Political Exclusion of Blacks from City Government during 1967 Newark Riots



Political Exclusion of Blacks from City Government during 1967 Newark Riots

It was a summer day much like any other when Newark police arrested cab driver John Smith for illegally passing a double-parked patrol car on the evening of July 12? 1967. When Smith? a black man? arrived at the fourth precinct headquarters badly beaten? word spread quickly among the predominately black residents of the neighboring public housing project.

Although police said Smith's injuries were the result of him resisting arrest? an angry crowd began congregating outside headquarters. Local civil rights leaders urged the crowd to remain calm? but the following day? as false rumors spread that Smith had died in police custody? the enraged mob began lobbing bottles and bricks at the precinct house.

While officers managed to disperse the crowd? as they receded from police headquarters some of the protesters began breaking into stores? and violence spread into the city's black neighborhoods. The New Jersey State Police were quickly mobilized to contain what was now being described as a riot. Within 48 hours National Guard troops would enter the city? a move that immediately intensified the level of violence? recalled attorney David M. Satz? who was the U.S. Attorney at the time. Overnight? Newark had become a war zone? where children could be killed while riding in the family car? and mothers could be shot sitting on the front steps of their home.

Ira Roberson? who was four at the time of the riots? lived in the center of the gun violence and property damage. Max A. Herman? an assistant professor at Rutgers University in Newark? spoke to Roberson? who remembered a bullet coming through the family's front window and his mother taking the children from the front bedroom to a more protected room in the middle of the house. Throughout the rioting? Roberson recalled? the children slept under the beds in that room to keep them safe from gunfire.

Just five days after Smith's arrest? 26 people lay dead. According to the state police? 725 people were injured. The Newark City Hospital director reported at the time that the number was closer to more than 1?000. According to Herman's research? close to 1?500 people were arrested.

Although it may seem strange that a single incident like the arrest and beating of John Smith could trigger so much violence? the Newark ...