Burn, Baby, Burn!: The Los Angeles Race Riot, August 1965 by Jerry Cohen and William S. Murphy. E.P. Dutton & Co, Inc., pp 318, 1966.
There are usually two prevailing thoughts when looking at American race riots: Why are those people destroying their own neighborhoods and why aren’t those people happy with living in America? Jerry Cohen and William S. Murphy’s book, “Burn, Baby, Burn!: The Los Angeles Race Riot, August 1965” bridges the gap between people who live in the ghettos and readers who think in terms of “those people.”
Cohen and Murphy covered the riot, which would later become known as the Watts riot, for the Los Angeles Times. Their Pulitzer Prize-winning reports were called: “A distinguished example of local, general or spot news reporting.” The book is a moment to moment account of the six day riot from the perspective of the participants, the police, the National Guard and other journalists.
The statistics are appalling: More than 1,032 people were injured, 35 killed. More than $40 million in damage (by 1966 dollars), more than 600 buildings were damaged by burning and looting.
Rioters are angry about mistreatment, about being overcharged for goods and services. About strangers from outside the neighborhood coming in to take advantage of them. They’ve endured racism from the police, and are tired of having no say in their own lives. There are no opportunities for young black men, who are either unemployed and looking or desperate and hopeless.
This repetition of facts may sound hopelessly liberal, and what Cohen and Murphy do is humanize the rioters. No one condones what’s happening, but the adults in the neighborhood turn a blind eye towards the young, who are described as being largely responsible for the riot.
The most surprising element of the book is how the rioters refuse to accept spokesmen from the Civil Rights movement. The movement didn’t speak for them - they are clear about that. When activist Dick Gregory walks out on the street to stop the violence, he is laughed at, mocked and eventually shot. Residents believed that the Civil Rights movement turned their back on them.
Cohen and Murphy look at the background of the rioters. Many were from the South and came to California looking for a better life. Instead, many faced racism that was reminiscent of what they were trying to escape.
What started out as a traffic incident was quickly fueled by the dry heat of a hot summer night. Rumors swarmed quickly that the police beat a pregnant woman – instead she was simply a female barber wearing a big smock.
Car passengers were beaten, buildings looted. The authors note that in one instance, the cheap liquor was looted and not the expensive brands.
The McCone Commission looked at the causes and prevention of the riots, cited inadequate bus service through the neighborhood.
One man goes to work. When his boss asks him what neighborhood he’s from, he says Watts. His boss tells him he’s fired.
Firefighters trying to calm blazes are shot at by snipers.
In the end, Watts is destroyed. Six months later, the burnt-out buildings are a testament to the rage of the residents. Some residents work clearing the rubble and are rewarded a penny for each brick.
“A white passer-by approached one of the workers. 'Where do I see about buying a load of these bricks…. I’m building a barbecue in my patio… That seems like a fitting place for these bricks to end up. That barbecue will be burning every night.'"
It takes money to take part in American society. And those without money become the disenfranchised. Barred from getting loans or even a job, they are likely to turn angry and violent. It doesn’t require much provocation. A hot summer night, a traffic stop turned into a violent confrontation. And then, an onlooker spits at a police officer. Was she pregnant or just wearing a smock?
Indeed, innocuous traffic stops appear to be the leading cause of riots.
