Watts Riots

Setting the scene

The Watts riots erupted August 11-16, 1965, in Watts, Los Angeles, after a white police officer stopped Black motorist Marquette Frye for drunk driving. A crowd gathered, rumors spread of police brutality, and fighting broke out. The riots lasted six days, involving 34,000 people.

What happened

Rioters looted stores and burned buildings—1,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. The National Guard was deployed. The riots killed 34 people, injured 1,000, and caused $40 million in damage. The McCone Commission blamed poverty, unemployment, and police racism.

Why it still matters

Watts marked the beginning of urban uprisings in the 1960s and showed that civil rights legislation had not solved economic inequality. It demonstrated the depth of Black anger in northern ghettos and led to the Kerner Commission report warning America was becoming 'two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.'

Background

Kerner Commission later warned of two societies.