The term
Watts Riots of 1965 refers to a large-scale
race riotA race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.- United States :The term had entered...
which lasted 6 days in the
WattsWatts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles, California .-History:The area now known as Watts began its modern history, after the arrival of Spanish-Mexican settlers, as part of the Rancho La Tajuata, which received its land grant in 1820...
neighborhood of
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
, in August 1965. By the time the riot subsided, 34 people had been killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested. It would stand as the worst riot in Los Angeles history until the Los Angeles riots of 1992.
The riots began on August 11, 1965, in Watts, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, when Lee Minikus, a
California Highway PatrolThe California Highway Patrol is an agency of the U.S. State of California with patrol jurisdiction over all California highways. The CHP also acts as the state police....
motorcycle officer, pulled over Marquette Frye, who Minikus believed was intoxicated because of his observed erratic driving.
The term
Watts Riots of 1965 refers to a large-scale
race riotA race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.- United States :The term had entered...
which lasted 6 days in the
WattsWatts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles, California .-History:The area now known as Watts began its modern history, after the arrival of Spanish-Mexican settlers, as part of the Rancho La Tajuata, which received its land grant in 1820...
neighborhood of
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
, in August 1965. By the time the riot subsided, 34 people had been killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested. It would stand as the worst riot in Los Angeles history until the Los Angeles riots of 1992.
Background
The riots began on August 11, 1965, in Watts, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, when Lee Minikus, a
California Highway PatrolThe California Highway Patrol is an agency of the U.S. State of California with patrol jurisdiction over all California highways. The CHP also acts as the state police....
motorcycle officer, pulled over Marquette Frye, who Minikus believed was intoxicated because of his observed erratic driving. Frye failed to pass sobriety tests, including walking in a straight line and touching his nose, and was arrested soon after. Minikus refused to let Frye's brother, Ronald, drive the car home, and radioed for it to be impounded. As events escalated, a crowd of onlookers steadily grew from dozens to hundreds. The mob became violent, throwing rocks and other objects while shouting at the police officers. A struggle ensued shortly resulting in the arrest of Marquette and Ronald Frye, as well as their mother.
Though the riots began in August, there had previously been a buildup of racial tension in the area. The riots that began on August 11 resulted from an amalgamation of such events in Watts, and the arrest of three Frye family members broke the tension as violence spilled onto the streets of Watts for six days.
After the news and emerging rumors spread from the angry mob to other residents, aggressive acts of violence broke out across the city, making Watts a serious danger zone. Watts suffered from various forms and degrees of damage from the looting, fighting, and vandalism that seriously threatened the security of the city. Some participants chose to intensify the level of violence by starting physical fights with police, blocking the firemen of the
Los Angeles Fire DepartmentThe Los Angeles Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles....
from their safety duties, or even beating white motorists. Others joined the riot by breaking into stores, stealing whatever they could, and some setting the stores themselves on fire. The majority of the residents simply wandered the streets choosing to encourage the active rioters and give the police a difficult time rather than getting directly involved. A few did not join in the violence at all, but simply chose to continue their daily routine while observing the chaos. LAPD Police Chief William Parker also fueled the radicalized tension that already threatened to combust, by publicly labeling the people he saw involved in the riots as "monkeys in the zoo". Overall, an estimated $40 million in damage was caused as almost 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Most of the physical damage was confined to white-owned businesses that were said to have caused resentment in the neighborhood due to perceived unfairness. Homes were not attacked, although some caught fire due to proximity to other fires.
Wednesday, August 11
- A white California highway patrolman, Lee Minikus, arrested Marquette Frye at around 7 p.m. after Frye failed his sobriety tests.
- By 7:23 all three Fryes—Marquette, his brother Ronald, and their mother—had been arrested as a crowd of a couple hundred gathered around the scene.
- The police withdrew by 7:40, leaving behind an angered, tense crowd.
- For the last 4 hours of the night, the mob stoned cars and threatened police in the area.
Thursday, August 12
- Black leaders such as preachers, teachers, and businessmen tried to restore order in the community after a night of rampage, telling people to stay indoors.
- Around 10 a.m. community workers and officers called residents in the area, telling them to remain in their houses.
