segregation. american history will be live sunday beginning at noon eastern to explore what happened in detroit and why. we recently met educator and historian jim on jordan to learn about the uprising which led to 43 deaths, over 7000 arrest, and 5000deployment of over federal troops to restore order. >> my name is jim on jordan and ism an historic -- my name jaman jordan. tours.story charles henry a tempted to get inside 9125 twelve st which is ,hat please call a blind pig and after-hours bar. he was able to get in around 3:00 in the morning and the illegal after-hours bar was raided by police. when they raided the place they found it was not a small amount of people they are used to in these types of rates, the police confronted about 85 people who were there because to vietnam war veterans had returned to and a party was being held at the club for them. it was sunday morning. the police were at their lowest manpower so it took a long time for your them to get all of these people out. the police did not have a good relationship with the american people at that time, there had been a number of reports at that time about rampant police retell it he. the police are bringing people out, it is sunday morning but dark outside. 80 degrees. nobody had air-conditioners, poorcularly people at the neighborhoods. so a lot of people come outside, 80 degrees outside is about 100 degrees inside. initially, people are curious. but as time goes on, take so long to bring the people out of this club and put them in paddy wagons and police cars and that crowd starts to get a hostile, particularly because of the history of police brutality and detroit. it has been a long issue in the city of detroit. many of the people here were displaced by the historic african-american neighborhood and they were forced to move here after that neighbor and, urban renewal happened that day freeway was built to destroy that neighborhood so you had that issue. you had discrimination and job sites. discrimination and some of the shops and restaurants even. and in the courts, the ongoing issue of educational inequality. at the major issue that sparked it was the least brutality and how police harass african-americans in the city of detroit. said the crowd began to recite some of the incidents that have been going on to the police. a, you did not arrest the person who killed any thomas, an african-american who was killed by a cop in this neighborhood, said there 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 police officers. to join.police began as the police leave to take the less people they arrested the them incinct to put their cells and process them, -- theyd is filling up have a feeling of euphoria that they have chased the police away. when the race came back with reinforcements later, the people have reinforcements, too. and the police are forced to stand down. for the first time in a long time, the african-americans feel they have been relieved of police retell it he and he began first -- some people in his community -- particularly young man began to attack some of these doors and restaurants that had been discriminatory towards them. and some people, when the police did not respond and stop them, they began to attack other clubs and other stores and other shops and of course, looting and fires began by that evening and then a curfew was called by the governor. governor george romney. some people had been chine to protect the good stores. they understood that some of those stores work enemies are treated african-american communities in a racist fashion or discriminatory fashion but the good stores, people were trying to attack them. because of the curfew, the michigan state police arriving and then the national guard arriving, some of those people were arrested on curfew, the people who were protecting stores, and then the others would not get in the streets because they did not when you get in the crossfire. and then a lot of the fires and looting began but it was initially because of the discontent that african-americans had with a lot of issues but particularly the police brutality and that is how it all began. this 12 street neighborhood was full of businesses. neighborhood, or the green around it, was filled with stores and shops. everything you need to be at your neighborhood, true community, all of those things are just about got now and they have been gone for the most part since 1967. >> can you tell us the story about black jesus or smart cards on the morning of the second day , joe nelson, a house painter who had been driving past their everyday for his job stop there. he had been seeing this white jesus at the sacred heart cemetery for years. it always troubled him that in the heart of this african-american community this symbol of god was always this white monument. he got out that day. he wanted to participate in this uprising but he did not want to loot or burned down building sort should anyone but he wanted to show he was in solidarity was happening to african-americans and he was opposed to racists. so he got out, got on his daughter, and painted that jesus. the face, hands, the feet black. he had come up with his grandmother from benton, alabama, in what was known as the great migration and he lived in that neighborhood. that was his way of stating that he was upset with this racism and his mother, aphelion nelson, was the oldest of eight children when she left alabama. and her younger sister lucinda ross followed her later. jacqueline ross, her child, began to date a man named jim jordan and they had a child and that child was