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Detroit Race Riot Essay

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The Impact of the Detroit Race Riot on Society Just imagine you are in the streets of Detroit in 1967. There are fires blazing all around you, people are being shot ruthlessly and police are using heavy force to stop the rioters. That is how the people of Detroit felt during one of the most deadly events in Detroit history. Some people even thought it was the start of a second revolution, This is a quote from Jeffrey Eugenides. “ In Detroit, in July of 1967,what happened was no less than a guerrilla uprising. The second American Revolution.(Jeffrey Eugenides). The race riot of Detroit spread awareness about racism through the country to help put an end to it. It all started the previous night, with a moment of mayhem during a party in a bar.The …show more content…

There were even reports of people being shot and injured by the sniper fire. Most of these deaths by snipers were police men. By dawn of the next day rioters lit fires across the city. Many firefighters were called to the scenes of the fires. But once they made it to the scene they were pelted by rocks and glass bottles. The firefighters were forced to leave the scene and let the fires blaze across the city. As the fires kept burning the city to ashes, the winds started to pick up. The wind recorded that day was as high as 25 mph. The fires swept across the city of Detroit burning anything that stood in its way. As the firefighters kept trying to come back to stop the fires they were viciously attacked by rioters. But it wasn 't only the firefighters that were having struggles. Police had the task of retaining the rioters from other parts of the city. They also dealt with the brunt of the violence. Police were being pegged with stones, bottles and were even being stabbed and shot by some rioters. Police had reported many casualties from the deadly event on 12th street. At 2:00 a.m 800 state officers, and 8,000 National Guardsmen were ordered into Detroit. They were later accompanied by 4,700 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division (blackpast). With the arrival of this many troops, and police officers, the violence and sniper fire ended on Thursday, July 27th. The mayor lifted the curfew on August

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