- At 2 p.m. a community meeting was held, at which members representing different neighborhood groups, discussed solutions to the problem at hand – the meeting failed.
- At 5 p.m. the Police Chief, William Parker, after learning the meeting had failed, called the California National Guard in Sacramento to let them know he may need the guard to come in and help to control the situation.
Friday, August 13
- At 8 a.m. rioting grew in the business district and Parker called in the guard due to the governor's absence.
- At 5 p.m. the lieutenant governor signed a proclamation officially calling the guard.
- First death during the riots occurred between 6 and 7 p.m. that evening. The violence escalated and police began to shoot at rioters.
- National Guard troops were deployed at 10 p.m.
- Rioters yelled "Beat drums, not heads!".
Saturday, August 14
- By 1 a.m. there were around 100 fire brigades in the areas, trying to put out fires started by rioters.
- Over 3,000 national guardsmen had joined the police by this time in trying to maintain order on the streets.
- By midnight there were around 13,900 guardsmen in the area.
- A curfew was set at 8 p.m. to keep people inside their houses – allowing the government officials to gain more control of the situation.
Sunday, August 15
- The riots died down, leaving around $40 million in property damage.
- Churches, community groups, and government agencies gave out aid.
- The vandalism ceased and the curfew was lifted by Tuesday, August 17
- By the following Sunday, a week later, less than 300 national guardsmen remained to help out with the aftermath.
| Businesses & Private Buildings |
Public Buildings |
Total |
| Damaged/burned: 257 |
Damaged/burned: 14 |
|
| Looted: 192 |
|
|
| Both damaged/burned & looted: 288 |
|
|
| Destroyed: 267 |
Destroyed: 1 |
Total: 977 |
Government intervention
Eventually, the California
National GuardThe National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States...
was called to active duty to assist in controlling the rioting. On Friday night, a battalion of the 160th Infantry and the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron of the 18th Armored Cavalry were sent into the riot area (about 2,000 men). Two days later, the remainder of the 40th Armored Division was sent into the riot zone. A day after that, units from northern California arrived (a total of around 15,000 troops). These National Guardsmen put a cordon around a vast region of South Central Los Angeles, and for all intents and purposes the rioting was over by Sunday. Due to the seriousness of the riots, martial law had been declared. The initial commander of National Guard troops was Colonel Bud Taylor, then a motorcycle patrolman with the Los Angeles Police Department, who in effect became superior to Chief of Police Parker. National Guard units from Northern California were also called in, including Major General Clarence H. Pease, former commanding general of the National Guard's
49th Infantry DivisionThe 49th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army formed from the 52nd Infantry Division.The 52nd Infantry Division was activated on 15 August 1946, and was allocated to the State of California as a National Guard division during the post World War II demobilization. The division was...
.
Watts: then and now
Since this area was known to be under much racial and social tension, debates have surfaced over what really happened in Watts. Reactions and reasoning about the Watts incident greatly vary because those affected by and participated in the chaos that followed the original arrest were from a diverse crowd. The government tried to help by releasing The McCone Report, claiming that it was a detailed study of the riot, but it turned out to be a short summary with just 15 pages of the report devoted to actually describing the whole event. More opinions and explanations then appeared as other sources attempted to explain the causes as well. Public opinion polls have showed that around the same percentage of people believed that the riots were linked to Communist groups as those that blame social problems like unemployment and prejudice as the cause. Those opinions concerning racism and discrimination emerged only three years after hearings conducted by a committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights took place in Los Angeles to assess the condition of relations between the police force and minorities. The purpose of these hearings was also to make a ruling on the discrimination case against the police for their mistreatment of Black Muslims. These different arguments and opinions still continue to promote these debates over the underlying cause of Watts Riots. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke two days after the riots happened in Watts.
A California gubernatorial commission investigated the riots, identifying the causes as high
unemploymentUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed...
, poor schools, and other inferior living conditions. Subsequently, the government made little effort to address the problems or repair damages. The riots were also a response to Proposition 14, a constitutional amendment sponsored by the California Real Estate Association that had in effect repealed the Rumford Fair Housing Act. Today, Watts still faces problems of poverty, crime, and poor education.
