Evening star., 1943-08-14
Causes of Riots

Discussion of the causes of the
June race riots in Detroit has been
helpful in many ways, but none
more so than in distinguishing be-
tween the conditions which make
for discomfort and unrest and those
which precipitate an actual outbreak
of violence.
AS an example, for instance, of the
conditions which create racial ten
sion, Attorney General Biddle cites
the opinion of investigators who be-
lieve that improper and inadequate
housing and recreation facilities OF
Negroes, as we'll as whites, are at
least partly to blame. The whole
problem thus represented, Mr.. Biddle
said, seems to be one which requires
careful study and research before
any program can be worked out,
and particularly study by those pri-
vate organizations which are devoted
to Negro welfare"
AS an example of the actual Incl
dents which nrecipitate violence, the
report of the Governors Fact-tlndlng
Committee in Michigan, prepared by
police and court officials, mentions
several disconnected brawls pro-
yoked by Negro hoodlums, the quick
spread of infammatory rumors, and
iooting by gangs of white and Negro
Youths who caused most OF the dam
age and most of the casualties. Tnere
was nothing planned or premedi-
tated in the Detroit riots and there
was no proof of any subversive en-
envy influence.
1t might be said. then, that such
conditions as inadequate housing
and recreation, and general over
crowding are cause, and that spon-
taneous race riots are an erect. IN
p sense this would be true. Yet the
leaders of both races, working to-
gether for the solution Of a serious
problem, would do well to avoid un-
wise. and necessarily superficial, dis
cussion of race riots as the inevitable
effect of such causes as unsatisfac-
tory housing, working and other
conditions among the Negroes.
For there is a third factor which
should be carefully studied in It's
relationship both to unsatisfactory
treatment of Negro citizens and such
occasional outbreaks as the Detroit
riots. This is the influence OF an
element, both white and Negro,
which has encouraged militancy by
the Negro in seeking redress Tor MS
grievances through inf1ammatory
appeals to the very prejudices which
we should seek to eliminate. THIS
element tends to condone violence as
the logical and inevitable outcome
of the Negro's wrongs and to preolct
further outbreaks unless something
is done. The danger in this ap-
proach, of course, is that it couples
the thought of civil strife in the pub
Ac mind with the search for remedy
of unsatisfactory conditions. 1t
suggests that Negroes will take the
law into their own hands as method
Of righting their wrongs. 1t Is an
attitude, in other words, that is IN
terpreted as threat and challenge,
and unfortunately there are a great
many people ready to accept it at
that face value. This factor, accord
ing to the Michigan investigators,
was noticeable in the background OF
the Detroit outbreaks,
Riots and other evidence of unrest
In crowded war centers, magnifled
by the fever of war and abnormal
living conditions, have caused new
self-examination in our treatment OF
the Negro citizen. There are healthy
indications of a desire to find and to
remove causes of unrest. But Negro
leadership, and especially the Negro
press, should also utilize the same
opportunity for unprejudiced self
examination as to the methods
chosen for exploiting racial griev-
ances. We cannot get anywhere, or
find a meeting ground, by appeals
to prejudice and passion, or by I'M
piled threats. There is real hope for
progress through appeals to decency
and civilized concepts of human
dignity and fair treatment.