Urban riots

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Riots often occur in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Riots may be the outcome of a sporting event, although many riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, conflicts between races or religions. ^[1]

Rapid urbanisation has led to the rise of urban riots, often inner city. John F. McDonald and Daniel P. McMillen have identified the Watts Riots, Los Angeles, 1965, as the first "urban riots" in the US. The analyses of urban riots in terms of urban conditions influenced the emerging field of urban economics in the 1960s.^[2]

1 Causes of Urban Riots
2 List of Urban Riots
3 See also
4 Sources

Causes of Urban Riots

Riots have occurred before the rapid urbanisation starting in the mid-20th Century, hence the occurrence of riots in urban areas in itself is not special. While a riot may be initially sparked by a specific event, scholars, commentators and commissions have sought to identify the deeper reasons and have identified a number urban conditions that may underline urban riots. These urban conditions are often associated with urban decay more generally and may include: discrimination, poverty, high unemployment, poor schools, poor healthcare, housing inadequacy and police brutality and bias.^[2]

See also: slum and ghetto

List of Urban Riots

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (July 2008)

This is a list of riots that have occurred in the context of urban conditions and more broadly urban decay.

Pre-1960s

1909 Greek Town Riot: 21 February 1909, South Omaha, Nebraska, USA. During a period of economic downturn in the city, a successful community of Greeks in Omaha, Nebraska is burnt to the ground by a mob from Omaha. This happens after they almost lynched a Greek immigrant accused of having sex with a white woman. A federal trial brought by the Greek consul to the United States ends in stagnation. No person is ever convicted.

1917 East Saint Louis, IL.: July, 1917, East Saint Louis, IL, USA. ^[3]

1921 Tulsa Race Riots: 31 May-1 June 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

1935 Harlem Riot: 19 March 1935, New York City, USA ^[4]

Notting Hill race riots: late August and early September 1958, London, UK

1960s

Rochester 1964 race riot: 24-26 July 1964^[5]

Philadelphia 1964 race riot: 28-30 August 1964, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Allegations of police brutality sparked the Columbia Avenue race riots.^[5]

Watts Riots: 11 August 1965, Los Angeles, California, USA, The McCone Commission investigated the riots finding that causes included poverty, inequality, racial discrimination and the passage, in November 1964, of Proposition 14 on the California ballot overturning the Rumford Fair Housing Act, which established equality of opportunity for black home buyers.^[6]

Hough Riots: 18 July 1966, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, The underlying causes of the riots may found in the social conditions that exist in the ghettos of Cleveland.^[7]

Racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska: 5 July 1966, North Omaha, Nebraska, USA, More than 500 black youth gathered to protest the absence of recreation programs and jobs storm a local business district, throwing rocks and bricks at Jewish-owned businesses in the area. The National Guard is called in after three days of random violence and organized raids.^[8]

1967 Newark riots: 12 July 1967, Newark, New Jersey, USA, Factors that contributed to the Newark Riot: police brutality, political exclusion of blacks from city government, urban renewal, inadequate housing, unemployment, poverty, and rapid change in the racial composition of neighborhoods.^[9]

1967 Plainfield riots: 14 July 1967, Plainfield, New Jersey, USA

12th Street riot: 23 July 1967, Detroit, Michigan, USA, The origins of urban unrest in Detroit were rooted in a multitude of political, economic, and social factors including police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality, black militancy, and rapid demographic change.^[10]

Minneapolis-Saint Paul, USA, Fall 1967: Racial tensions boil over in North Minneapolis as whites continue to leave the decaying core of the inner city bound for the suburbs.

1968 Chicago, Illinois riots: In Chicago, violence erupted in the black ghetto on the west side, eventually consuming a 28-block stretch of West Madison Street. Looting and arson took place primarily in the corridor between Roosevelt Road on the south and Chicago Avenue on the north.

1968 Washington, D.C. riots: 4 April 1968, Washington, D.C., USA, A report from National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders identified discrimination and poverty as the root causes of the riots that erupted in cities around the nation during the late 1960s and in Washington, DC in April 1968^[11]

Baltimore riot of 1968: 4 April 1968, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Glenville Shootout: 23 July 1968, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Shootout between black militant organization led by Ahmed Evans and Cleveland Police Department attracted large and hostile black crowds that caused a 4 day long riot

1969 North 24th Street Riots: 24 June 1969, North Omaha, Nebraska USA, An Omaha police officer fatally shoots a teenager in the back of the head during a gathering of youth in local public housing projects. Many youth and adults from the local African American community gather in the local business district, routinely burning and otherwise destroying non-Black-owned businesses.^[12]

1970s

New York City blackout of 1977: 13 July 1977, New York City, USA, That massive blackout was viewed by some as one symptom of the city's decline.^[13]

1979 Southall Riot (Blair Peach): 23 April 1979, London, England ^[14]

1980s

St Pauls riot: 2 April 1980, Bristol, England

Arthur McDuffie: 8 May 1980, Miami, Florida, USA, black outrage at "a double standard of justice" ^[15]

Brixton riot (1981): 11 April 1981, London, England ^[16]

1981 Toxteth Riot: 5 July 1981, Liverpool, England

Chapeltown Riots: 1981, Leeds, England

Handsworth riots: 10 July 1981, Birmingham, England ^[17]

Brixton riot (1985): 28 September 1985, Brixton, London, England

1985 Toxteth Riot: 1 October 1985, Liverpool, England ^[18]

1985 Peckham Riots: 1 October 1985, London, England, A report by Lord Scarman acknowledged much of the widespread unrest had its roots in social and economic deprivation and in racial discrimination. ^[18]

Brixton riot (1995): 13 December 1985, London, England, Alex Owolade, chairman of the anti-racist group Movement for Justice, said the violence was a rebellion against years of "racist injustice" by police in an impoverished area plagued by racial tension.^[19]

1990s

Crown Heights Riot: 19 August 1991, New York City, USA

Meadow Well Riots: 9 September 1991, Newcastle upon Tyne, England

1992 Los Angeles riots: 29 April 1992, Los Angeles, California, USA ^[20]

Jakarta riots of May 1998: May 1998, Indonesia, triggered by economic decline; problems were both urban and rural^[21]

2000s

2001 Cincinnati riots: 10 April 2001, Cincinnati, Ohio, US, An Enquirer reporter, Kristina Goetz, reported that the lack of progress on perennial inner-city problems such as inadequate child and health care, failing schools, and low rates of minority home ownership was a contributing factor.^[22]

Oldham Riots: 26 May 2001, Greater Manchester, England

Benton Harbor riots: 16 June 2003, Benton Harbor, Michigan

2004 Redfern riots: 14 February 2004, Sydney, Australia

2005 Macquarie Fields riots: 25 February 2005, Sydney, Australia, There is an open debate about the cause of this riot. One side cites economic factors and racism.^[23]

2005 Toledo Riot: 15 October 2005, Toledo, Ohio, USA, Residents at forum named poverty, above other causes, as the kindling for the riot.^[24]

2005 Birmingham riots: 22 October 2005, Birmingham, England, Many white and more affluent African-Caribbean residents have moved out of Birmingham, signaling a rapid change in the racial composition of neighborhoods.^[25]