Note:
Gunnar Myrdal died in 1987, less than 70 years ago.
Therefore, this work is protected by copyright,
restricting your legal rights to reproduce it.
However, you are welcome to view it on screen, as you do now.
Read more about copyright.
Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - VI. Justice - 27. Violence and Intimidation - 5. Riots
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
5^8 An American Dilemma
incidents where Negro soldiers have clashed with Southern police and
civilians with some fatalities on both sides.® In spring, 1942, there was a
clash in the North: in trying to move into a government defense housing
project built for them in Detroit, Negroes were set upon by white civilians
and police. The project was built at the border between Negro and white
neighborhoods but had been planned for Negroes. Encouraged by the
vacillation of the federal government and the friendliness of the Detroit
police (many of whom are Southern-born) and stimulated by the backing
of a United States congressman and such organizations as the Ku Klux
Klan, white residents of the neighborhood and other parts of the city staged
protest demonstrations against the Negro housing project, which led to the
riot. Whether these incidents presage another period of post-war riots, it
is too early to say. On the whole, it does not seem likely that there will
be further riots, of any significant degree of violence, in the North. Detroit
is almost unique among Northern cities for its large Southern-born popula-
tion and for its Ku Klux Klan. The main cause of riots in the North during
the period after 1917 was the unusually large migration to the North and
the consequent displacement of some whites by Negroes in jobs and resi-
dences. So far, the present war boom has seen no unusual northward migra-
tion of Negroes and relatively little displacement in jobs. A further reason
why there probably will be no riots in the North after this War is that there
is developing a new consciousness of the American Creed and of its signifi-
cance for Negroes.
What may occur in the North, rather than the two-way conflicts which
we are calling riots, are some sporadic and unorganized outbreaks on the
part of the Negroes with little opposition from the whites. Such was the
character of the so-called ^‘Harlem Riot” of 1935 in New York City. If
these occur, they will be due to continuing discrimination from the whites
and to growing realization by Negroes that peaceful requests for their
rights are not getting them anywhere. Whether or not these outbreaks
will occur in the North will depend on whether or not the trend continues
toward increased willingness to stand by the precepts of the American
Creed.
While the future looks fairly peaceful in the North, there are many signs
of growing race tension in the South. It seems almost probable that, unless
drastic action is taken, severe race riots will break out in the South. We shall
give some attention to this situation in the final chapter of this book.
The causation of riots would seem to be much like that of lynching.
There is a background of mounting tension, caused by economic insecurity
• From the time of the inception of the draft in the fall of 1940 until April, 1942, there
were three such clashes serious enough to get nation-wide publicity. These occurred in Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, Gordon, Arkansas, and Alexandria, Louisiana. In addition, there was
a clash betwren Southern white soldiers and Negro soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
