We recently met historian and educator jordan in detroits gordon park to learn about the uprising, which led to 43 deaths over 7000 arrests, and the deployment of 5000 federal troops to restore order. I am a historian and a leader with black World History and torn i do towards drop the city of detroit. What happened on july 23, 1967 . Officerndercover attempted to get inside of 9125 the street, which was police thought an illegal afterhours bar. After he was able to get in at 3 00 in the morning, the bar was rated by the police for breaking the law. And when they raided the place, they found it was not a small but the policee, confronted about 85 people who were there because two vietnam war veterans had returned, and the party being held at the club was for them. And it was sunday morning. The police were at their lowest manpower, so it took them a long time to get all of these people out. The police did not have a Good Relationship with the Africanamerican Community at that time. There were a number of complaints for decades about racist Police Brutality. As the police are bringing people out, it is sunday morning , but still nighttime, still dark outside, but 80 degrees. No one had airconditioning, especially for people. So sometimes people come outside to get away from the heat. 80 degrees outside is about 100 degrees inside the home. People are coming out of the sea, initially, curious to see what is going on, but as time goes on, it takes so long to bring the people out of this club and put them in paddy wagons and police cars, the ,rowd begins to get hostile particularly because of the history of Police Brutality in the city of detroit. The other issue on the table with the Africanamerican Community, how the discrimination had been a long going issue in detroit . Meaning the people who were here were displaced from the bottom, the historic africanamerican neighborhood and were forced to move here after that area urban or no happened and he freeway was built to destroy that neighborhood. So, you had that issue. You had discrimination and jobs. Discrimination even at the shops and restaurants. And of course, you had an ongoing issue with educational inequality. But the major issue that really sparked it was Police Brutality. And the issue of how police harassed africanamericans in detroit. And so, the crowd began to recite some of these kinds of incidents that had been going on in detroit to the police. Hey, you did not arrest the person that killed danny thomas, and africanamerican killed in the park that lived in this neighborhood. They were beginning to recite some of their grievances, and eventually, someone in the crowd , williams got the third, the son of the owner of the club, began to throw bricks and bottles at the officers. In the crowd began to join with him. As the police leave to take the last people they arrested to the them in theirut cells and process them, the the feeling of euphoria that they chased the police away. Back,en the police came the Community Connect with reinforcements and the police are forced to stand down for the first time in a long time. Africanamericans felt like they had been relieved from police oppression, or Police Brutality. And they begin first, some people in this community, particularly the young men, began to attack some of the stores and restaurants that have been his criminal towards them. And in some people, when the police did not respond, and did not stop them, and they started arresting them, they begin to attack other stores and other shops. And then of course looting, and fires began by that evening. And then a curfew was called by the governor. Some people have been trying to protect the good stores. They understood that some of those stores were enemies, or to the Africanamerican Community in a racist fashion. But the good stores, people were trying to protect them. Thebecause of the curfew, Michigan State police arriving, then the National Guard arriving, some of those people were arrested on curfew violations are even trying to protect stores, and others refused to get out of the streets so they did not get in the crossfire said the police. And then, a lot of the fires, and a lot of the looting began. But it was initially because of the discontent that africanamericans had with a lot of issues, but particularly, the Police Brutality. That is how it all began. And his 12 street neighborhood was full of businesses, so all of the green space you see now would have been filled with restaurants, stores, shops, all the things a neighborhood would need to be a true neighborhood, true community. Justhe things that are about gone now, and they have been gone for the most part since making 67. Since 1967. Can you tell us the story of black jesus . The morning of the second day , joe nelson, a painter who had been driving past that everyday for his job, stopped there and he had been seeing this one jesus on the corner of chicago and lynnwood at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary for years. That ins troubled him the heart of this Africanamerican Community, this symbol of god was always depicted as a white monument. And he wanted to participate in this uprising, but he did not want to loot or burn down buildings, or shoot anyone. But he wanted to show that he was in solidarity with what was happening to africanamericans. And he was opposed to racism. So he got out, got on his ladder , and painted that jesus black. He had