August 11, 1965

[Dirtshooter]

For the younger generation on August 11, 1965 the Watts riots broke out in LA. For 5 days, 144 hours the riots continued that left 34 people dead, 118 gunshot victims, 1032 injured. One fireman, one deputy and one policeman dead. 3438 people arrested, the national guard was called out and 14,000 with tanks arrived. There were 288 stores completely burned out, all of the white owned businesses never returned. There were many so called factors that started this, one was overcrowding but this statistic doesn't wash as there were 14,000 blacks per square mile as opposed to 69,000 whites per square mile in NYC. There was $40 million in damages which in today's money is close to $300 million. All of this was started when a black man told a California Highway patrolman that he suspected a man driving drunk and gave the description, soon afterwards the car was spotted and the driver and 2 others who jumped on the officer were arrested. According to the testimony of the man arrested the patrolman was polite. I thought as the 50th anniversary is approaching that some of you younger people would like to know that the rioting like is happening in Baltimore has been going on for a long time. In fact when Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights on July 2, 1964 act it took only 16 days for the Harlem riots to break out. In 1964 there were also riots in Rochester, Ny., Dixmoor, IL., Patterson, NJ. Philadelphia, Pa. Do some investigating these riots and they all are very similar. From 1900 to July 2, 1964 there had only been 3 riots, 2 in Harlem and 1 in Jacksonville, Fl, but there were 5 in 1964. Just a history lesson to think about. History does repeat itself when no changes are made btw.

[TNWNGR]

Yeah. It hadn't escaped my attention...

[EssOne]

Thanks for remembering. I reported to the East LA office of the CHP on August 8, 1965, three days before the Watts Riot began. From that time on the CHP provided 85% of all the police manpower deployed to riots in California throughout the 60's, 70's, and on into the 80's and 90's. I made it to three more in the next few years, two as a officer and the last one as a Sergeant Squad Leader. Funny, I guess I'm guilty of unfounded optimism because I never thought they'd start again on this scale. Guess my eyeballs ought to be purple because I was sure full of prunes on that one.

[Erik88]

One of the regular posters on another forum was a police officer there when this happened. He said that when the National Guard was deployed they were not given ammunition.

 

I imagine this will happen again.

[Dirtshooter]

Well Essone thanks for your service and sacrifice. I was going to wait until August to post it, but at my age I felt I better do it while it was on my bwain!!

[EssOne]

Well Essone thanks for your service and sacrifice. I was going to wait until August to post it, but at my age I felt I better do it while it was on my bwain!!

My pleasure, sir. Hey, don't feel bad about posting this early - I'm in the "don't buy green bananas" mode myself. :pleased:

[hipower]

Well Essone thanks for your service and sacrifice. I was going to wait until August to post it, but at my age I felt I better do it while it was on my bwain!!

 

May I add my thanks to this as well, your service to the community was at a difficult time in our history. Glad you contributed and made it thru.

[Grayfox54]

In the early 70s I was in the Army and served with a S/Sgt who had been a Chicago cop during the 1968 riots. Afterwards, he gave up law enforcement and began an Army career. He figured Viet Nam was safer than Chicago. 

[bersaguy]

Yea well, I said it back when Obama got elected that he would take us back in time 50 years and it has proven my statement to be correct. All of the advancements made over the last 50 years were wiped out in one election..............jmho

Edited April 28, 2015 by bersaguy

[Links2k]

Yea well, I said it back when Obama got elected that he would take us back in time 50 years and it has proven my statement to be correct. All of the advancements made over the last 50 years were wiped out in one election..............jmho

He's had lots of help from the House, Senate and average everyday citizens.

[TNWNGR]

He's had lots of help from the House, Senate and average everyday citizens.

 

All to true. Social Progressivism continually proves itself to be oppressive socialism which is corrosively destructive and intent on creating its own truth. What it actually is, quite disturbingly is racism set lose upon a populace intent upon ignoring what's happening around it. Social Engineering at its finest only with a different set of players.  

