1968: The Fall of a Hero Leads to Chaos

While hatred of white people was fervent among blacks living in the ghetto, there were still some who believed that the integration of blacks into white society was still possible and that violent revolution was not the answer.  Martin Luther King, Jr., the strong iconic leader of racial equality, was one of those people.  To many, Martin Luther King was a beacon of hope.  As he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a crowd of over 250,000 people, both black and white, looked on (not counting the people across the nation who were watching the speech on live television).  Tragically, when the famed civil rights leader was assassinated on the 4^th of April in 1968, integration was the last thing on people’s minds.  The assassination of Dr. King outraged blacks, and further fueled their restlessness.  Of the 125 cities in which riots broke out, the most notable ones after Dr. King’s death were in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C.  In Baltimore alone, six people were killed, 700 people were injured, 4,500 people were arrested, and $13.5 million in property damages was reported.  Martin Luther King was just one of the many assassinations in the 60s, and the future was looking increasingly grim for the Civil Rights front and for the welfare of the American people in general. 

Martin Luther King Jr. shot on balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee 

http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/images/d/d9/Photo_mlk_AidesOnBalcony.jpg

Attman's Groceries being torched

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesdp09/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Kerosene-Fire-Burns-Lombard-Street.jpg

Epilogue: How It Happened and Why It Mattered

Looking back on the history of race riots, the dramatic shift from white rebelling against blacks to blacks rebelling against whites could not have happened without the turmoil of the 60s.  While African Americans were mobilizing to ensure racial equality, counter-culture was grabbing the attention of the nation’s youth, UC Berkeley students were fighting for free speech on campus, and the Vietnam War brought about anger and frustration in the American people.  The consensus society of the 1950s was breaking apart, and the social infrastructure that had been a part of the American life for generations was breaking apart drastically.  African Americans were promised civil rights by the Kennedy administration in 1960, but when the government failed to get rid of the blatant racism that existed throughout the country, African Americans decided to take the law into their own hands.  With the radical change that was reshaping America at the time, the 60s provided the perfect opportunity for blacks to turn the tides against whites and make an aggressive stance towards civil rights.

left: Trayvon Martin right: George Zimmerman

http://www.wagist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/trayvon_martingeorge_zimmerman2012-wide1.jpg

Although the climax of race riots is long since over, the influence of the race riots of the 1960s can still be seen today.  Now, the American public is more wary of racial equality issues, and condemns any attempts to treat people of different race unequally.  Specifically, the race riots of the 60s made people more wary of police brutality directed towards people of different race.  In recent events, the nation has been paying attention to the Martin vs. Zimmerman case, in which George Zimmerman, acting as a self-appointed community watchman, is accused of  unjustly shooting and killing Trayvon Martin, a seventeen year-old black teenager.  One reason why this case has been getting everyone’s attention is because Zimmerman might have identified the teenager as a threat solely on the fact that he is black.  This is probably the worst infraction any person can be accused of, since it immediately triggered an outcry from people of all ethnicities around America.  Mark Zimmerman has been painted a villain, and Americans everywhere have been mourning the untimely death of Trayvon Martin.  Ever since the chaos of the 1960s race riots, Americans have become more aware of how people of different race are treated, especially by police and local officials.