Lesson 21: Urband riots and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Flashcards
What was the situation in Northern ghettos?
- 1/100 flats had hot water
- only 32% of ghetto children finished high school vs 56% of white
- despite blacks only making up 10% of the population, they counted for 46% of the unemployed in the early 1960s
- ghetto in Chicago had 50-70% of black youth unemployment
What were the two most notible riots?
Watts Riot 1965
Chicago 1965-66
What happened in th Watts riots in 1965?
Black mobs set fire to several white owned businesses
34 died
1000 injured
3500 arrested
$40 million damage
Why did black americans start the riot in Watts?
Felt that King’s non violent approach was ineffective and that the 1964 civil rights act had no change to the ghettos
Why did King decide to campaign in Chicago? (North)
- 700,000 blacks were living in Chicago
-Chicago’s black classrooms were so overcrowded that students attended in 1/2 day shifts - Mayor Daley wasn’t a racist therefore king would not face resistance
What did King do in Chicago?
Led news reporters around rat-infested, cold, ghetto housing
King and the SCLC began reparing a slum building
Held a march in July 1966
How many turned up to Kings march?
Only 30,000
What happened in Chicago that caused unrest?
The police shut off the water spouting from a fire hydrant that black youths were using to cool themselves in the 38 degree heat.
Black youths protested and were arrested
What happened when 500 CORE marchers joined Kings SCLC in Chicago to march through a white working class area?
Rocks, bottles and racist abuse was thrown at them. The police did not protect the black marchers
What did the ‘Chicago Tribune’ newspaper call King?
“Paid professional agitator”
What suggests that King had turned defeatist on his visit to Tennessee in 1968?
Black power members got violent during a protest and King said
“mabye we have to just give up and let violence take its course. The nation won’t listen to our voice.”
Who shot King and when?
James Earl Ray
In the Tennessee protest 1968
What did President Johnson do following King’s assassination?
Called for a day of national mourning
What did Congress do in tribute to King?
They introduced the Fair Housing Act 1968 which banned discrimination in housing sales and rentals
