The Detroit Race Riots of 1967 left a deep impact on the hearts and minds of many people. The chaos that ensued on that horrific summer weekend is one that those who were there will never forget, and the city of Detroit will never be able to erase from its history books.
The riots began when police raided an after-hours bar on 12th Street called \”Blind Pig\”. This led to violence and looting in Detroit\’s African American neighborhoods. Over the next few days, 43 people were killed, 1,189 injured, and over 7,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged by arson.
Although this tragic event occurred over 50 years ago, it is still talked about today because many believe it helped spark racial tensions within America, leading up to today\’s modern-day civil rights movement.
Detroit 1967 Riots: Their Stories
There are some people who were present during the Detroit 1967 riots who have stories worth telling. We hope that their accounts will educate others about the history and importance of what took place 50 years ago.
William WeeGee Howard
My husband, the late William WeeGee Howard, would often talk about the stories of what happened during the Detroit 1967 riot. He was around 17 years of age at that time. He talked about how this affected him, the city of Detroit, and also his family as a whole. It was a difficult and changing moment for him. Here is what he would often say:
When I think about the summer of 1967 in Detroit, the first thing that comes to mind is how hot it was.
It was so hot! It was so hot that people couldn\’t even stand outside. People were staying indoors; they were playing board games and cards inside their houses, even though they had air conditioning. The only ways to cool off were to go swimming or go to the river. But mostly, everyone just stayed inside and tried not to move too much.
The city was segregated, much like many cities and communities across America. A lot of people were poor and lived in bad neighborhoods. The city had a high crime rate, and police brutality wasn\’t uncommon. Back then, white people lived mostly on the west side of Detroit, although there were areas where you would find some black people and mixed immigrants.
On July 23rd, around 3:45 p.m., there was a police raid on an unlicensed bar, commonly known as a \”blind pig,\” on 12th street, which resulted in the killing of three black teenagers. There was a lot of violence that night between the police officers raiding the basement and patrons refusing to leave the illegal establishment.
The next day, I watched tanks and artillery roll past my house and troops walk along the sidewalk as I stood on my front porch. My dad asked me to come into the house when they started marching because all the people on the march were white. That fall semester, I would be attending Kettering High School, where their staging area was located. The Van Dyke Store, Robert Hall, and another furniture store, I think it was Van Dyke Furniture, and some other stores on Harper were looted.
Downtown Detroit was changed a lot by the investments that went into it, especially when the Renaissance Center was built, but the neighborhoods didn\’t change much. Each neighborhood has seen a continual decline, and it remains the same to this day. There is little change in the inner city when money flows into it.\”
Sheila Coffee
The Sheila coffee story was copied and summarized from the History website.
Sheila Coffee danced at her cousin Gwen\’s wedding reception the day before the riots. She and a 10-year-old cousin were flower girls. Sheila slept at her grandmother\’s house on Monterey Street, near the reception.
Sheila sat on the porch the next morning, July 23. She knew something was wrong immediately. She recalls seeing individuals with arms full of items and smoke in the air.
Sheila and her grandmother watched the riots on every channel. Early that morning, authorities raided \”a blind pig,\” an illegal bar and gambling operation near Sheila\’s home. One of the crowd members tossed a bottle at a police officer at 12th and Clairmount. Thousands of protesters looted stores and burned buildings as police fled.
Sheila was confused. She learned several words quickly. Militarism Reserves curfew. Her parents had her come inside when the streetlights came on, and her grandmother said the citywide curfew was similar. Everyone—not just kids—had to be off the streets from 7 pm to 7 am.
Sheila\’s father told them to sleep on the floor and cover the windows. He served in WW2 and Korea. When Sheila joined the Army, she realized he was giving them military orders. Keep seated. No windows. Don\’t let internal light through.
Sheila heard gunshots all night. “The space between my grandmother\’s house and the next-door house was large, and we could hear people rushing. You could hear gunshots, yelling, and heavy equipment in the streets.
Sheila couldn\’t go home on July 24. Her family\’s house at Philadelphia and Woodrow Wilson Streets was on the \”front line.\” Her father had trouble calling, and she couldn\’t reach her mother or brothers. Sheila watched a crowd gather outside a grocery store the next day. Two minutes later, the building caught fire.
Detroit\’s mayor, Jerome Cavanagh, and Governor George Romney summoned the National Guard, Michigan State Police, and U.S. Army. At her grandma\’s house, near the destroyed grocery store, National Guard soldiers lined up for ice cream at one of the few remaining shops. Sheila said the soldiers were polite to the kids, and she stopped being afraid of them after her grandmother told her they\’d protect her.
Sheila\’s father said she may come home after a few days. Behind the front lines, she smelled burned brick and saw a broken Jeep. Most 12th Street businesses—shoe stores, jewelry stores, even the doughnut shop—were destroyed. Sheila remarked that most of these firms were owned by whites and employed few blacks.
Sheila didn\’t see ethnic differences before the riots. Her elementary school contained black, white, and Asian pupils who hadn\’t learnt about American history or slavery. The African Club on 12th Street, which survived the riots, would teach her more. After school, she and other black kids would perform and dance there.
The riots changed Sheila\’s life and Detroit\’s history. White flight doubled to over 40,000 in 1967 and again the following year, according to the Detroit Historical Society. In 1973, Coleman Young became the city\’s first black mayor.
Shelia Sharp (née Coffee) lived in Detroit until the 1980s, then moved to Florida. She returned to her birthplace in 2013 and found it had changed. She added, \”I wouldn\’t know this as my hometown.\” \”We lost our home. My brother said her grandmother\’s Monterey house burned down. I don\’t know if they\’ve torn it down or if it\’s still standing, but it\’s gone.” Sheila noted non-physical changes. Race relations had improved, and the police force was more diversified than in her youth.
In 2013, when Sharp returned, Detroit became the largest U.S. City to file for bankruptcy. Since the 1950s, the city has lost 1.1 million people, and 30% of its housing units were vacant. Sharp now resides near Little Caesars Arena, the new home of the NHL\’s Red Wings and NBA\’s Pistons, part of a $1.2-billion sports and entertainment zone in downtown Detroit.
Sheila Sharp, 10, observed her neighborhood turn into a combat zone in the summer of 1967. Sharp has hope for the \”new\” Detroit, but she\’ll never forget the five days she watched it burn.
References
https://www.history.com/news/detroit-riots-1967-eyewitness-account
https://allthatsinteresting.com/1967-detroit-riots#2