Cultural references
- The film There Goes My Baby
There Goes My Baby was directed by Stephen Fisher & Floyd Mutrux, and starred Dermot Mulroney, Rick Schroder, Noah Wyle, Lucy Deakins & Kelli Williams. It is also known under the name The Last Days of Paradise....
features the riots.
- The Easy Rawlins detective story Little Scarlet
Little Scarlet is a variety of the Fragaria virginiana strawberry. It is American by origin but is grown only in Britain.This tiny berry is approximately one fifth the size of a strawberry of today, similar in appearance to the Alpine or Wood strawberry...
by Walter MosleyWalter Ellis Mosley is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private investigator and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood...
takes place in Watts during the riots
- Singer-songwriter Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was a U.S. protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
composed in "In the Heat of the Summer" about the riots, shortly after they took place. The song was most famously covered by Judy CollinsJudith Marjorie Collins is an American folk and standards singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism.-Musical career:As a child Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13,...
, who included it on her Fifth AlbumFifth Album was an album by Judy Collins, released in 1965. It peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.It featured a collection of traditional ballads and singer-songwriter material from Bob Dylan, Richard Fariña, Phil Ochs and Malvina Reynolds...
in late 1965.
- The novel The New Centurions
The New Centurions, written by Joseph Wambaugh, is a novel depicting the stresses of police work in Los Angeles, California in the early 1960s. The author wrote the novel, his first, while a working member of the Los Angeles Police Department. The novel became a film starring George C...
, by Joseph WambaughJoseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States.-Early life:...
, not only culminates in the Watts Riot but examines the negative impact of racist police in minority communities in the years preceding it.
- In the film Dark Blue (set during the Rodney King Riots), Detective Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American actor. He started acting as a child in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has continued appearing in a wide variety of films since, including Follow Me, Boys!, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Barefoot Executive, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China,...
) talks about being a teenager during the Watts Riots. He talks of being with his father (an L.A. Police Officer) and shooting several African Americans who were looting a WoolworthThe F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded, with a loan of $300, in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth...
's store with his Daddy's hunting rifle before the burning Woolworths collapsed on the remaining looters.
- Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album...
wrote a lyrical commentary inspired by the Watts Riots, entitled "Trouble Every Day"Trouble Every Day" is a song by The Mothers of Invention, released on their 1966 debut album Freak Out!.Frank Zappa wrote the song in 1965 at 1819 Bellevue Avenue, Echo Park, Los Angeles after watching news coverage of the Watts Riots...
", containing such lines as "Wednesday I watched the riot / Seen the cops out on the street / Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff /And chokin' in the heat". The song was originally released on his debut album Freak Out!Freak Out! is the debut album by American experimental rock band The Mothers of Invention, released June 27, 1966 on Verve Records. Though often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, the real unifying theme of the album is not musical, but a satirical attitude based on frontman Frank...
(with the original Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of Invention was an American band active from 1964 to 1975. They mainly performed works by and were the original recording group of composer and guitarist Frank Zappa, although other members have an occasional writing credit.- History :...
), and later slightly rewritten as "More Trouble Every Day", available on Roxy and Elsewhere and The Best Band You Never Heard In Your LifeThe Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, released in 1991 . The album was one of three to be recorded during the 1988 world tour, along with Broadway the Hard Way and Make a Jazz Noise Here...
, among other albums.
- The title article in Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr. , known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
's collection of essays, The Pump House GangThe Pump House Gang is a 1968 collection of essays and journalism by Tom Wolfe. The stories in the book explored various aspects of the counterculture of the 1960s...
, is about a group of surfers from Windansea BeachWindansea Beach encompasses a historic stretch of scenic coastline located in La Jolla, a community in San Diego, California. It is named after an oceanfront hotel that burned down in the late 1940s. Geographically, it is defined by the beachfront extending north of Palomar Avenue and south of...
in La Jolla, California who "attended the Watts riots as if it were the Rose Bowl game in PasadenaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States; and is a satellite city of Los Angeles. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the...
." (See http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0553380613&view=excerpt for an excerpt.)
- In the U.S. television series, Quantum Leap, an episode called "Black and White on Fire" features Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula
Scott Stewart Bakula is an American actor. His most prominent roles have been as Sam Beckett in the science fiction television series Quantum Leap, and as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise. He also co-starred with Maria Bello in the short-lived CBS television series Mr. & Mrs...
