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Friday May 9th 2008 |
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Friday May 9th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
May 17
The incident raised American awareness of the sometimes-explosive nature of neglected urban life. Violence erupted in Dade County, Florida, that summer night, when people of Liberty City, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, learned of the verdict in a case of white-on-black police brutality. The acquittal of five White police officers that had been accused of beating a Black motorist to death sparked the violence. Furious Blacks threw bricks, rocks, and bottles at White suburban motorists who had to drive through Liberty City to reach a main Miami highway. Also, an apparently peaceful protest, sponsored by the NAACP, failed to produce a speaker. Soon, the discouraged crowd joined in the violence, attacking the Dade County Department of Public Safety headquarters and local White-owned businesses. Miami police and the National Guard restored order with roadblocks and guns. By the time the rioting ceased the following morning, 855 people had been arrested and eighty million dollars worth of property damaged. In the skirmishes between Blacks and White motorists, eight White people and ten African-Americans had died. The catalyst for this event occurred in December 1979. Police officers had pursued an African-American motorcyclist, Arthur McDuffie, in a high-speed chase. Although the officers claimed that the chase ended when McDuffie crashed his motorcycle and died, the coroner's report concluded otherwise. One of the pursuing officers cleared up the story, testifying that five of his fellow policemen had beaten McDuffie with their flashlights. According to his testimony, the officer’s murdered McDuffie after McDuffie forcefully resisted arrest. An all-white jury acquitted the officers after brief deliberation. For the Miami police, the McDuffie case was one incident in a history of unpunished malfeasance and neglected allegations. The 1980 riot dispelled the illusion that the racially motivated uprisings of the 1960s were a thing of the past. Reference: The Associated Press permissions 450 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001.
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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