIOT GOING ON."
I ALMOST HAD A FIT BEHIND THAT.
Narrator:
MODERATE BLACK LEADERS
OFFERED TO HELP POLICE.
DR. ARTHUR JOHNSON
DROVE INTO THE AREA
WITH CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS.
Man:
THE CROWD, THE WHOLE
SCENE WAS SUCH
THAT I COULD NOT
DRIVE MY CAR FURTHER.
JOHN CONYERS FINALLY
GOT OUT OF THE CAR,
STOOD ON THE HOOD OF IT AND
ATTEMPTED TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE
ABOUT LEAVING THE STREET
AND RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES.
AND FINALLY I GOT OUT OF MY CAR,
I WHISPERED IN JOHN'S EAR:
"I WOULD LIKE TO GET MY CAR
OUT OF HERE IF I CAN."
THE CITY WAS BURNING,
AND ALL THE WORK THAT WE
HAD DONE WAS BEING DESTROYED.
THE DISTRESS WAS MORE THAN
DISTRESS, IT WAS AGONY,
AND TEARS CAME TO MY EYES
AND IT WAS...
WE THOUGHT WE HAD THE ANSWERS
AND THE FACT IS,
NOBODY HAD THE ANSWERS.
INSIDE OF MOST BLACK PEOPLE
THERE WAS A TIME BOMB;
THERE WAS A POT
THAT WAS ABOUT TO OVERFLOW
AND THERE WAS RAGE
THAT WAS ABOUT TO COME OUT
AND THE REBELLION JUST PROVIDED
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT.
I MEAN, WHY ELSE
WOULD PEOPLE GET UPSET
ABOUT COPS RAIDING A BLIND PIG?
THEY'D DONE THAT
NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE.
BUT PEOPLE JUST GOT TIRED,
PEOPLE JUST GOT TIRED OF IT
AND IT JUST EXPLODED.
RETURN TO YOUR HOMES
TO PROTECT YOUR OWN PROPERTY!
IT'S THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO...
PROTECT YOUR OWN PROPERTY.
Narrator:
12 HOURS AFTER
THE INITIAL POLICE RAID,
GOVERNOR GEORGE ROMNEY CALLED IN
THE MICHIGAN NATIONAL GUARD.
7,000 GUARDSMEN BEGAN ARRIVING
AS NIGHT FELL.
MOST WERE YOUNG, WHITE
AND HEAVILY ARMED.
THEY HAD LITTLE OR NO TRAINING
IN RIOT CONTROL.
100 CITY BLOCKS WERE IN TURMOIL.
Woman:
IT LOOKED LIKE A WAR-TORN ZONE.
THAT'S ALL YOU COULD
THINK OF WAS,
"MY GOD, THIIS 20 MILES
FROM WHERE IIVE
AND IT'S...
THEY'VE DROPPED A BOMB."
THAT WAS WHAT
YOU SAW ON TELEVISION
AND WHAT YOU HEARD
IN THE COMMUNITY WAS,
"WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?"
THIS IS A RACIAL INCIDENT.
IT REPRESENTS A RACIAL REBELLION
THAT GOES FROM COAST TO COAST.
IN THE CITY OF DETROIT, IT
REPRESENTS ONE SIMPLE THING:
BLACK PEOPLE WANT CONTROL
OF BLACK COMMUNITIES.
Narrator:
DESPITE A 9:00 P.M. CURFEW,
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
WERE ON THE STREET.
Man:
BURN, BABY, BURN!
Man:
A HARDWARE STORE WAS BEING
LOOTED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE,
APPARENTLY PEOPLE WHO LIVED
IN THAT COMMUNITY.
AND A CARLOAD OF BROTHERS
ROLLED UP
AND THEY ASKED EVERYONE,
HAD THEY GOTTEN ENOUGH
AND DID THEY NEED ANYTHING ELSE?
AND PEOPLE SAID, FINALLY SAID NO
AFTER THEY HAD GOTTEN
WHAT THEY WANTED.
AND SO THESE BROTHERS SAID FINE,
AND SO THEY GOT EVERYBODY
OUT OF THE STORE
AND THEY FIRE-BOMBED IT
AND THEY LEFT.