) put into the body of a black medical student who is in love with the white daughter of a police captain. This episode begins on the eve of the Watts riots.
- The rallying cry of "burn, baby, burn" came from KGFJ
KYPA is a Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting.The format includes various shows that serve the largest Korean population in the United States. They include talk shows, newscasts, variety shows, and popular music.Many years ago, this...
radio personality Magnificent MontagueNathaniel "Magnificent" Montague , is an American R&B disc jockey notable not only for the soul music records he helped promote on KGFJ Los Angeles and WWRL New York City, but whose trademark catch-phrase, "Burn, baby! Burn!" became the rallying cry of the 1965 Watts riots.Semi-retired by the...
. Montague was not directly responsible; he was fond of yelling "Burn!" when he played a record that particularly interested him and his listeners followed suit when they called him on the air.
- "BURNBABY" is the master ignition routine in the Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
's guidance software, named in an allusion to contemporary civil unrest. (See Tales From The Lunar Module Guidance Computer and Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: Program Alarms)
- "Burn, Baby, Burn" is also the title of an episode of the television series Dark Skies
Dark Skies is a government UFO conspiracy theory-based sci-fi drama television series from America which aired during the 1996-1997 season for 18 episodes, plus a two-hour pilot episode...
, which takes place in the midst of the Watts riots.
- A fictitious version of the Watts riots is depicted in the NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
miniseries The '60s.
- The 1990 film Heat Wave depicts the Watts Riots from the perspective of journalist Bob Richardson
Bob Richardson may refer to:*Bob Richardson *Bob Richardson *Robert W. Richardson , editor of Narrow Gauge News-See also:*Robert Richardson...
as a resident of Watts and a reporter of the riots for the LA Times.
- The 1993 movie Menace II Society
Menace II Society is a 1993 hood film and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. The film gained notoriety for its frequent scenes of violence, profanity and drug content...
directed by Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes and starring Tyrin TurnerTyrin Turner is an American actor who has appeared in movies since 1989. Turner is best known for playing the main character, Caine "Kaydee" Lawson, in the 1993 film Menace II Society. He also has made guest appearances on television shows such as Chicago Hope and Hangin' with Mr...
, Larenz TateLarenz Tate is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, the son of Peggy and Larry Tate. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old...
, Jada Pinkett SmithJada Koren Pinkett-Smith is an American actress, producer, director, model, author, singer-songwriter and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. Her success began to build when she starred in A Different World, produced...
and Samuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor. After Jackson became involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then, films. He had several small roles, before meeting his mentor, Morgan Freeman, and the director Spike Lee...
, shows footage and images of WattsWatts is a residential district in southern Los Angeles, California .-History:The area now known as Watts began its modern history, after the arrival of Spanish-Mexican settlers, as part of the Rancho La Tajuata, which received its land grant in 1820...
, Los Angeles in 1965 at the height of the infamous riots in the beginning of the film as a precursor to the slowly emerging drug and gang culture in Los Angeles.
- Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air says he was at the Watts Riots.
- In the first chapter of the novel Blood on the Moon
Blood on the Moon is a crime novel by James Ellroy. It is the first installment of the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy. It was followed by Because the Night and Suicide Hill...
by James EllroyJames Ellroy is an American crime writer and essayist.Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style of his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences. For instance: They sent him to Dallas to kill a nigger pimp named...
, Lloyd Hopkins, the main character, participates in the pacification of the Watts neighbourhood as a member of the National GuardThe National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States...
. He later becomes an L.A.P.D. officer.
- The riot is mentioned in the film American History X
American History X is a 1998 American film directed by Tony Kaye. The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard of Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California...
in which the Nazi skinhead main character Derek Vinyard argues with his mother and her date about how racial tensions build into riots.
- The riot may have been the inspiration for the song "Down Rodeo
"Down Rodeo" was a promotional single by Rage Against the Machine sent out to various American radio stations. The song was to be the third single taken from their Evil Empire album, although a domestic single and video was never released...
" by L.A. band Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine , is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1991...
.
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes , directed by J. Lee Thompson, is the fourth film of the Planet of the Apes series. It explores mankind's future history, as established in Escape from the Planet of the Apes , and is the most violent sequel in the series...
