Читать книгу Freedom Facts and Firsts - Jessie Carney Smith - Страница 101

This racial disturbance took place between July 24 and 26, 1964, sending shock waves through a city known for successful corporations and institutions such as Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The riot underscored social and economic differences between black and white communities and immediately followed a similar outbreak in Harlem on July 18 the same year. The event that led to the riot was the arrest of a 19-year-old African American man at a Friday night street dance in the city’s Seventh Ward, in the area of Nassau Street and Joseph Avenue. Rumors spread that a child was attacked by a police dog and that a pregnant woman was hit by a police officer, and the crowd erupted into violence. Rochester Police Chief William Lombard attempted to get the crowd to disperse, but rioters overturned his car and threw objects at other police vehicles. By 3:30 A.M., on July 25, the crowd was estimated at 4,000, and a state of emergency was declared at 4:20 A.M. Despite a curfew and attempts by local African American leaders to discourage further violence, rioting in the city’s Third Ward continued until the National Guard arrived in the city on Sunday, July 26. By the time order was restored on Sunday evening, four people were dead, nearly 400 were reported injured, from 800 to 1,000 had been arrested, and property damage was estimated at over $1 million.

Fletcher F. Moon