THEY DIDN'T TAKE
ANYTHING THEMSELVES.
THE CRY IN THE AIR WAS,
"LET'S BURN THIS PLACE DOWN.
"THIS SUCKER WAS ALWAYS
RIPPING US OFF ANYWAY.
THEY NEVER HIRED
MANY BLACK PEOPLE."
SO IT'S KIND OF ANGER AND
FRUSTRATION WAS IN THE WIND.
Narrator:
PROTECTED BY POLICE
AND GUARDSMEN,
FIRE FIGHTERS FACED AN ONSLAUGHT
OF ROCKS AND DEBRIS.
REPORTS OF GUNFIRE INCREASED
THROUGH THE NIGHT.
POLICE SUSPECTED SNIPERS.
Jimi Hendrix:
♪ THERE MUST BE SOME KIND
OF WAY OUT OF HERE ♪
♪ SAID THE JOKER
TO THE THIEF ♪
♪ THERE'S TOO MUCH CONFUSION ♪
♪ I CAN'T GET NO RELIEF. ♪
Woman:
WE SMELLED SMOKE.
THOSE PEOPLE'S HOUSE
ACROSS THE STREET IS ON FIRE.
I DON'T SEE NOBODY...
EVERYBODY IN THAT BLOCK
GOT ALONG FINE.
NOBODY IN THAT BLOCK,
WITH THEIR CHILDREN EVEN...
THEY PLAYED NICE TOGETHER.
I DON'T SEE WHY
THIS HAD TO HAPPEN.
THERE WERE FIRES GOING ON.
THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL
OF EXCITEMENT.
STREETLIGHTS WERE BEING
SHOT OUT BY THE POLICE.
THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF NOISE,
A GREAT DEAL OF CONFUSION.
NOBODY KNEW WHERE THEIR
PARENT ORGANIZATIONS WERE.
THE ENTIRE SITUATION WAS
ONE OF SEMI-CONTROLLED CHAOS.
EVERYBODY WAS UPTIGHT,
VERY UPTIGHT.
Guardsmen:
TURN AROUND, GO OUT, FIRE!
TURN AROUND, GET OUT OF HERE!
Guardsman:
WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING AT?
Friley:
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING
SHOT BY A NATIONAL GUARDSMAN,
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT
BY POLICE OFFICERS,
AND I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT
BY LOOTERS AND RIOTERS.
I WAS AFRAID OF BEING SHOT,
PERIOD.
Guardsman:
LISTEN... LISTEN IN THERE.
Narrator:
IN AN ATMOSPHERE FED
BY RUMORS AND FEAR,
EVERYONE WAS AT RISK.
Man:
GOING INTO
THE FIVE-AND-TEN-CENT STORE,
WE DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT DANGER WE WERE IN.
AND I HEAR
THIS POLICE OFFICER SAY:
"ALL OF YOU BLACK
COME OUT FROM BACK THERE."
I IMMEDIATELY GET UP
AND COME TO THE DOOR,
HEAD FOR THE DOOR, THE ARCHWAY
OF THE DOOR, TO DO WHAT HE SAYS
WHEN I'M TOLD... I HEAR A VOICE,
ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS...
I KNEW IT WAS HER VOICE...
AND SHE TOLD ME, "DON'T GO OUT
THERE, COME BACK, COME BACK."
AND AT THAT TIME,
I WENT TO TURN TO GO BACK
AND GET THERE NEXT TO HER,
BEHIND THIS BOLT END
OF CARPETING
AND I JUST REMEMBER SEEING
A FLASH OF LIGHT AT THAT TIME
AND GOING BACK THERE
TO LAY DOWN ON A BOLT END
TO WAKE UP I GUESS
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER
AND TO HEAR A DOCTOR
TELL MY MOTHER
THAT THE BULLET
HAD INJURED MY SPINE
AND I PROBABLY
WOULDN'T WALK AGAIN.
MAKE A HOLE!
GET OUT OF THE WAY,
DAMN IT.
Narrator:
BY MONDAY MORNING,
HUNDREDS HAD BEEN INJURED.
SIX PEOPLE WERE DEAD.
