NCJ Number
5535
Date Published
1969
Length
33 pages
Annotation
A SOCIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF CHANGED PATTERNS OF COLLECTIVE RACIAL VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES OVER THE LAST CENTURY.
Abstract
THE TRANSFORMATION IN THE PATTERNS OF COLLECTIVE RACIAL VIOLENCE IN URBAN AREAS OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS IS TRACED THROUGH THREE DIFFERENT PHASES. THE TYPICAL RACE RIOT OF THE PERIOD OF WORLD WAR I AND THEREAFTER, THE COMMUNAL RIOT, WAS AN INTERRACIAL CLASH, AN ECOLOGICALLY BASED STRUGGLE AT THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EXPANDING BACK NEIGHBORHOODS. DURING WORLD WAR II, COMMUNAL RIOTS BEGAN TO GIVE WAY TO LARGE-SCALE OUTBURSTS WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. THESE RIOTS REPRESENTED A FORM OF COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR AGAINST THE AGENTS AND SYMBOLS OF THE LARGER SOCIETY. THEY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS COMMODITY RIOTS BECAUSE OF THE EXTENSIVE LOOTING THAT GIVES SYMBOLIC MEANING TO THESE OUTBURSTS. THE COMMODITY-TYPE RIOTS THAT REACHED A HIGH POINT DURING THE PERIOD OF 1964-67 HAVE SHOWN SIGNS OF BEING REPLACED BY A NEW FORM OF RACIAL VIOLENCE, A MORE SELECTIVE, TERRORISTIC USE OF FORCE WITH POLITICAL OVERTONES, AGAIN MAINLY AGAINST WHITES, BY SMALL ORGANIZED GROUPS OF BLACKS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)