me. so joe nelson who painted this jesus black was my older cousin. he is passed away now. the same night jesus was painted black, about three blocks away from her on euclid street the police said already shot -- had already shot out all of the streetlights. see what wasld not happening. themselves could not seen. the army thought it was a bad idea but the national guard and police were not trained on dealing with this said they shot out of the streetlights and they began to believe that there were a lot of snipers. now, we know there were some snipers. but every light. every noise began to feel like snipers to these police officers and national guardsmen. at someone let a cigarette 1756 euclid street and the pleas, thinking it was his never, had the national guard chewed at the building and of course the 50 caliber bullets which go straight through the walls of the place, killed a four-year-old. the youngest victim of the 1967 rebellion. many of the victims in 1967 really people who were shot because the police thought that there was a sniper or the police thought that they were up to no good. in some cases, they may have been looting. in other cases they were innocent and it could have been handed a different way. the policede, where were primarily stated, the army was must -- much more trained to deal with this kind of things than the police or the national guard. most of the innocent killings happened in the neighborhoods where the michigan state police and the detroit please department and the national guard were stationed while the army did. have all of these fatalities. >> are there any significant differences about how things happened within neighborhoods? >> yes. neighborhood for instance, at the 10th precinct which is where it all started -- the detroite police at that time was 95% white in a city that was about 40% african-american. african-american police who came out in this neighborhood began to see how they were being treated and the inequity that the civilians were being treated by the police department and national guard and they began to stand up against it. they were then stationed in to station. they were put on desk duty said they would not be able to protest what was happening to african-americans had the hands of the police and national guard. i excited things eventually conduct? >> -- >> how did things eventually calm down? >> others game and that were much better trained and not shooting every person. so the army help to home things down somewhat. then of course, the community, some of the community leaders had been working for a while to get things called down. so you had kind of a convergence of the army and the respect for the army and their ability to be well trained and tanks coming down the street helps to get people off the street when you see tanks coming down. and some of the leaders hope to focus the immunity in a different thyroxine. people -- the community and a different direction. people should know nothing happens in a accused. these rebellions, some call the riots, they don't happen in a vacuum. knowing about those five days is important but knowing about the five decades that preceded those five days is even more important. the legacy of racism and mistreatment and economic inequality, knowing those things helps to understand better what happened in those five days in can help us find ways to prevent these kind of things from happening again. >> join us on c-span3 sunday for an american tv special. the 50th anniversary. at noon eastern, heather graham thompson of the university of michigan and detroit free press editorial page editor stephen henderson at 1:00 p.m.. and former police chief isaiah mckinnon and detroit free press editor. an american free press tv special. the detroit riots 50th anniversary. live at noon sunday on c-span3. ago, the 1967 detroit riots began, ignited by long simmering racial tensions. this week on c-span's suicide by podcast a look back at what -- on c-span's sidebar podcast, a look back at what happened. can find the sidebar and every c-span podcast on the .-span radio app ap on after words, a journalist reports on how smear tactics are used to influence public opinion. she is interviewed by washington media critic air when will. >> you hammer the washington post, who you feel has not properly reported on this saying, as opposed to donald trump why are you smearing john mccain? >> first of all, no offense to you. no. >> number two, i am not here to defend john mccain or donald trump. i think the media he had fear, people do mistaken when i criticize media behavior does not mean that i support donald trump or am cheering him on. i can see that as separate things but it is often misread as you must be supporting him or y becauseot like x or you are supporting it. it is not that. it is what i see is fair or accurate coverage. i have spoken about that including washington post coverage. >> watch on cspan2's tv. >> next on american history tv, conrad mallet, jr. remembers the 1967 detroit riot. he was a detroit free press paperboy and watched the riots unfold on the morning of july 23 and later became chief justice of the michigan supreme court. in this interview he talks about his experience that first morning. race relations, economic conditions before and after the riots. this is from detroit 1967, the oral and written history collection. >> conrad, thank you for being here today. this is part of our detroit

Related Keywords

United States , Alabama , Michigan , Washington , Jordan , Americans , America , American , Jacqueline Ross , Joe Nelson , George Romney ,