Segregation and racial prejudice in the South were part of the actual legal system. They were part of the law: “de jure” segregation. But, although they were not enacted into laws, segregation and racial discrimination existed in other parts of the country as a matter of fact and practice: “de facto” discrimination. “…[I]n one of the sixties’ many ironies, it was the success of the civil rights movement in the South that seemed to inspire violence in the North,…giving license, in a peculiar way, to the expression of a century of repressed rage and frustration.” (Jennings and Brewster, p. 401.)
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education calling for school desegregation with all deliberate speed, in Los Angeles and many other major northern cities, schools remained segregated. In Los Angeles, the student body at forty schools was over 90 percent minority. (Anderson, p. 133.) In cities, black unemployment was double that of whites and black workers made 60 percent of white salaries. In Watts, a section of Los Angeles, black unemployment ran at 30 percent. Over 40 percent of non-whites lived below the poverty line. (Id.)
The Watts riots in the summer of 1965 were sparked by an incident of police brutality involving the arrest of a black drunk driver. Fourteen thousand national guardsmen and 1,500 police officers occupied South Los Angeles for a week. Thirty-four people died, almost all blacks, more than 900 were injured, and more than 4,000 were arrested. Property damage was astronomical. (Jennings and Brewster,Id.; Farber, George Lipsiz, “Youth Culture and Social Crises”, p. 220.) Rioting spread to other cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Chicago and Hartford, Connecticut.
Another series of race riots occurred in the summer of 1967, again arising out of frustrations from a de facto system of prejudice. Detroit, Michigan, Newark and Asbury Park, New Jersey were among places that erupted in Watts-type riots. In Detroit, “The result was 43 dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed….” In Newark, 20 died, and there was more than $10 million in property damage. (Farber, Lipsitz essay, p. 220) (https://cooperstreetrelic.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/black-day-in-julythe-banning-of-gordon-lightfoot/)
These events were an expression of a growing militancy in the Black community. Blacks were saying that they had enough of inequality. The irony of these riots lies in the facts that the rioting largely took place in the North, where blacks did not face Jim Crow laws or a segregationist culture, but where their deprivations were predominately economic and racism was less obvious. Songs that relate to these events follow.
“The Backlash Blues,” sung by Nina Simone, written by Langston Hughes and Nina (1967), relates to social and economic conditions that led to black frustration. https://youtu.be/2Pj9AucSc9Y
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who do think I am
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages
And send my son to VietnamYou give me second class houses
And second class schools
Do you think that alla colored folks
Are just second class fools
Mr. Backlash, I’m gonna leave you
With the backlash bluesWhen I try to find a job
To earn a little cash
All you got to offer
Is your mean old white backlash
But the world is big
Big and bright and round
And it’s full of folks like me
Who are black, yellow, beige and brown
Mr. Backlash, I’m gonna leave you
With the backlash bluesMr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just what do you think I got to lose
I’m gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
You’re the one will have the blues
Not me, just wait and see
“In the Heat of the Summer,” written and sung by Phil Ochs (1965) (http://youtu.be/vLhT8s6w7rU) also attempts to express the frustration of the black community.
In the heat of the summer
When the pavements were burning
The soul of a city was ravaged in the night
After the city sun was sinkin’Now no one knows how it started
Why the windows were shattered
But deep in the dark, someone set the spark
And then it no longer matteredDown the street they were rumbling
All the tempers were ragin’
Oh, where, oh, where are the white silver tongues
Who forgot to listen to the warnings?On and on come the angry
No longer following reason
And all the stores were the target now
Where just the other day they were buyin’Drunk with the memory of the ghetto
Drunk with the lure of the looting
And the memory of the uniforms shoving with their sticks
Asking, “Are you looking for trouble?”“No, no, no,” moaned the mayor
“It’s not the way of the order
Oh, stay in your homes, please leave us alone
We’ll be glad to talk in the morning”“For shame, for shame,” wrote the papers
“Why the hurry to your hunger?
Now the rubble’s resting on your broken streets
So you see what your rage has unraveled”Barricades sadly were risin’
Bricks were heavily flyin’
And the loudspeaker drowned like a whisperin’ sound
When compared to the angered emotionsAnd when the fury was over
And the shame was replacing the anger
So wrong, so wrong, but we’ve been down to long
And we had to make somebody listen
In the heat of the summer
“Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” written and sung by Marvin Gaye (1971) (http://youtu.be/wkzy5clEjxs), also expresses the black frustrations that led to the urban riots. “Inner City Blues” was contained in Gaye’s album “What’s Going On?” described as the “quintessential black protest recording.” (Neal, What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture, p. 55.) According to Neal, Gaye’s work paints the black condition in the late 1960s: “Within the context of a musical suite consisting of six tracks, including the title track, Gaye juxtaposed American imperialism (Vietnam), political repression and communal erosion against the incidence of drug addiction, environmental exploitation, child neglect and a crisis of spirituality. The suite as a whole offers a profound critical statement regarding the modern American condition.” (Id. at 65.)
