• History

Lessons for Baltimore From 1968

6 minute read

In the 20 years that I have lived in Baltimore City, I have seen guns fired only twice; in each instance the targets were black men and the shooters were police. In one case the officer was trying to stop a group of men who had apparently stolen a car. They bailed out in front of my house, and as they were running away, the officer fired, but missed. In the second case the officer’s aim was better; an assailant held up a medical student on a bicycle, then ran through traffic right in front of our car. An off-duty cop saw the scuffle and fired. He turned out to be a 14-year-old with a BB gun. The boy lay in the street, shot in the stomach; my 12-year-old son and I waited until the police told us to move on. I called my district and set up an appointment with a detective. No one ever came to question me.

Those incidents came back to me this week when the death of Freddie Gray triggered days of peaceful protests that splintered into something uglier on Saturday, and anti-police violence erupted on Monday. But those weren’t the only moments from the past that seemed worth thinking about. The looting and arson led to comparisons to the unrest that followed the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—and, as an assistant professor of history at the University of Baltimore who has studied Baltimore in 1968, I can see a number of similarities. After several days of peaceful commemoration of Dr. King’s death, disenfranchised youth instigated disturbances in fifteen neighborhood commercial districts. Curfews were imposed, just as they were in Baltimore this week, and hundreds of citizens were eventually swept into custody. During both of the crises, members of the clergy of all faiths walked the streets in attempts to restore order.

But the real link between the two moments, 1968 and today, runs deeper than that. It’s not about the appearance of similarity, but rather the causes and effects.

As UB discovered in a community-based, multi-disciplinary examination of the riots 40 years later, the causes and consequences of urban unrest are complex and multifaceted. As part of our project, our diverse student body interviewed their friends and family, and we heard stories that illustrated deep systemic trends that led to generations of anger and frustration: practices in the private sector like residential covenants that forbade sales to black and Jewish buyers, federal policies like redlining that discouraged bank loans to poor and aging neighborhoods, urban renewal policies that used federal funds to build highways that cut neighborhoods off from the rest of Baltimore; limited job opportunities as Baltimore’s blue-collar jobs began to evaporate. All of those forces had been at work long before Dr. King’s assassination, and, as we see violence along the same streets almost five decades later, Baltimoreans still feel their effects today.

Baltimore Protests, Then and Now

Baltimore Arrest During Riot
A man is carried away by police during riots in Baltimore, 1968. Afro American Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images
Baltimore Police officers arrest a man following the funeral of Freddie Gray near Mowdamin Mall in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.
Baltimore Police officers arrest a man following the funeral of Freddie Gray near Mowdamin Mall in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.Drew Angerer—Getty Images
Students Demonstrating
Students demonstrate during a Black Power event at Morgan State University in Baltimore on April 6, 1968.Afro American Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images
Protestors participate in a vigil for Freddie Gray down the street from the Baltimore Police Department's Western District police station in Baltimore on April 21, 2015.
Protestors participate in a vigil for Freddie Gray down the street from the Baltimore Police Department's Western District police station in Baltimore on April 21, 2015.Drew Angerer—Getty Images
National Guardsmen seal off a business-residential section of Baltimore and prepare to use tear gas against looters on April 8, 1968.
National Guardsmen seal off a business-residential section of Baltimore and prepare to use tear gas against looters on April 8, 1968.Baltimore News-American/AP
Baltimore Police form a perimeter around a CVS pharmacy that was looted and burned in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.
Baltimore Police form a perimeter around a CVS pharmacy that was looted and burned in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images
Smoke billows from a liquor store which was looted during the third day of violence, which saw over 400 fires, in Baltimore on April 8, 1968.
Smoke billows from a liquor store which was looted during the third day of violence, which saw over 400 fires, in Baltimore on April 8, 1968. Baltimore News-American/AP
Fire figthers respond to a fire at a CVS pharmacy in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.
Fire fighters respond to a fire at a CVS pharmacy in Baltimore on April 27, 2015.Sait Serkan Gurbuz—Reuters
Baltimore City police pin down a curfew breaker in Baltimore on April 9, 1968.
Baltimore City police pin down a curfew breaker in Baltimore on April 9, 1968.AP
Law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator on Gilmore Avenue near Baltimore Police Department Western District during a protest against the death of Gray in police custody, in Baltimore
Law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator on Gilmore Avenue near Baltimore Police Department Western District during a protest against the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore on April 25, 2015. Sait Serkan Gurbuz—Reuters

We also heard stories about businesses that were destroyed after families had poured years of effort and capital into them. In 1968 the Pats family lost its pharmacy on West North Avenue, just a few blocks from the CVS that burned this Monday evening. Their business was looted, then their entire block was burned, including their apartment. Their neighbors, who lost their jewelry store, had been relocated to Baltimore after surviving the Holocaust. Baltimore’s retail sector has still not recovered in many areas of the city. A number of neighborhoods have been declared food deserts, and no department store exists within the city limits. When a Target arrived at Mondawmin Mall and hired city residents, Baltimoreans welcomed it. But on Monday night we watched with dismay as looters ran out of Mondawmin, their arms full of merchandise.

