The Washington DC riots were part of a much bigger movement that struck the nation during the 1960’s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredibly brave man that on April 4th, 1968 was shot by his hotel room. In this moment, the face of the civil rights movement was gone from this earth, and sparked an outrage amongst the citizens of the United States. In Washington DC, when the radio announced the death of Dr. King, by 8:15 that evening, crowds in DC were becoming unrestful. The assassination of a great leader caused an outrage. People started to smash in windows, loot stores, and began to set cars on fire. For 12 days this occured, and 13 deaths and $24 million in insured property damage later, the city of Washington DC was destructed and altered its history for decades after (Shaffer, 2003).
But it wasn’t just those 12 days that affected the people living in DC, for 35 years after the riots, the neighborhoods that were destructed were still affected by what happened. It was no longer about just a reaction to the death of Dr. King, but a much broader sense of unrest that affected political tensions, social economic repression, and civil rights for African Americans (Schaffer, 2003). But it wasn’t just African Americans affected, the Hispanic population was affected too by these injustices. 7% of DC is hispanic, and yet all of the injustices that they endured were also behind the riots, and behind the civil rights movement (Apple 1991).
This issue of race expanded even further from segregation. At that time, although African Americans made up 10% more of the population in DC, and 10,800 residents had incomes greater than $10,000 (at the time, that was a substantial income) the authorities believed that African American middle class was too complacent to aggressively work toward civil rights progress’. However, those statistics did not add up. In 1960, the median income for white families was $7,692, while blacks income was $4,800. This not only brought a huge economic gap, but made it harder for African Americans to get loans. Not only that, at the time Washington DC was 55% African American, yet was forced into 44% of the cities housing due to feelings of ‘being constrained by racial attitudes’ (Shaffer, 2003).
It is clear that the riots were not just about the death of Dr. King. Much of what Dr. King stood for, as affecting thousands of people in DC and all around the country. He was the face of a movement of removing injustice from the lives of Americans. Not just African Americans, but Hispanics and other citizens that were not just Caucasian. These riots had a much deeper rooted history, and were the events to a build up that was affecting the lives of Washington DC residents.
Unfortunately, it took 30 years to rebuild DC after the riots. With looting, arson, and a segregated population that did not feel as if it was welcome in other parts of the area. Along with that, but the white population tended to move out to the suburbs deeming DC ‘unsafe’, not realizing that the riots were just a symptom of the unrest that was being taken out on the infrastructure of the city (Shaffer, 2003).
Now, The riots are still present in the city, with buildings still boarded up in these neighborhoods. However, the 1990’s was a time for rebirth. Much of Washington DC’s infrastructure changed, upgrading to more housing availability and bridged the gap that was what caused the riots in the first place (Shaffer 2003). It should not be forgotten though, what happened during that day that the news of Dr. King’s death reached the city of Washington D.C. The riots were just a symptom of the underlying distress of the community of DC felt. It is important to understand that justice should be a priority for Americans, and not feela s though they are repressed by any entity, such as the American government, or citizens living in this country. A person is a person, no matter what their socioeconomic status, race, and many of the other injustices face by African Americans at that time.
Apple, R. W. Jr (1991) Special to The New York Times. “In Clashes, a Hispanic Agenda Enters.” New York Times (1923-Current File)ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2010).
Schaffer, D. L. (2003). The 1968 Washington Riots in History and Memory. Washington History, 15(2), 4–33. doi:10.2307/40073603