“Where were you, oo, oo, oo,oo; I really want to know . . .” Oops and apologies to the musical group The Who whose song was “Who Are You.” Now that I have that classic reverberating in your mind, all of us remember where we were when certain tragic events took place such as JFK’s assassination, MLK’s assassination, the Space Shuttle disaster, and, of course, 911. Truly, those events shook us to the very core. I wonder which one of these events stands out the most to you. I wonder which one had the biggest impact on you. Which one of these events made you investigate what were the underlying causes for the tragedy? Did you try to learn the background of Al-Quaeda, the NASA decision making for this shuttle mission, or the Civil Rights climate of the 1960s?
But do you remember where you were when the Detroit Riots of July 23, 1967 took place? Did this event have the same impact on you as the above incidents? What were you thinking and feeling during this awful time? Unless you were like Cookie Marsh who lived in the Twelfth Street area, did this event impact you at all? Did you ever investigate why this uprising happened? Did you think that it was a race riot? Did you just dismiss it as a crazy bunch of Blacks destroying and looting their own neighborhoods?
As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the 1967 Detroit Riots, an examination of what has changed must be made. During this year prior to the anniversary, the least that we can do is to try to understand why they happened in the first place. For instance, do you refer to it as a “race riot”? It was a riot by members of the human race, but it was not between the black and white races per se. This examination should be made by even those too young to remember or those not even born back then.
Cookie Marsh and a group of his colleagues are involved in planning a memorial to the event. This, of course, it will not be a celebration but a time of reflection. Has life gotten better for the African-Americans? Certainly the Riots were a resounding cry for help. Tragic events should make us think, feel, and investigate. Ignorance is never an excuse for rash judgment and stereotyping. We all know the meatheads that have it all together. They are the loud mouths that proclaim their myopic views in an authoritative tone. Intelligent people realize that there is more to an issue besides their personal feelings. Intelligent people try to pursue all sides of a topic. You have heard it said before, “The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.”
In conclusion, “Where Were You?” most assuredly should help determine “Who Are You?”
I was 16 years old, living in a housing project with a diverse mix of races and ethnicities on the far eastside of Detroit. We heard rumors of fires and looting on the westside but after a day or two the rumors of similar activity had spread east. There was a dusk to dawn curfew and I was too scared to go outside at all. I think the fires and looting pretty much stopped at Conner Ave. Probably because there was a large military presence in Chandler Park. During the daylight hours some of my friends and neighbors began sharing items picked up from places outside of our housing project. One night I heard a shot and saw one of my friends running from soldiers following him in a jeep.
Historians tell us there were a couple of apparently unrelated but simultaneous police operations that somehow turned into people setting businesses and homes on fire, shooting at police officers and fire fighters. I do not believe we will ever know the real reason(s) why the so called Detroit Riot of July 1967 happened. It did not make sense to me as a 16 year old then and it does not make sense to me at age 65 now.