Violence in the Model City: The Cavanagh Administration, Race Relations, and the Detroit Riot of 1967

by Sidney Fine

Overview

On July 23, 1967, the Detroit police raided a blind pig (after-hours drinking establishment), touching off the most destructive urban riot of the 1960s. It took the U.S. Army, the Michigan National Guard, the Michigan State Police, and the Detroit police department—17,000 men—more than a week to restore order. When all was done, the riot had claimed 43 lives (mostly Black) and resulted in nearly 700 injuries. Over 7,000 individuals were arrested, with property damage estimates over $75 million. Yet, Detroit had been lauded nationally as a "model city" in the governance of a large industrial metropolis. On the 40th anniversary of this nation-changing event, we are pleased to reissue Sidney Fine's seminal work—a detailed study of what happened, why, and with what consequences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870138157
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	07/30/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	648
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Sidney Fine is Emeritus Professor of History at University of Michigan. He has received three honorary degrees; was named the state's Professor of the Year in 1986 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education; was named an International Man of the Year for 2000-01 by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England; and eight of his books have won awards.

Table of Contents

"Phooie on Louie"     1
The Model City     17
The "Divided City"     39
Detroit's War on Poverty     71
"The Single Most Important Problem": Police-Community Relations     95
"The Riot That Didn't Happen"     127
"A Little Trouble on Twelfth Street": July 23, 1967     155
"They Have Lost All Control in Detroit": July 24, 1967     193
"Law and Order Have Been Restored to Detroit": July 25-August 2, 1967     219
Rioters and Judges     249
"A Night of Horror and Murder"     271
"The Worst Civil Disorder"     291
"A Rough Community Division of Labor"     303
Rioters, Counterrioters, and the Noninvolved     325
The Meaning of Violence     351
The Polarized Community     369
The Law Enforcement Response     387
The Ameliorative Response     425
"God Help Our City"     453
Abbreviations     465
Notes     467
Bibliography     607
Index     623