[bersaguy]

I am old enough to remember all the changes that took place after Johnson signed the Civil Rights Law into effect. One of the main things I remembered was employment. it became required that any business I think that had more than 25 employees was required to have a certain percentage of Black employees or face big fines. They were given a certain amount of time to comply before the fines would be applied. I knew several small businesses that actually had to lay off the last 2 or 3 people hired and replace them with A Black person. Many times they had to hire a person that was well below the qualification for the position but had to hire to avoid the fines. Heaven forbid if you fired one because they couldn't do the job and that still happens today. Many companies get sued everyday for firing a Black person because they scream discrimination when in reality they couldn't do the job or couldn't get along with fellow employees. Most companies settle out of court in these cases. I never agreed with that part of the bill for a couple reasons. #1 being that when the ads for employment we in the paper seldom did  Blacks apply and #2 is companies where required to lay off employees that were qualified to do the job and hire someone not capable of doing the job. It was things like that in the law that put a bad taste in the mouths of both large and small companies alike. I think by the 80's that had pretty well balanced itself out and now since the economy went in the cellar in 2008 it has come back and we seen that the riots that took place back in the days of Civil Rights marches have come back. Thing that isn't the same is the people involved in these riots were not even born during the Civil Rights era. Was this type of thing bred into them?...................... :shrug: :shrug:  

Edited April 29, 2015 by bersaguy

[Dirtshooter]

Bersa I have several good black friends. I truly believe the main problem in the black community and is becoming more prevelant in the white community is the fact that daddy's are not there and raising the children. Now on the subject of hiring a certain percentage of any color or race is wrong. When schools became intergrated the tests were designed that most anyone could pass and thus the diplomas that high schools give out today are certainly not worth the one we have.

[EssOne]

Well, there is also the fact that since 1965 our standards, morals, principles, scruples, and ethics have been severely compromised, and we as a nation have told God to take a hike. All those things had to come home sooner or later, and I think they just arrived.

[btq96r]

There really is nothing new under the sun. 

 

Civil unrest has gone through evolutions in tactics and techniques, but from the first Jewish-Roman war, to the American Revolution, to the events we've seen in our country in '65 and today, history teaches us civil unrest is usually derived from a population that feels oppressed, and finally reaches the breaking point.

 

For my money, a major part of all this is directly tied to the economy, employment and opportunity. 

 

A lot of jobs have been lost to free trade and globalization over the last generation.  Those jobs were low skill, yet economically stable enough to provide a home if someone put in an honest days work.  Replacing a good paying factory job with minimum wage shifts at McDonald's has to put in a healthy amount of discontent.

 

Employed people don't riot without damn good cause.  When there are only so many ways out of the bad situations a lot of our citizens find themselves in...taking to the streets doesn't seem like a bad option.  We've shipped away jobs to the 3rd world, and replaced it with expanded welfare to try and make up the difference.  How's that working out for us?

 

 

Well, there is also the fact that since 1965 our standards, morals, principles, scruples, and ethics have been severely compromised, and we as a nation have told God to take a hike. All those things had to come home sooner or later, and I think they just arrived.

 

There are plenty of us don't need a God to hold ourselves to standards, morals, principles, scruples and ethics.

Edited May 2, 2015 by btq96r

[Ron Padilla]

I was 12 when living in so cal when the watts riots broke out, I worked in L.A when the Rodney King riots broke out and now here at 62 and not much has changed like mentioned above, the more they seem to change the more they stay the same and no real progress is made so sad.

[DaveTN]

For my money, a major part of all this is directly tied to the economy, employment and opportunity.

Spot on. And we (the people) did that.

The vast majority of people that work aren’t out committing crimes. That’s why the first thing I want to know from a Politician is what ideas does he/she have to bring jobs and a better economy to this country. But I understand that they are limited in what they can do, it’s up to us and we have turned our back.

Quit trying to figure out how you get more money for bigger jails and get a plan to get our manufacturing base back.