1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi there, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,039 Speaker 1: where we sift through the artifacts of history seven days 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 1: a week. Today is August eleven. The day was August eleven, nineteen, 5 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: when a white California Highway Patrol officer arrested a black 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: man on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Tensions raised between 7 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: Los Angeles police and residents of the predominantly black Watts 8 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: neighborhood that night. Unrest bred riots in south central Los 9 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: Angeles that continued for several days. At the time, Los 10 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: Angeles was wrapped up in a web of social, economic, 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: and political issues. Schools were integrated, but of the students 12 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: that went to the high school that served Watts were black. 13 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: Jobs were scarce and poverty was rampant in Los Angeles. 14 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: There were discriminatory housing practices, White gangs and black gangs 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: fought as more black people moved into Los Angeles neighborhoods, 16 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: and numerous instances of discriminatory police force and police brutality 17 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: drew a clear division between law enforcement and black and 18 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: Latino residents of l A. Los Angeles Police Chief William 19 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: Parker used the term the thin blue line to describe 20 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: the role of the police as the barrier between civilization 21 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: and anarchy. All of this Los Angeles specific turmoil, on 22 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: top of the effects of the Great Migration and long 23 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: history of American racism, formed the backdrop for the riots 24 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: that broke out in Watts in nineteen sixty. On the 25 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: evening of August eleven, a caliph Cornia Highway Patrol officer 26 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: stopped Watts resident Marquette Fry and his brother Ronald for 27 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: alleged reckless driving. Marquette failed field sobriety tests, and the 28 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 1: officer arrested him. The Fries home was nearby, and soon 29 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: their mother, Rena Price, came to the scene of the incident, 30 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: at the intersection of Avalon Boulevard in one D and 31 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: sixteenth Street. The officer had called for backup and another 32 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: officer arrived. As the intensity of the struggle between the 33 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: Fries and the officers escalated, a crowd began to gather 34 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: at the scene. More officers had arrived and were hitting 35 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: the brothers with beaton's. An officer pulled out a gun 36 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: and Price jumped on an officer. In the end, Rena, Marquette, 37 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: and Ronald were arrested, but the crowd had grown confrontational. 38 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: People protested as the police cars drove away with the 39 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: Fry family. Anger directed towards the offending police officers turned 40 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: into general riding and watts and mostly black neighborhoods in 41 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: south central l A. The Fried family was released on 42 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: bail the morning after they were arrested. Community leaders and 43 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: police met to discuss the incident and quote unrest, but 44 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: the riding did not stop. Some residents went head to 45 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: head with l A police. Others targeted white motorists who 46 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: yelled racial profanities as them. White owned businesses that were 47 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: disliked in the communities were also targets of arson and looting. 48 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: The National Guard was called out to stop the riding. 49 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: Law enforcement put up blockades and threatened the use of 50 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: deadly force. Riders through molotov cocktails and shot at Firefighters 51 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: and police conducted raids and shot riders. Police even surrounded 52 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: a Nation of Islam mosque and shot hundreds of rounds 53 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: of ammunition inside, wounding nineteen people. A curfew zone of 54 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: more than forty six point five square miles was established 55 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: and being on the streets after eight pm became an 56 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: arrestable offense. By August fifteen, writing had largely ended. In 57 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: less than a week of writing, there were more than 58 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: one thousand injuries, nearly four thousand arrests, and thirty four deaths, 59 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: most of which were black people. The cost of damage 60 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: was estimated as tens of millions of dollars. Police Chief 61 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,119 Speaker 1: Parker said the writers were like quote monkeys in a zoo. 62 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: The news media and authorities provided different opinions on the 63 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: causes and rationale of the riots. Detractors blamed them on 64 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,119 Speaker 1: black criminals and the influx of black people, and said 65 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: that the looting in Arson was unwarranted and foolish. Some 66 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: said that the writing was incited by gangs or black Muslims. 67 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: Others pointed to the longstanding racial tensions in Los Angeles, 68 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: and some people noted the poverty, growing discontent with social conditions, 69 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: and alienation in the city that could give rise to 70 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: such an intense rebellion. After the riots, a commission was 71 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: formed to investigate the riot and its causes, and it 72 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: suggested improvements in schools, housing, healthcare, and other sectors. President 73 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: Lyndon B. Johnson called for a war on poverty, allocating 74 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: federal funds to reduce poverty, but there was not a 75 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: big push to address the problems listed in the report 76 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: or to rebuild the areas that were affected by the riots. 77 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: Significant efforts to combat police brutality and address social issues 78 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: gained steam through the activism of locals. I'm each stuff 79 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: coat and hopefully you know a little more about history 80 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. Keep up thus on Twitter, Instagram, 81 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: and Facebook at t D i h C podcast. Thanks 82 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: for joining me on this trip through history. See you here, 83 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: same place tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 84 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 85 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.