The long, hot summer of 1967 refers to the more than 150

race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

that erupted across the United States in the summer of 1967. In June there were riots in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, Buffalo, and

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. In July there were riots in Birmingham, Chicago,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, Newark, New Britain,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Plainfield, Rochester, and Toledo. The most destructive riots of the summer took place in July, in Detroit and Newark; many contemporary newspapers headlines described them as "battles". As a result of the rioting in the summer of 1967 and the preceding two years, President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

established the

Kerner Commission The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner Jr. of Illinois, was an 11-member Presidential Commission established in July 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in to in ...

to investigate the rioting and urban issues of Black Americans.

History

A history of institutionalized unemployment, abusive policing, and poor housing was already present in certain areas of the United States. Riots began to flare up across the country but especially during the summer months. With rioting in urban areas across the country, and the

Summer of Love The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury ...

occurring in hippie communities, Americans were witnessing US troop movements in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

shown on the nightly television news. At the end of July, President Lyndon B. Johnson set up the

to investigate the riots; in 1968 it released a report blaming pervasive societal inequalities in American ghettos for the riots. By September 1967, 83 people were dead, thousands were injured, tens of millions of dollars worth of property had been destroyed and entire neighborhoods had been burned.

Reactions

It is in the context of having been through the "long, hot, summer" that in December 1967, Miami police chief Walter E. Headley uttered the now-infamous phrase, "

When the looting starts, the shooting starts "When the looting starts, the shooting starts" is a phrase originally used by Walter E. Headley, the police chief of Miami, Florida, in response to an outbreak of violent crime during the 1967 Christmas holiday season. He accused "young hoodlum ...

", after which

Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democ ...

, Richard Daley and

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...

also spoke out in favor of a hardline approach towards looters and rioters. The Republicans, although a minority party in the House of Representatives, were split over how to respond to the rioting, despite common historiographical perceptions which depict them as being entirely in favor of a "law and order" styled approach. In early July 1967, the Justice Department met with local media to ask for "restraint in reporting". In December of the same year, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' asked a psychologist about "deterrents" and was told that the riots would continue.

Polling

In a March 1968 Harris poll reported in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', 37% of Americans agreed with the Kerner Commission's report that the 1967 race riots were brought on mainly by inequalities; 49% disagreed. A majority of whites (53%) rejected the idea, with just 35% agreeing. In contrast, 58% of blacks supported it, and only 17% disagreed.

Political response

Throughout the summer that year, both the Republican and Democratic parties were split on how to handle the riots. In both parties two factions existed: one that advocated for

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

, and another that supported an approach based on

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

. Democrats held the majority of seats in both Houses of Congress while the Republicans held the minority. Despite common historiographical perceptions that depict the Republicans as being entirely in favor of a "law and order" styled approach to the riots, there was division in the party. President Johnson's popularity levels decreased that summer because of the riots. During July, conservatives in the Republican Party dominated its response to the riots. Republicans believed this would be an opportunity to attack President Johnson and his War on Poverty initiative. Many Republicans would end up blaming Johnson for what happened that summer and many supported cutting back on programs that benefited urban areas. In the Senate, Republicans took a largely different approach that month than those who were in the House with most Republican Senators supporting supported Johnson's anti urban poverty programs. In the 1968 presidential primaries, the two factions of law and order along with social justice would clash in the Republican Party.

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

would orientate himself as a law and order candidate,

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

siding with the justice faction and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

catering to both factions. Nixon would end up emerging victorious. Nixon called to control crime, scale back the War on Poverty and encourage

black capitalism Black capitalism is a political movement among African Americans, seeking to build wealth through the ownership and development of businesses. Black capitalism has traditionally focused on African-American businesses, although some critics and ...

as a way to "restore urban areas".

List of riots

Some of the riots include:

References

Bibliography

* * {{Cite journal , last=McLay , first=Mark , date=2018 , title=THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE LONG, HOT SUMMER OF 1967 IN THE UNITED STATES , url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/republican-party-and-the-long-hot-summer-of-1967-in-the-united-states/312C869604A4F19259F289526A26CE34/share/d13c602f5d82e47c51f0d40436168d3274f4de68#pf3 , journal=

The Historical Journal ''The Historical Journal'', formerly known as ''The Cambridge Historical Journal'', is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. It publishes approximately thirty-five articles per year on all aspects of British, ...

, publisher=Cambridge University Press , volume=61 , issue=4 , pages=1089–1111 , doi=10.1017/S0018246X17000504 , s2cid=159854923 , via=CambridgeCore