Cleveland Civil Disorders of 1966 to 1968

National Guardsmen posted in Dayton, Ohio, assigned to reestablish order as racially motivated riots and protests around the state erupt in response to the Cleveland Hough Riots. Courtesy of Ohio History Central.

Going back in time from the more the global focus of the Seattle WTO Protests of 1999 to earlier 1960s America, an example of protest that hits closer to home can be found. Taking a more local look at American protests in the 20th Century, Cleveland, Ohio, was host to civil unrest, be it through violent and non-violent protest. Even though the degree of influence of Cleveland on national politics in the late 20th century and present-day has become questionable, the city was an epicenter for social change and upheaval.

According to Ohio History Central, the events of the national Civil Rights movement, especially the aspects under influence of Dr. Martin Luther King had manifested within Cleveland during the 1950s and 1960s; those two decades is considered the height of the movement. Following the passage of the national Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, racially fueled protests erupted throughout the eastside of the metropolis. Older residents generally supported equal rights, chiefly between blacks and whites, however, younger whites saw their future bleak and clashed with protestors who were for equality but did not agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s methods of non-violence, as also evidenced by Ohio History Central. The pro-equality rioters believed that violence was justified to seek justice as an end, which directly calls upon the arguments found within Gaudium et Spes. Only with the help of 2200 national guardsmen was order reestablished in the first round of riots.

The Civil Disturbances in Cleveland from 1966 to 1968 are characteristic of not one riot, rather a series of events, including, but not limited to, picket protests, marches, brawls, looting, and vandalism. The default state of Cleveland in this time was chaos. My grandfather, Paul DeGrandis Jr., a prominent and recognized Cleveland city council member and political activist found himself and his family at the center of the disturbances. My aunt Mary Anne, daughter of Paul, who recalls soldiers and army vehicles rolling up and down Euclid Avenue. My mother remembers attending a political rally that my grandfather was hosting, and her and her siblings were rushed under the grandstand to hide as crowds started dispersing rapidly as a threat of racially motivated violence was thought to be happening.

Firefighters spray water on a raging fire in the Hough neighborhood, via PBS WVIZ ideastream.

          A part of this chaos, and quite frankly, the epicenter and culmination of the Disturbances were the Hough Riots. The riots were racial in nature, with clashes between blacks and whites in the African-American neighborhood of Hough, Cleveland. Cleveland native, Bennie Jean Johnson details her recollection of just how uncertain and chaotic the events were. Who was hurting who at many points of the Disturbances became unclear to most residents. The smoke would have to clear before the truth could be found. Arson fires ravaged several blocks of the neighborhood. Arson and riots all together resulted in the death of four African Americans. 2,200 National Guardsmen were called into Cleveland to reestablish order, in a city hellbent on chaos. An interview conducted by CSU Digital Humanities with Larry Rivers, a 15-year old resident at the time helps shed light on the experience of being in the center of such a turbulent place in time and space. Rivers mentions that part of the fuel for the riots was the living conditions of Hough and other East Cleveland communities; a theme other sources portray for both blacks and whites. WVIZ ideastream provides an overview of the Disturbances and how affordable housing and the questionable standard of living prompted this crisis, even soliciting visitations by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Cleveland was in the national spotlight.

Finally, the papal document Gaudium et Spes provides a model, a rule of thumb, of the role of government and the balance between the people and the governmental state that is put in place to ensure the common good of all people. It can be ascertained that riots, defined by mob violence, as well as senseless murders of innocents,  is not allowed under the provisions of this document. Neither riots nor racial murders further the interest of the common good as seen in Gaudium, and thus are deemed unjustified in this crucial maintenance of a functioning and compassionate civil society.