In 1968, the governor of Maryland called out the National Guard, just as Governor Larry Hogan did on Monday night, and soon tanks patrolled the city streets. The unrest quieted, and by the end of the week the Orioles held opening day on schedule.

Here’s where the stories diverge. Maryland’s then-governor, Spiro Agnew, rode the wake of Baltimore’s disturbances right into the White House, using his tough-on-crime reputation to become Richard Nixon’s vice-presidential running mate. It is too simplistic to say that the policing approach Agnew advocated led directly to the kind of practices that killed Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner. We cannot exclude from the list of causes Nixon’s War on Drugs, the crack epidemic of the 1980s and ‘90s, the growth of the prison-industrial complex, and the continuing hemorrhaging of blue-collar jobs from America’s aging industrial cities—but the reaction to the urban riots of the 1960s certainly started us down this path.

The similarities can stop. Knowledge of the aftermath of 1968 can help prevent its repetition. In the early 1970s law and order policing reinforced divisions around race, class, and geography in an attempt to lock up the problems instead of addressing them. We can learn from those mistakes. On Tuesday morning the NAACP announced that they would open a satellite office in Sandtown-Winchester, Freddie Gray’s neighborhood, to provide counsel to residents on a host of legal issues, including police misconduct. An external oversight board to monitor reports of police violence would serve as a powerful partner in this effort. Out on the streets on Tuesday morning, Baltimoreans worked together to clean up the debris from the night. I hope that as we work we will find a chance to tell each other our stories, and that this time we will listen.

The Long View

Historians explain how the past informs the present

Elizabeth M. Nix is a professor of legal, ethical and historical studies at the University of Baltimore, and co-editor with Jessica Elfenbein and Thomas Hollowak of Baltimore ’68: Riots and Rebirth in An American City.

 

What Baltimore Looked Like in the Aftermath of the Riot of 1968

In a Baltimore ghetto, Mrs. Judy Brookhouser watches from the caged window of her apartment in "The Compound" —the guarded complex operated by Johns Hopkins Hospital for families of staff doctors.
Caption from LIFE. In a Baltimore ghetto, Mrs. Judy Brookhouser watches from the caged window of her apartment in "The Compound" —the guarded complex operated by Johns Hopkins Hospital for families of staff doctors.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
To safeguard against break-ins and looting, many merchants have adopted the newest style in urban architecture—"Riot Renaissance." Window displays are eliminated, and so are the windows. At a dry-cleaning shop, striped sheets of plywood now cover the facade.
Caption from LIFE. To safeguard against break-ins and looting, many merchants have adopted the newest style in urban architecture—"Riot Renaissance." Window displays are eliminated, and so are the windows. At a dry-cleaning shop, striped sheets of plywood now cover the facade.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
At a grocery, faint outlines around the new brick betray the former presence of shop windows.
Caption from LIFE. At a grocery, faint outlines around the new brick betray the former presence of shop windows.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
At a supermarket, solid walls of concrete block replace riot-smashed plate glass.
Caption from LIFE. At a supermarket, solid walls of concrete block replace riot-smashed plate glass.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Caption from LIFE. This loaded revolver, in a holster nailed to the back of the counter, is one of five guns kept within easy reach by the owner of a pawnshop in a high-crime area.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
At a drive-in restaurant plagued by brawling, three "rent-a-cops" —looking more authoritative in wide brimmed hats than city police—stand guard on weekends.
Caption from LIFE. At a drive-in restaurant plagued by brawling, three "rent-a-cops" —looking more authoritative in wide brimmed hats than city police—stand guard on weekends.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Past the darkened marble stoops that are Baltimore's hallmark, Mrs. Barbara Ringgold walks home after working late—escorted by Tiny, her German shepherd.
Caption from LIFE. Past the darkened marble stoops that are Baltimore's hallmark, Mrs. Barbara Ringgold walks home after working late—escorted by Tiny, her German shepherd.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Prisoners of fear and old age, these residents of a Baltimore public housing project—Lawrence Puccia and his wife, both 87—never go out at night.
Caption from LIFE. Prisoners of fear and old age, these residents of a Baltimore public housing project—Lawrence Puccia and his wife, both 87—never go out at night.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Baltimore, 1969.
Baltimore, 1969.Bill Eppridge—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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