Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
Mobs Driven by Passion 3
The Psychology of Mobs 4
"The Cost of Neglect of the Last Twenty-Five Years" 5
1 When Court Decisions Trigger Violence 9
"A Little Rebellion Now and Then" 11
"Get a Rope! Lynch Her!" 13
School Buses Dynamited 16
The Rodney King Case 17
"The City Went Wild" 19
"We Are Sitting on a Powder Keg" 21
Operation Rescue 24
2 When Intolerance Leads to Violence 27
"Down with the Convent!" 28
The Convent Is Stormed 29
"A Base and Cowardly Act" 30
Persecuting the Chinese 32
Barring Chinese Immigration 34
"Murdered by a Mob" 36
"Hang the Jew!" 37
Wartime Hysteria 39
The Palmer Raid Riots 41
3 When Racial Prejudice Creates Violence 45
"They're Going to Hang Him!" 47
When Enslaved Blacks Rioted 48
The Klu Klux Klan 50
Race Riots in the North 51
Chicago Beaches-Blacks Keep Out! 52
Racial Hatred and Lynchings 54
The Zoot-Suit Riots 54
Detroit's "Bloody Week" 55
Lynching African American Veterans 57
The Freedom Riders Risk Their Lives 59
"Racism in the First Degree" 61
4 When Americans Fear Losing Their Jobs 65
"Fight Violence With Violence!" 67
Riots of the Great Depression 70
The Struggle to Organize Unions 73
The Company Guards Riot at Republic Steel 74
5 When Police Turn Violent 79
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" 81
Police Riots Against Colorado Miners 82
"The Whole World Is Watching!" 84
"A Police Riot" 87
6 When Taxes Become Oppressive 91
Sam Adams, Master Rabble-Rouser 93
"Boston Harbor a Teapot Tonight!" 95
The Whiskey Rebellion 97
Farmer Riots 99
7 When Americans Clash over War 105
"No Draft! No Draft!" 106
"As Hounds Would Chase a Fox" 109
Attacks against Protesters 111
"No Military on Campus!" 113
Universities Protest the Kent State Murders 114
"Get the Traitors!" 116
8 When Despair Breeds Violence 119
After the Civil War 120
Veterans March on Washington 123
The President Wants Them Out 125
President Hoover Orders the Army to Attack 127
The Army Drives the Veterans Out 130
The Newark Six-Day Riot 133
Detroit: "It Looked Like the City Had Been Bombed" 134
"Why Is There a Violence of Despair?" 135
"Were We Becoming Conditioned to Violence?" 136
Student Riots 139
The Weathermen: "Days of Rage" 141
9 Other Causes of Riots 145
Two Thousand Lynchings 146
Mobs in the White House 146
Rumors and Mobs 147
"Martian Invaders" 148
Rock Concerts and Mob Violence 150
Sports Events and Mob Violence 151
Mob Violence and the Movies 153
Election Riots 154
10 What Does Mob Violence Accomplish? 157
Scapegoats 158
When Promises to Groups Are Broken 160
About the Author 163
Bibliography and Recommended Reading 165
Index 171
