SPORTS DRIVE
How the
1968 Detroit Tigers Helped Heal a City By Chris Edwards | Photo courtesy Chris Edwards
The events that led to the Detroit riots began routinely: at 3:30 am on July 23, 1967, Detroit’s 10th precinct police raided a private club hosting a party for two Vietnam War GIs returning home. The Blind Pig—an unlicensed place to get a drink after the bars closed—was above the Economy Printing Co. at 9125 12th Street (renamed Rosa Parks Boulevard) near Grand River. It was a typical hot, steamy Motor City July night. More than 200 onlookers gathered to witness the raid and arrest of 82 patrons; business as usual, as far as Detroit cops were concerned. The crowd became agitated as rumours swirled that police had used excessive force during the bust. Despite the late hour, word spread like wildfire throughout the neighbourhood, and someone hurled a bottle at a cop. The horde swelled as the danger 50
level escalated. People began smashing shop windows and tossing Molotov cocktails, snatching loot, furniture, TVs, clothing, and food—in the blink of an eye, the entire district was ablaze.
as many were on vacation.
The situation on 12th Street was out of control, yet authorities did not immediately dispatch reinforcements—the plan was to “contain” the troubles by cordoning off the neighbourhood. Notably, there were only 200 Detroit patrolmen on duty that evening,
Contrary to perception, both blacks and whites participated in looting, vandalism, mayhem, and anarchy.
A small police squad attempted to quell the situation, based on presumed lessons from previous disturbances, by persuading local media to impose a temporary news Hostilities had been building for some blackout. But as looting and shooting time. In the spring and summer of 1966, escalated, the National Guard and eventually numerous incidents of looting, shooting, and United States Army Troops were deployed. burning swept across American cities. In the The “troubles” soon encompassed more Motor City, tensions had been simmering than 14 square miles within the city. Unlike between police and African-American earlier outbreaks, the ’67 riots were indisDetroiters for years, with police being criminate: mobs torched and plundered accused of regularly ‘overreacting’ to minor black businesses as freely as they did white incidents. ones, burning down numerous black homes.
Half of those arrested had never been charged with a crime. Three Patricia percentBurkow of those incarcerated went to trial; half of those were
