On this day, July 12, in 1967, tension between police and residents in Newark, New Jersey, boiled over in what is now known as the Newark Rebellion.
As in most major metropolitan cities, police officers were primarily of Irish and Italian descent and African-Americans were frequently victims of police brutality, which was rarely prosecuted. In addition, despite housing shortages, there were plans to build a superhighway through a Black community, which would take 150 acres to build a medical school and hospital complex, according to a Rutgers University report.
A National Guard officer passes the smashed window of a black-owned flower shop in riot-torn Newark, N.J., July 15, 1967, after a night of looting and violence. Sign in window reads, “Please!! Negro-Owned Business.” Dozens of shops and stores have been stripped clean in three days of racial rioting. (AP Photo)
FILE – In this July 16, 1967 file photo, a National Guardsman stands atop an armored personnel carrier at a roadblock in Newark, N.J., in front of the St. James A.M.E. Church during the Newark riots. (AP Photo/John Duricka, FIle)
Pickets calling for the removal of National Guard troops from riot-ridden Newark march near Newark City Hall, July 16, 1967. Police arrived shortly after they began marching and dispersed the group. Marchers handed out handbills calling action against rioters full scale war. (AP Photo)
The city called it “urban renewal,” but to residents it was more like “Negro removal.” Five days of violence from July 12 to 16 were sparked by the arrest of John Smith, an African-American cab driver who suffered serious injuries after being arrested for tailgating. According to a summary of events on blackpast.org, 26 people were killed and many more injured.
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