Watts Riot

Rodney King. George Floyd. Sandra Bland. The names of these victims of racial profiling may vary, but they all represent the social inequality that plagues the United States today. Their cases reveal something rotten to the core in the country's systems of policing as well as its sick meritocracy. Let's go back to 1965 to a country that was in the thick of many seismic changes in civil rights–and the Watts riots would register quite highly on this particular seismograph.

An incident instigated the Watts riots on Wednesday, August 11, 1965, in Watts, a predominantly African American, economically deprived area in the south of Los Angeles. These were the most severe riots to hit LA until the infamous Rodney King incident, which sparked the LA riots of 1992. Want to find out more? Read on for a quick primer on the Watts Riots of 1965.

Watts Riots 1965

The facts from that evening were as follows: two Black stepbrothers, Marquette and Ronald Frye were pulled over for reckless driving in front of their residence at the corner of 116th and Avalon Streets. Police administered a sobriety test to Marquette, which he subsequently failed. The pair's mother, Rena Frye, appeared from within the residence and began berating her son, causing chaos that appeared to escalate the situation.

Fig. 1 - Man arrested during Watts riots, Wikimedia Commons.

One of the officers called for backup support while the other attempted to detain the suspect. At one point, the officer attempted to subdue Frye by tapping him on the shoulder with his baton, but he instead struck Frye on the head. Soon a crowd of 50 had gathered and begun throwing objects at the officers. Another phalanx of officers arrived on the scene. The Fryes were then restrained, with Ronald being sent to jail.

Word soon spread that Rena Frye was being abused by officers, which fanned the flames of the crowd's anger. One woman spits on the police, who then chase down and grab her, further fuelling the crowd's wrath. The crowd soon swelled to less manageable numbers. The conflict appeared to die in the wee hours but flared up again just before dawn.

On the first night, there were in toto 1500 rioters. That night:

• 19 police officers were hurt.
• 31 adults were arrested.
• 12 juveniles were arrested.
• 15 civilians were injured.

Fig. 2- Burning building during the Watts riots, Wikimedia Commons

Cause of Watts Riots

While superficially, the instigating factor in the Watts riots was a mundane traffic stop gone wrong, one must examine the seething discontent underneath the surface to fully understand the root cause of the riots. A powder keg situation had been brewing for centuries in American race relations. Still, civil rights gains have contributed to a general air of Black empowerment over the last few years.

The Montgomery bus boycott that came in the wake of Rosa Parks' stand for her rights, and the attack by the police on the peaceful protesters at Selma: these incidences, among others, had fanned the flames of righteousness and discontent at the status quo and the powers that be.

Watts Los Angeles Riots

In addition, there were local considerations to be taken: much anger directed at the mayor of Los Angeles, who had turned down anti-poverty assistance and job programs earmarked for the district. Failing schools, a plummeting literacy rate, and a rapidly growing Black populace contributed to disenfranchisement and dissatisfaction.

African Americans felt targeted by white police, as racial profiling and police brutality had already become the norm. Everyone was familiar with the effects of systemic racism, and yet nothing was being done to eradicate it on a municipal or state level. The following statistics point to the beginning of a volatile mood in the LA socioeconomic landscape:

• Rapid population growth meant that the African American population had increased by over 600% from the 1940s to the 1960s.
• 2/3 of the Black population had no high school diploma.
• 1/3 of the Black population was illiterate.
• 83% of Black housing was substandard.

Watts Race Riots

All told, amid the fires, chaos, and repeated gunfire:

• 14,000 national guard troops were deployed.
• 2,000 police officers were dispatched.
• 15 civilians were injured.
• 28 people died.

Watts Riots History (Historiography)

Fig. 3- Statue of MLK

Lessons weren't learned, just as the signs of poverty and unrest were ignored as possible harbingers of trouble in 1965. Therefore now we can see the Watts riots as a precursor to Rodney King and the LA riots of 1991 in terms of its speed of escalation as well as the damage that was done.