1967 Plainfield riots
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2008) ) |
1967 Plainfield riots | |||
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Part of " | |||
Resulted in | See Aftermath | ||
Parties | |||
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Casualties | |||
Death(s) | 1 | ||
Arrested | 150[1] |
The Plainfield riots was one of 159
Background
Two days after some
The White Star Diner, which still stands today,[2] was depicted by artist Casey Ruble in 2015.[3][4]
The riot
On Saturday night trouble started again. Many long time residents of Plainfield claimed that "
On Sunday afternoon several hundred people gathered at Green Brook Park to hear the local Director of Human Relations talk about the situation in the city. The Union County, New Jersey Park Police, who had jurisdiction over the park, declared the meeting unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Some reported that the police dismissively referred to the gatherers as "boys" in urging them to leave the park, which was taken as racially inflammatory and may have led to anger.[5][6][7][8]
The crowd broke up and reformed in the West End section of Plainfield where widespread rioting started again. The city police were caught off guard and did not respond quickly enough to quell the disorder.
Murder of Officer John Gleason
Later that evening a white police officer, John Gleason, was manning a checkpoint. Members of the white motorcycle gang known as the Pagans entered the area and a confrontation between a large group of young black men and the white members of the Pagans was brewing. Police Officer John Gleason placed himself between the two groups and the Pagan motorcycle gang left. The remaining crowd refused to disperse and Officer Gleason became surrounded by the crowd which began to threaten him and close in on him. Officer Gleason fired a shot and wounded Bobby Lee Williams. When the officer tried to leave the area to get help, he was overtaken by a mob and was beaten with a steel grocery store cart, stomped and eventually shot and killed with his own service revolver.
Middlesex arms theft
That same night in nearby
Police tried to arrange a truce and have residents turn in the stolen carbines. Black residents felt that having the guns in the community kept the police at bay and that they now had power over the police. When none of the stolen firearms were returned, the area was cordoned off and 300 heavily armed
Aftermath
By July 21, things had calmed down to the point where
Dozens of black residents later filed suit against the government claiming that their constitutional rights had been violated during the search for the stolen carbines. Even several weeks after the riot, the local police and
More than 100 people had been arrested for looting and rioting during the disturbance. Officer Gleason was the only person killed during the riot and in December 1968, a jury convicted two people, a man and a woman, of murder in his death. They were both sentenced to life imprisonment. Seven others were acquitted and one case was declared a
Legacy
Like many cities, Plainfield suffered a decline from the
Author and Plainfield native Isaiah Tremaine published the book Insurrection in 2017 as an accounting of the Plainfield riots from his perspective as a black teenager living in the city at the time.[11][12]
In July 2017, the Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition held a memorial event to discuss and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rebellion.[13][14][15]
Playwright TyLie Shider has used the events of 1967 Plainfield as a backdrop for some of his work, including The Gospel Woman and Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family.[16][17][18]
See also
- 1967 Detroit riot in Michigan
- 1967 Newark riots in New Jersey
- Cambridge riot of 1967 in Maryland
- List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
References
- ^ On Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, United States Congress Senate Committee (1967). Hearings before the United States Senate Committee on Government Operations 90th Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 952–953.
- ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "Casey Ruble: Artwork". Artcenternj.org. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Casey Ruble (2015). ""They said they'd rather die here than in Vietnam."" (JPG). Newsfordham.edu. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
Paper collage. 6 ½ x 8 inches
- ^ "Plainfield Riots Remembered 40 Years Later". NPR. July 28, 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
There's no visible memorial mark around the spot where Officer John Gleason was killed, across from the Elmwood Grades Projects. But there are signs of hope. The people ...
- ^ "50 years in Plainfield's history: From devastating riots to long-awaited ..." July 16, 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "PHOTOS: A new beginning in Plainfield, 50 years after riots". Mycentraljersey.com. July 11, 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
Looking down W. Third Street in Plainfield, an area that was under siege during 1967 riots. 50-year anniversary of the riots in Plainfield during the summer of 1967 which left one policeman dead, nearly 50 residents hurt and more than 100 arrested after riots broke out following a fight in the West End, the ...
- ^ Dreier, Peter (July 17, 2007). "Riot and Reunion: Forty Years Later". The Nation. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
In the summer of 1967, Plainfield, New Jersey, and scores of other US cities exploded in racial violence. Forty years later, the impact is still palpable.
- ^ Bechir Kenzari, Architecture and Violence (2011) at 251 ("The Plainfield riots were extraordinarily violent, in part because a break-in at the Plainfield Machine Company, a small manufacturer of military-style M1 carbines, resulted in the informal distribution [of the guns] on the street. In one incident, a fire station sustained gunfire for five hours before New Jersey National Guardsmen in armored personnel carriers broke the siege.")
- ^ MacDonald, Lee (15 July 1987). "Business Fled After the Riots of 1967". Bridgewater New Jersey Courier-News. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Recalling the 1967 Plainfield riots". Mycentraljersey.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "INSURRECTION". Isaiah Tremaine Books. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "Commemoration of Plainfield Rebellion's 50th Anniversary Planned for Saturday". Tapinto.net. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition Public Group". Facebook. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ "National Black Theatre's 2022-23 Season Features Co-Productions With New Group, Rattlestick, Ars Nova | Playbill".
- ^ "Premiere Stages at Kean University Announces 2022 Season". NewJerseyStage.com. May 25, 2022.
- ^ Binger, rew; Griffin-Quick, Deonté; Shider, TyLie (June 13, 2022). "3 Black Theatremakers at Play (and at Work) in NJ's ArtYard". AMERICAN THEATRE.
- The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders,The Report of The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, March 1, 1968. Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
- The New York Times, various news articles, July 15–23, 1967, Aug. 5, Aug. 10, Sept. 9, 1967 and Dec. 25, 1968.
- Thomas J. Sugrueand Andrew M. Goodman, "Plainfield Burning: Black Rebellion in the Suburban North," Journal of Urban History, vol. 33 (May 2007), pp. 568–601.
- Toledo Bladenews articles, July 17, 1967.