come up with his mother from alabama during what is known as the great migration, and he lived in that neighborhood. Way of statings that he was upset with this racism. And his mother, ulf ilha nelson was the oldest of eight children. And when she left alabama, her younger sister followed her later. And she got married later and had a child. Jaclyn ross began to date a man called jim jordan and they had a child, and that child was me. Joe nelson, who painted the ,esus black is my older cousin or was my older cousin come he has passed away now. That same night, the same that the diesel painted black, about three blocks away on euclid street, the Police Authority shot out all of the streetlights. So people cannot see what was happening. And the police themselves could not see. The army thought it was a bad idea, but the police and National Guard were not trained on dealing with this. So they shut out all the streetlights, and they began to believe that people that there were a lot of snipers. We know that there were some snipers, but every light, every noise began to feel like snipers to the police and National Guardsmen. At someone lit a cigarette 1756 euclid street. Police thinking it was a sniper have the National Guard shoot at the building, and of course, the 50 caliber bullets which go straight through the walls of the place killed a fouryearold. Of was the youngest victim the 1954 rebellion. 1967 arehe victims in really people who were shocked because the police thought there was a sniper, or Police Department they were doing something up to no good. In some cases, they could have been looting, but in other cases, they were innocent. It couldve been handled a different way. On the e side where the army was stationed, these types of shooting did not happen because they were trained to deal with this kind of thing than the police and the National Guard. Most of the innocent civilians killings happened in this neighborhood, where the police, the Michigan State police and the detroit Police Department and the National Guard were stationed while the army did not have all of these fatalities. Are there any other significant differences neighborhood to neighborhood about how things happened . Yes. In this neighborhood, for instance, at the 10th precinct, where it all started from, the police, the detroit Police Department at that time was 95 white and a city that was 40 africanamerican. Eventually africanamerican police who came out in this neighborhood began to see how they were being thated and the inequity the civilians are being treated by the Police Department and the National Guard. They begin to stand up against it. They were being stationed, put on desk duty so they could not protest what was happening to africanamericans at the hands of the police and the National Guard. How did things eventually, let down . When the army comes in, that helps because there is a level of respect for the army, number one. They are 30 africanamerican, and much better trained. And they are not shooting every innocent person. So, the army helped to calm things down somewhat. And then of course, the the communitye of leaders had been working for a while to get things calmed down. You had a convergence of the army and the respect for the army, and their ability to be welltrained, and takes coming down the street helps to get people off of the street when you see tamks coming down, and some Community Leaders began to help the focus the committee in a different direction. People should know that none of these things happen in a vacuum. Uprisings, these rebellions, some people call them riots, they dont happen in a vacuum. There is decades of history. So, knowing about those five days is important, but knowing about the five decades that perceived those five days is even more important because knowing about the legacy of racism, and mistreatment, and economic inequality, knowing those things helps to understand better what happened in those five days, i can help us find ways to prevent these kinds of things from happening again. Us on cspan3, sunday, for an American History tv live special, the 1967 detroit riots, 50th anniversary. That new easter, Pulitzer Prize ofner Heather Anne Thompson the university of michigan and Detroit Free Press editorialpage editor stephen henderson. Eastern, police anef and journalist, American History tv special, the 1967 detroit riots 50th anniversary, live sunday at new easter on cspan3. Sunday night on afterwards, a journalist reports on house near tactics are used influence Public Opinion in her book. Shes interviewed by a media critic. You dont stick up for mccain. You hammer the washington post, who you feel has not properly reported on this incident, as opposed to saying, hey, donald trump, what are you smearing john mccain . Number one, no offense to you. Number two, i am not here to defend john mccain of donald trump. Trump. I think the media behavior and people do when you criticize media behavior. It doesnt mean i support him or am cheering him on. I consider those separate things , but it is misread often as you must not like x or y, you must be supporting him. It has nothing to do with that. It has what to do with what i think is fair or accurate about the candidate. I have spoken out about that. Watch sunday night at 9 00 tv. Rn on cspan book each week we visit historic museums and places. Up next, we visit the franklin d at hydelt museum park in new york. Mr. Eberhardt