Malcolm McLaughlin. The Long, Hot Summer of 1967

The summer of 1967 marked the crest of the urban crisis in the U.S. Some type of violent race-related outbreak occurred in 159 cities, including a number of minor disturbances, as well as larger incidents. In July, a riot broke out in Newark, New Jersey, that led to twenty-six deaths, hundreds of injuries, and ten million dollars in property damage. One week later, Detroit, Michigan, erupted in a riot that resulted in the deaths of forty-three more people, over seven thousand arrests, and the devastation of a once-mighty capital of American industry. The riots arrived at a political moment of surging unrest over Vietnam, race, and poverty, accompanied by a conservative outcry for “law and order.” The Long, Hot Summer of 1967: Urban Rebellion in America does not provide a comprehensive history of that year’s violence. It neither digs deeply into the inner workings of black communities that exploded in protest nor adds particular insight into the mindset of politicians and police that employed brutal force against poor black people. It offers, however, an essential understanding of particular political and cultural responses to the summer riots of 1967. Most important, it advances a radical critique of how Great Society liberals responded to that summer’s chaos. “[T]he crisis that was brought about by urban rebellion,” writes Malcolm McLaughlin, was “a missed opportunity to renew American democratic culture” (17).

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