Rockets, moon shots
Spend it on the have-nots
Money, we make it
‘Fore we see it, you’ll take itOh, make you wanna holler
The way they do my life
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my lifeThis ain’t livin’, this ain’t livin’
No, no baby, this ain’t livin’
No, no, no, noInflation, no chance
To increase finance
Bills pile up, sky high
Send that boy off to dieOh, make me wanna holler
The way they do my life
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life, oh babyHang ups, let downs
Bad breaks, set backs
Natural fact is
Honey, that I can’t pay my taxesOh, make me wanna holler
And throw up both my hands
Yea, it makes me wanna holler
And throw up both my handsCrime is increasing
Trigger happy policing
Panic is spreading
God knows where, where we’re headingOh, they don’t understand
Make me wanna holler
They don’t understandGod bless you
And Lord keep you
And may you live, live, live a good lifeGod bless you
Lord keep you
And may you live, live, live a long long sweet life
Don’t let the things get you down
Hold your hands, baby, walk aroundSay God bless you
And I’ll keep you
I’m praying a prayer for each and everyone of you
Heaven bless you
Heaven keep
“The Motor City is Burning,” sung by John Lee Hooker, written by Albert B. Smith (1967) (http://youtu.be/TpTDvYvSsrc), portrays the riots in Detroit, Michigan.
Ya know, the Motor City is burning, babe
There ain’t a thing in the world they can do
Ya know, the Motor City is burning people
There ain’t a thing that white society can doMa home town burning down to the ground
Worser than VietnamLet me tell you how it started now
It started on 12th Clair Mount that morning
It made the, the pig cops all jump and shout
I said, it started on 12th Clair Mount that morning
It made the, the pigs in the street go freak outThe fire wagons kept comin’, baby
But the Black Panther Snipers wouldn’t let them put it out
Wouldn’t let them put it out, wouldn’t let them put it outGet it on
Well, there were fire bombs bursting all around the people
Ya know there was soldiers standing everywhere
I said there was fire bombs bursting all around me, baby
Ya know there was National Guard everywhereI can hear my people screaming
Sirens fill the air, fill the air, fill the airYour mama, papa don’t know what the trouble is
You see, they don’t know what it’s all about
I said, your mama, papa don’t know what the trouble is, baby
They just can’t see what it’s all aboutI get the news, read the newspapers, baby, baby?
You just get out there in the street and check it outI said, the Motor City is burning, people
I ain’t hanging ’round to fight it out
I said, the Motor City is burning, people
Just not hang around to fight it outWell, I’m taking my wife and my people and they’re on TV
Well, just before I go, baby, [Incomprehensible]
Fireman’s on the street, people all aroundNow, I guess it’s true
I’d just like to strike a match for freedom myself
I may be a white boy, but I can be bad, too
Yes, it’s true now, yes, it’s true nowYes
Let it all burn, let it all burn, let it all burn
“Black Day in July,” written and sung by Gordon Lightfoot (1968), a white Canadian folk singer, also focuses on the events in Detroit. (http://youtu.be/DPXL3iEVnCM) The song was banned from airplay by most major radio stations in the United States. https://cooperstreetrelic.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/black-day-in-julythe-banning-of-gordon-lightfoot/
Black day in July
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked insideBlack day in July
Black day in July
And the soul of Motor City is bared across the land
As the book of law and order is taken in the hands
Of the sons of the fathers who were carried to this landBlack day in July
Black day in July
In the streets of Motor City is a deadly silent sound
And the body of a dead youth lies stretched upon the ground
Upon the filthy pavement
No reason can be foundBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor City madness has touched the countryside
And the people rise in anger
And the streets begin to fill
And there’s gunfire from the rooftops
And the blood begins to spillBlack day in July
In the mansion of the governor
There’s nothing that is known for sure
The telephone is ringing
And the pendulum is swinging
And they wonder how it happened
And they really know the reason
And it wasn’t just the temperature
And it wasn’t just the seasonBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor City’s burning and the flames are running wild
They reflect upon the waters of the river and the lake
And everyone is listening
And everyone’s awakeBlack day in July
Black day in July
The printing press is turning
And the news is quickly flashed
And you read your morning paper
And you sip your cup of tea
And you wonder just in passing
Is it him or is it meBlack day in July
In the office of the President
The deed is done the troops are sent
There’s really not much choice you see
It looks to us like anarchy
And then the tanks go rolling in
To patch things up as best they can
There is no time to hesitate
The speech is made the dues can waitBlack day in July
Black day in July
The streets of Motor City now are quiet and serene
But the shapes of gutted buildings
Strike terror to the heart
And you say how did it happen
And you say how did it start
Why can’t we all be brothers
Why can’t we live in peace
But the hands of the have-nots
Keep falling out of reachBlack day in July
Black day in July
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside