Detroit Riots of 1967: John Hersey, The Algiers Motel Incident

[psalm90]

July 23, 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the 8 days of rioting. I’m old enough to remember some things about this and somebody asked me some questions.
Three policemen were eventually acquitted of the murder of three older teen men who were shot at the motel. (The initial police call was that there were snipers in the motel annex.)

So, I get around to Hersey’s book in which he says that “sex is at the core of racism.”

I’m just getting started on the book. There is no index to the book, and I can’t stand the suspense. Why is sex at the core of racism? Anybody read this book or study it in a course? What’s the answer?

 

[po18guy]

Proof that many authors used LSD?

 

[7_Sorrows]

I was 15 at the time and although I remember many riots from the 60’s, I don’t
remember anything about the Algiers Motel incident.

 

[psalm90]

I was 15 at the time and although I remember many riots from the 60’s, I don’t
remember anything about the Algiers Motel incident.

Most of the 43 people who died in the Detroit rioting were shot by police or guardsmen. The entire 400 page book is about this “incident” These three young black men were shot at close range allegedly by three police officers who perhaps Hersey accused of or associated them with punishing them for interracial sex in a known prostitution infested area of town.

As I get into the book more and read about the book at the same time, it appears or is alleged that the incident was caused by the brutality and racism of the Detroit police force. A generalization that comes up is that all riots are caused by unfair police justice against Black people. Witnesses were afraid (of police retaliation) to testify about the incident.

It seems that this incident did not merit any attention in the report of the presidential commission which was analyzing civil disorder in the 1960s. Hersey was invited to help draft that report but declined, fearing that his work would be redacted by others, over which he had no control. So, he chose instead to publish his “findings” in this book which came out in 1968, roughly a year after the riot in Detroit. As frequently happens (I guess), witnesses all told different stories or versions – something that prosecutors like to omit in any particular prosecution. It appears Hersey’s intent to tell the story and leave the conclusion to the reader.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Most of the 43 people who died in the Detroit rioting were shot by police or guardsmen. The entire 400 page book is about this “incident” These three young black men were shot at close range allegedly by three police officers who perhaps Hersey accused of or associated them with punishing them for interracial sex in a known prostitution infested area of town.

As I get into the book more and read about the book at the same time, it appears or is alleged that the incident was caused by the brutality and racism of the Detroit police force. A generalization that comes up is that all riots are caused by unfair police justice against Black people. Witnesses were afraid (of police retaliation) to testify about the incident.

It seems that this incident did not merit any attention in the report of the presidential commission which was analyzing civil disorder in the 1960s. Hersey was invited to help draft that report but declined, fearing that his work would be redacted by others, over which he had no control. So, he chose instead to publish his “findings” in this book which came out in 1968, roughly a year after the riot in Detroit. As frequently happens (I guess), witnesses all told different stories or versions – something that prosecutors like to omit in any particular prosecution. It appears Hersey’s intent to tell the story and leave the conclusion to the reader.

So the riots occurred as a result of three young black men being shot (and killed?)
by police officers at a hotel frequented by prostitutes?
I am not familiar with this story at all. 43 more people died during the riots then?
That is a lot. I probably didn’t pay attention or watch much news at 15 other than I
remember seeing cities burning.

 

[mikekle]

Im curious how it came to be they thought there were snipers at the motel, when it apparently was just interracial sex?

 

[edwest2]

Cities were not burning. I was there in Detroit in 1967. TV reports were coming in, police and firefighters were there and the National Guard was called in, armed with jeep-mounted machine-guns along with their regular gear, and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The rioting and some looting were confined primarily to one downtown (near West side) area. We were told to stay in our homes. In the end, 43 were dead, 1,189 injured, there were over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Detroit had a race riot in 1943.

The FBI was very concerned about the Black Panthers, a group founded in 1966. J. Edgar Hoover called it “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was also labeled a threat since he had a lot of supporters. So the FBI, as part of a program called COINTELPRO, kept close watch over these groups. The FBI’s goal was to keep these threats, which included other groups, including anarchists, from creating more civil unrest.

Ed

 

[Tis_Bearself]

So, I get around to Hersey’s book in which he says that “sex is at the core of racism.”

I’m just getting started on the book. There is no index to the book, and I can’t stand the suspense. Why is sex at the core of racism?

Haven’t read it, but I’d guess he’s positing that all racism stems from fear of miscegnation. Basically the males of race A would worry about race B interbreeding with race A, and specifically about males of race B interbreeding with females of race A, thus causing race A to lose its distinctiveness, identity, other advantages, blah blah blah.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Cities were not burning. I was there in Detroit in 1967. TV reports were coming in, police and firefighters were there and the National Guard was called in, armed with jeep-mounted machine-guns along with their regular gear, and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The rioting and some looting were confined primarily to one downtown (near West side) area. We were told to stay in our homes. In the end, 43 were dead, 1,189 injured, there were over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Detroit had a race riot in 1943.

The FBI was very concerned about the Black Panthers, a group founded in 1966. J. Edgar Hoover called it “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was also labeled a threat since he had a lot of supporters. So the FBI, as part of a program called COINTELPRO, kept close watch over these groups. The FBI’s goal was to keep these threats, which included other groups, including anarchists, from creating more civil unrest.

Ed

Yes cities were burning during the riots in the 60’s. No, not the entire cities, but
certain areas.
How were 2,000 buildings destroyed?

 

[psalm90]

Yes cities were burning during the riots in the 60’s. No, not the entire cities, but
certain areas.
How were 2,000 buildings destroyed?

Gas stations were selling gasoline in buckets and bottles (so says Hersey), until the sale of gasoline was suspended by the governor.

 

[psalm90]

Im curious how it came to be they thought there were snipers at the motel, when it apparently was just interracial sex?

There was a complaint call to the police that there were snipers in the large house annex of the Hotel. As I read the book, there may be contradictory testimony about this. It may have been an after-the-fact rationalization why the police entered that building.

Hersey’s book is written in an unusual style, in different styles of writing – transcripts of interviews, court documents, etc.

to the people who wrote (above) that they never heard of it – do a search for it).

 

[Exiled_Child]

Cities were not burning. I was there in Detroit in 1967. TV reports were coming in, police and firefighters were there and the National Guard was called in, armed with jeep-mounted machine-guns along with their regular gear, and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The rioting and some looting were confined primarily to one downtown (near West side) area. We were told to stay in our homes. In the end, 43 were dead, 1,189 injured, there were over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Detroit had a race riot in 1943.

The FBI was very concerned about the Black Panthers, a group founded in 1966. J. Edgar Hoover called it “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was also labeled a threat since he had a lot of supporters. So the FBI, as part of a program called COINTELPRO, kept close watch over these groups. The FBI’s goal was to keep these threats, which included other groups, including anarchists, from creating more civil unrest.

Ed, that sounds insane! I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. But I’m very curious, how did 2,000 buildings come to be destroyed? Two entire airborne divisions inside the city battling with rioters and looters?!?? They didn’t actually use artillery did they? I’m picturing Howitzers, but it couldn’t have been like that, could it? Also, were these battle-hardened troops who’d served in Vietnam? Sorry for all the questions, I just cannot picture this, and this is the first I’ve heard of these events, too, by the way.

Ed

 

[Exiled_Child]

Cities were not burning. I was there in Detroit in 1967. TV reports were coming in, police and firefighters were there and the National Guard was called in, armed with jeep-mounted machine-guns along with their regular gear, and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The rioting and some looting were confined primarily to one downtown (near West side) area. We were told to stay in our homes. In the end, 43 were dead, 1,189 injured, there were over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. Detroit had a race riot in 1943.

The FBI was very concerned about the Black Panthers, a group founded in 1966. J. Edgar Hoover called it “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was also labeled a threat since he had a lot of supporters. So the FBI, as part of a program called COINTELPRO, kept close watch over these groups. The FBI’s goal was to keep these threats, which included other groups, including anarchists, from creating more civil unrest.

Ed

Ed, that sounds insane! I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. But I’m very curious, how did 2,000 buildings come to be destroyed? Two entire airborne divisions were inside the city battling with rioters and looters?!?? They didn’t actually use artillery did they? I’m picturing Howitzers, but it couldn’t possibly have been like that, could it? Also, were these battle-hardened troops who’d served in Vietnam? Sorry for all the questions, I just cannot picture this, and this is the first I’ve heard of these events, too, by the way.

 

[M-Dent]

On a related note, I find it interesting looking at historic incidents when leaders found exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act (which prohibits use of US military in civilian law enforcement).

The 1960’s had a few examples of such exceptions.

A master’s thesis by Barrye La Troye Price “The Use of Federal Troops in Quelling Civil Unrest in Washington DC,” April 1968 has some good information on how troops were to conduct such operations.

Field Manual 19-15: Civil Disturbances and Disasters

This doctrine detailed required procedures such as: the employment of troops, formations to be used, preferred weapons for specific situations, crowd dispersal and sniper control techniques, psychological factors, and command responsibilities. It even gave specific commands for soldiers to recite as they dispersed a crowd and outlined methods for separating agitators from onlookers.

dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a270505.pdf

Field Manual 19-15: Civil Disturbances and Disasters, published in March 1968.
It can be found here in text format: archive.org/stream/FM19_15_1968/FM19_15_1968_djvu.txt