FOUR HAD BEEN SHOT,
TWO OTHERS DIED IN FIRES.
Johnson:
THE GROWING SENSE OF...
OF CONCERN IN THE COMMUNITY
WAS THAT THE SITUATION
WAS OUT OF HAND,
THAT NO ONE KNEW
WHERE IT WAS GOING,
WHEN IT WOULD END,
OR EVEN HOW TO END IT.
AS GOVERNOR
OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
I DO HEREBY OFFICIALLY RECOMMEND
THE IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT
OF FEDERAL TROOPS INTO MICHIGAN
TO ASSIST STATE AND LOCAL
AUTHORITIES...
GOVERNOR ROMNEY HAD CALLED U.S.
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAMSEY CLARK
TO RECOMMEND THAT PRESIDENT
JOHNSON SEND FEDERAL TROOPS.
AND HE INDICATED THAT WE WOULD
GET FEDERAL ASSISTANCE,
THAT THE TROOPS
WOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE.
THEN HE CALLED US BACK
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
TO INDICATE THAT HE'D HAVE
TO HAVE A WRITTEN STATEMENT
INDICATING THAT THE RIOT
WAS COMPLETELY BEYOND
OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL.
WELL, THE DIFFICULTY OF THAT WAS
THAT IT WOULD HAVE NULLIFIED
ALL OF THE INSURANCE POLICIES
OVER THE WHOLE AREA.
AND FURTHERMORE, WE DIDN'T
KNOW WITH CERTAINTY
WE DID... WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT
NOT BE ABLE TO.
SO I INDICATED THAT TO HIM.
Man:
FINALLY THEY REACHED A
COMPROMISE, AND JOHNSON DECIDED
THAT A NUMBER OF US
WOULD GO TO DETROIT.
AND OCCASIONALLY HE WOULD BE
ON THE PHONE TO FORT BRAGG
TO THE GENERAL IN CHARGE
OF THE 82nd AIRBORNE,
AND ONE THING HE KEPT SAYING:
"I DON'T WANT BULLETS
IN THOSE GUNS.
I DON'T WANT OUR TROOPS
TO HAVE BULLETS IN THOSE GUNS."
AND HE WENT ON AND ON AND HE
JUST GOT HIMSELF ALL WORKED UP,
AND HE SAID,
"I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO SAY
THAT MY TROOPS SHOT
A PREGNANT NIG..."
AND HE LOOKED AT ME
AND HIS FACE WENT RED
AND THEN HE FINISHED
HIS SENTENCE
WITHOUT FINISHING THAT WORD.
AND HE THEN SENT US OUT
TO GO AND PACK
AND THEN GO OVER
TO ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE.
Narrator:
4,700 PARATROOPERS
FROM THE 101st AND 82nd
AIRBORNE DIVISIONS
BEGAN ARRIVING
MONDAY AFTERNOON.
SOLDIERS FROM THESE SAME UNITS
HAD BEEN SENT
TO PROTECT BLACK SCHOOLCHILDREN
IN LITTLE ROCK IN 1957
AND JAMES MEREDITH
AT OLE MISS IN 1962.
AT THE PRESIDENT'S ORDER,
THEY WOULD NOT BE DEPLOYED
IN DETROIT
UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
JOHNSON'S ENVOYS
ASSESSED THE SITUATION.
Man:
THE NATIONAL GUARD
HAD BEEN VERY SPOTTY.
THERE HAD BEEN MUCH TOO MUCH
INDISCRIMINATE SHOOTING.
THEY HAD SHOT OUT
THE STREETLIGHTS,
WHICH IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN
DO IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT
BECAUSE THAT MAKES IT
EVEN MORE LIKELY
THAT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE
ARE GOING TO BE SHOT AT.
IT CREATES A FEAR
IN THE COMMUNITY.
IT CREATES FEAR, REALLY, IN THE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AS WELL.
SO THAT IT WAS NOT GOING WELL
WHEN WE ARRIVED.
Narrator:
LOOTING AND BURNING HAD
CONTINUED INTO THE SECOND DAY.
FIRE FIGHTERS FROM OVER 35
COMMUNITIES WERE ON THE STREETS.
POLICE ARRESTED 3,900 PEOPLE
BY MONDAY NIGHT.
