In what became known as the “long, hot summer” of 1967, injustice stemming from the frustrations of poverty and unemployment, the systematic denial of employment opportunities by white-owned businesses and city services by white-led municipal governments, and mistreatment by white or mostly white police forces led to explosive confrontations between black residents and the forces that oppressed them. The deadliest and most destructive riots took place in Newark, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan. However, even smaller cities, such as Cambridge, Maryland, experienced unrest. What follows are brief sketches of the violent episodes that gripped each of these cities during the summer of 1967.
