Areas of Watts burn
Protestors attack a police car
Suppression of the riot
August 11th 1965: Watts rebellion begins
On this day in 1965, violence broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Racial tensions were high throughout the country as the Civil Rights Movement resulted in legislation outlawing racial discrimination. These changes prompted anger in white communities, and drew attention to issues in African-American communities like police brutality, high unemployment, substandard housing and schooling. Watts was a poor and predominately black area, and tensions came to a head when two white policemen arrested Marquette Frye, a black motorist, for drunk driving. A crowd gathered to witness the argument on the roadside, and anger rose as onlookers interpreted the arrest as racially motivated, especially when his family became involved and a scuffle broke out. The incident escalated into a full-scale rebellion, with robberies and violence taking over fifty square miles of Los Angeles. A curfew was enforced and 14,000 California National Guardsmen were called to assist local law enforcement, ultimately suppressing the riot by August 16th. In the five days of disorder, 34 people were killed and over 1,000 were injured, while $40 million worth of property was destroyed. Watts by no means marked the last incident of widespread racial violence at this time, with incidents in Detroit and Newark following, though Watts was the largest and costliest such riot. Sadly, the revolt did not improve conditions in Watts, and issues of poverty and discrimination still plague the community today.
50 years ago today
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