THERE WAS NO END IN SIGHT.
Friley:
I WAS TOTALLY WIPED OUT.
IT GOT TO A POINT WHERE I HAD TO
WATCH OUT FOR MY TEMPER.
IT GOT TO A POINT
WHERE THOSE PERSONS WHO WERE
YELLING AND SCREAMING ABOUT
"DOWN WITH THE WHITEY"
AND ALL OF THAT,
I WAS LOOKING INTO HIS EYES
AND WANTING TO KNOCK
THE HELL OUT OF HIM
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT
THE HELL HE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
I GOT A CHANCE TO SNEAK
A PHONE CALL HOME ONE NIGHT
JUST TO LET MY PARENTS KNOW
I WAS ALL RIGHT,
BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN
THREE OR FOUR DAYS
SINCE I'D LET THEM KNOW
WHAT WAS GOING ON,
AND MY MOTHER
EXPRESSED A THOUGHT THEN
I GUESS HAS STUCK IN MY MIND
EVER SINCE.
SHE SAID, "HERE I HAVE ONE SON
IN VIETNAM IN A COMBAT ZONE
AND NOW I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU
IN OUR OWN HOMETOWN."
YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN DETROIT.
Narrator:
AT 11:20 MONDAY NIGHT,
PRESIDENT JOHNSON SENT THE
FEDERAL TROOPS INTO DETROIT.
THEY WERE ORDERED TO CARRY
UNLOADED WEAPONS.
AT LEAST 19 PEOPLE HAD DIED
SINCE THE RAID ON THE BLIND PIG.
Reporter:
SERGEANT, YOU'VE JUST RECENTLY
RETURNED
FROM VIETNAM.
COULD YOU TELL US
HOW IT FEELS
TO HAVE TO COME
FROM ONE ZONE OF COMBAT
IN A FOREIGN LAND
TO ONE IN
YOUR OWN LAND?
IT'S NOT A GOOD FEELING,
NOT ONE I'M KIND OF PROUD OF,
BUT IT'S A JOB, IT'S A DUTY
THAT HAVE TO BE DONE.
AND IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
DID YOU EVER
EXPECT THIS
KIND OF CALL
WHEN YOU JOINED
THE SERVICE?
I EXPECTED CALLS,
BUT IT KIND OF SURPRISED ME
WHEN I GOT THERE THAT MORNING
AND THEY SAID, "FALL OUT WITH
ALL YOUR GEAR, YOU'RE GOING."
AND I SAID, "WHERE?"
CLEARLY, THE PRESENCE
OF A LARGE NUMBER
OF NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
AND FEDERAL TROOPS
ALONG WITH A BOLSTERED
POLICE DEPARTMENT...
THEY HAD THEIR ARMED
PRESENCE OUT THERE...
SO THE LOOTING WAS ALL OVER, THE
CURFEW HAD BEEN PUT INTO EFFECT.
Narrator:
IN TOTAL, THERE WERE 17,000
LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE
IN DETROIT.
THE DISORDER WAS THREE DAYS OLD.
MUCH OF THE LOOTING
AND BURNING HAD ENDED,
BUT EXHAUSTED
AND STILL HEAVILY ARMED,
NATIONAL GUARDSMEN
AND STATE AND LOCAL POLICE
CONTINUED THEIR PATROLS.
Wilkins:
ONE NIGHT, A BLACK
CO-WORKER AND I
WERE DRIVING UP GRAND RIVER,
WHICH IS A MAJOR ARTERY
IN DETROIT,
AND WE'RE ABOUT TO
TURN LEFT ONTO JOY ROAD
WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE REALIZE
THAT THIS CONVOY
OF STATE POLICE CARS
HAD MADE A U-TURN
AND WERE PULLING US OVER.
SO I CAME OUT OF THE CAR WITH
MY HANDS UP AND WHAT I SAW WAS,
I WAS CIRCLED BY PEOPLE
WITH LONG GUNS AND PISTOLS,
AND THEY WERE ALL
POINTING AT ME.
THEY WERE ALL NERVOUS PEOPLE
AND THEY WERE ALL WHITE.