, the 4th film in the Planet of the ApesPlanet of the Apes is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner loosely based on the novel La planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston and features Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, veteran Shakespearean actor Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and...
film series, reputedly drew inspiration from the Watts Riots.
- California punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band American SteelAmerican Steel is an American punk rock band formed in 1995 in Oakland, California. When offered their first show, the group took their name from the block-long sign on the warehouse across the street...
, in their song "Loaded Gun", reference the riots in the line "I didn't see Watts burn, but I felt the embers."
- The song "One More Time" by The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk rock. Along with punk, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly...
from the album Sandinista!This article is about the punk album. For information about the political organisation see, Sandinista National Liberation Front.Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the punk rock band The Clash. It was released in 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side...
contains the verse "You don't need no silicone to calculate poverty/ watch when Watts Town burns again, the bus goes to Montgomery."
- The band My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult is an American electronic industrial band originally based out of Chicago, Illinois.-History:Thrill Kill Kult's name originated with Frankie Nardiello, who was touring with Ministry in 1986 as a lighting technician...
has a song titled "Rivers of blood, years of darkness," which may or may not have relation to the book of the same title written by Robert Conot. (The book relates to the riots and is listed below in further reading)
- On the television series Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son was an American sitcom that premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons. The final original episode aired on March 25, 1977. The show was based on the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son....
, set in Watts, Lamont is presented a toaster from his uncle Edgar. Edgar claimed he bought the toaster as a gift, but Fred Sanford said "You know good and well you didn't buy that toaster. That's something you had left from the riots."
- There is an album by Don Adams recorded in 1969 which was not released until 2007 by sonorama records called "Watts Happening"
- Referenced in the poem Speak White
Speak White is a French language poem composed by Québécois writer Michèle Lalonde in 1968. It was first recited in 1970 and was published in 1974 by Editions de l'Hexagone, Montreal. It denounced the poor situation of French-speakers in Quebec and takes the tone of a collective complaint against...
composed by Québécois writer Michèle Lalonde in 1968
- Tom Russell
Thomas George "Tom" Russell is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Texas Country music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, Tex-Mex, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including...
's song "That's What Work Is" mentions the 1965 Riots.
See also
- 1992 Los Angeles riots
The Los Angeles Riots of 1992, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of African-American motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of...
- Watts Prophets
- Wattstax
Wattstax is a 1973 documentary film by Mel Stuart that focused on the 1972 Wattstax music festival and the African American community of Watts in Los Angeles, California. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary Film in 1974...
- Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is a Black American who, on March 3, 1991, was the victim of police brutality, committed by Los Angeles police officers. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the incident from a distance.The footage showed LAPD officers repeatedly striking King with their batons...
- Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that erupted in Los Angeles, California during World War II, between white sailors and Marines stationed throughout the city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored. While Mexican Americans were the primary targets of...
- Urban riots
Riots often occur in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Riots may be the outcome of a sporting event, although many riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, conflicts between races or religions....
Further reading
- Cohen, Jerry and William S. Murphy, Burn, Baby, Burn! The Los Angeles Race Riot, August 1965, New York: Dutton, 1966.
- Conot, Robert, Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness, New York: Bantam, 1967.
- Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, hypergraphist and founding member of the groups Lettrist International and Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris...
, Decline and Fall of the Spectacle-Commodity Economy, 1965. A situationist interpretation of the riots
- Horne, Gerald, Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1995.
- Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist based in New York City and noted for his dense and complex works of fiction. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University...
, "A Journey into the Mind of Watts", 1966. full text
- Violence in the City—An End or a Beginning?, A Report by the Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots, 1965, John McCone
John Alexander McCone was an American businessman and politician who served as Director of Central Intelligence during the height of the Cold War....
, Chairman, Warren M. Christopher, Vice Chairman. Official Report online\
- David O' Sears The politics of violence: The new urban Blacks and the Watts riot
- Clayton D. Clingan Watts Riots
- Paul Bullock Watts: The Aftermath New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1969
- Johny Otis Listen to the Lambs. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.. 1968
External links
- http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/la/watts.html
- http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/cityinstress/
- http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/times/times_watts.html
- http://www.lasell.edu/images/userImages/fweil/Page_495/watts_riot.pdf
- http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/cityinstress/mccone/