AND I'M A BLACK GUY AND I'M
A HIGH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL,
BUT I WAS A NIGGER
IN WHITE AMERICA
AND I THOUGHT AT THAT MOMENT
I WAS GOING TO BE DEAD...
35 YEARS OLD AND DEAD
AT THE CORNER OF JOY ROAD
AND GRAND RIVER.
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, POLICE ARRESTED
7,200 PEOPLE.
MOST WERE YOUNG BLACK MEN.
Man:
THE POLICE STATIONS WERE
ALL OVERRUN
AND THE JAILS WERE FILLED,
SO THEY JUST CREATED
DETENTION CENTERS.
SO PEOPLE WERE CALLING UP,
REPORTING WHAT THE POLICE
WERE DOING OR DID
OR REPORTING MISSING PEOPLE,
PEOPLE WANTING
TO FILE COMPLAINTS.
FEAR, ANGER...
THIS, IT WAS THIS...
COULD THIS BE HAPPENING
IN AMERICA?
Narrator:
AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE DIED
WHEN NATIONAL GUARDSMEN,
FEARING SNIPERS,
SPRAYED BUILDINGS WITH GUNFIRE.
Woman:
IT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE
IN VIETNAM OR SOMETHING,
ALL THIS EXCITEMENT,
AND BOY, I WAS PANICKED.
I TOLD MY HUSBAND ABOUT IT
AND THEN HE SAYS,
"GET ON THAT FLOOR."
THEN WE WENT
IN THIS WOMAN'S APARTMENT
AND THEN THE COP SAYS
TO COME OUTSIDE...
"PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD."
Scott:
AND I OPENED THE DOOR,
AND THERE WERE ABOUT FOUR,
FIVE NATIONAL GUARDSMEN,
ALL YOUNG, ALL WHITE,
LOOKING AROUND
WITH RIFLES AND BAYONETS
AND THIS ONE GUY, HE SAYS,
"WE HEARD SOME SHOOTING HERE."
AND EVERYBODY WHO HAD BEEN SHOT
UP TO THIS POINT
THAT WE'D HEARD ABOUT,
THEY ALL SAID
THAT THEY HAD A GUN
AND THAT THEY WERE
SHOOTING AT THE POLICE.
THAT BECAME THE LINE...
THIS GUY WAS A SNIPER,
HE WAS SHOOTING AT THE POLICE.
AND I KNEW THAT IF I WAS SHOT,
IF MY FAMILY WAS SHOT,
THAT THEY COULD CLOSE
THE DOOR IN THIS APARTMENT
AND NOBODY WOULD EVER KNOW
WHAT HAPPENED.
Narrator:
AS THE NIGHTMARE IN DETROIT
BEGAN TO END,
THE PRESS UNCOVERED A STORY
ABOUT THREE YOUNG BLACK MEN
KILLED DURING A POLICE RAID
AT THE ALGIERS MOTEL.
MURDER CHARGES WERE BROUGHT
AGAINST A WHITE POLICE OFFICER.
TWO OTHER OFFICERS AND A BLACK
SECURITY GUARD
WERE ALSO IMPLICATED.
THERE WERE NO CONVICTIONS.
FIVE DAYS AFTER THE RAID
ON THE BLIND PIG,
DETROIT HAD REACHED
A TENTATIVE PEACE.
43 PEOPLE WERE DEAD,
33 WERE BLACK.
INSURANCE ESTIMATES OF PROPERTY
LOSS NEARED $50 MILLION.
THE UPRISING IN DETROIT
MARKED THE FIFTH YEAR
OF CIVIL UNREST IN AMERICA.
THE NATION AND ITS PRESIDENT
STRUGGLED FOR ANSWERS.
Lyndon Johnson:
CIVIL PEACE HAS BEEN SHATTERED
IN A NUMBER OF CITIES.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
ARE DEEPLY DISTURBED.
NO SOCIETY CAN TOLERATE
MASSIVE VIOLENCE
ANY MORE THAN A BODY
CAN TOLERATE MASSIVE DISEASE,
AND WE IN AMERICA
SHALL NOT TOLERATE IT.
BUT JUST SAYING THAT
DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
WE NEED TO KNOW
THE ANSWER, I THINK,
TO THREE BASIC QUESTIONS
ABOUT THESE RIOTS:
WHAT HAPPENED?
WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT IT
FROM HAPPENING AGAIN AND AGAIN?
Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT APPOINTED
AN ADVISORY COMMISSION
TO INVESTIGATE.
ON MARCH 1, 1968, THE KERNER
COMMISSION PUBLISHED A REPORT
THAT SAID AMERICA WAS
BECOMING TWO SOCIETIES:
BLACK AND WHITE,
SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL.
IT URGED THE NATION
TO TEAR DOWN RACIAL BARRIERS
TO OPPORTUNITY
IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT,
HOUSING, GOVERNMENT
AND THE MEDIA.
"THE NEED IS NOT SO MUCH
"FOR GOVERNMENT
TO DESIGN NEW PROGRAMS
AS IT IS FOR THE NATION
TO GENERATE NEW WILL."
IT WAS A MANDATE,
HAD THE PRESIDENT CHOSEN
TO TAKE IT AND SAY:
"BY GOD, WE DIDN'T KNOW
HOW SERIOUS THE PROBLEM WAS.
"THERE IS RACISM
IN THIS SOCIETY, IT IS DEEP,
"AND SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT I AM
GOING TO BE THE PRESIDENT
WHO FINISHES
WHAT LINCOLN STARTED"...
HE COULD HAVE USED THAT
AS A SPRINGBOARD
FOR MORE SOCIAL ACTION.
INSTEAD, HE REFUSED EVEN
TO HAVE THE COMMISSION COME OVER
AND PRESENT IT TO HIM.
Narrator:
PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS FACED
WITH THE COST OF
AN ESCALATING WAR IN VIETNAM
AND GROWING POLITICAL
CONSERVATISM AT HOME.
Josaitis:
THERE BEGAN TO BE A FEELING
THAT '68 WAS GOING TO BE
A VERY HOT SUMMER.
SO THE TALK
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS,
"WE HAVE TO STOCK
OUR BASEMENT WITH FOOD.
"THAT'S THE FIRST THING
WE HAVE TO DO.
"WE MUST GO OVER TO DEARBORN AND
TAKE PISTOL PRACTICE LESSONS.
"WHEN DO WE WANT TO
SIGN UP FOR THE VIGILANTE?
"WHEN DO YOU WANT TO STAND AT
THE OVERPASS ON TELEGRAPH ROAD
"AND WAIT FOR ALL THE BLACK
FOLKS TO COME OUT FROM THE CITY
AND RIOT IN OUR COMMUNITY?"
AND THERE WAS SO MUCH FEAR
THAT THAT WAS
GOING TO TAKE PLACE
THAT IT WAS GOING TO COME,
SO WE BETTER BE PREPARED FOR IT.
Cleage:
BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT WORRIED
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS TO
CONTROL OUR OWN COMMUNITY,
BUILD OUR OWN BLACK COMMUNITY
AND MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL.
SELF-DETERMINATION
AS A CONCEPT FOR BLACK PEOPLE
IS A PART OF THE REBELLION.
IT'S A BLACK REVOLUTION,
IT'S SWEEPING AMERICA,
AND SELF-DETERMINATION
IS THE EXPRESSION.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT,
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REBELLING FOR.
Man:
OPPRESSION DOESN'T
DESTROY PEOPLE.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF OPPRESSION
DESTROYS ANY PEOPLE.
Narrator:
TWO SOCIETIES...
SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL.
WHAT LAY AHEAD FOR AMERICA?
Aretha Franklin:
♪ YOU BETTER THINK... ♪
♪ THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE
TRYIN' TO DO TO ME ♪
♪ THINK, LET YOUR MIND GO,
LET YOURSELF BE FREE ♪
♪ LET'S GO BACK,
LET'S GO BACK ♪
♪ LET'S GO WAY ON,
WAY BACK WHEN ♪
♪ I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU ♪
♪ YOU COULDN'T HAVE BEEN
TOO MUCH MORE THAN TEN... ♪
♪ OH, FREEDOM ♪
♪ FREEDOM ♪
♪ OH, FREEDOM ♪
♪ YEAH, FREEDOM! ♪
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