Cambridge riot of 1967 facts for kids

The Cambridge riot of 1967 was one of many protests that happened in cities across the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". This event took place on July 24, 1967, in Cambridge, Maryland. For many years, there had been strong feelings about race in Cambridge. Black people were not treated equally and faced many challenges.

Activists had been protesting since 1961. There was another protest in June 1963 after the governor sent in the military. Later, an agreement called "The Treaty of Cambridge" was made in July 1963. This agreement started to bring equal rights to the city before new federal laws were passed.

On the evening of July 24, 1967, H. Rap Brown gave a speech. After his speech, black residents tried to march and faced the police. Brown was hurt and taken out of Cambridge by his supporters. About an hour later, unrest started in the black community. An elementary school was set on fire. The fire department did not come for two hours, so the fire spread. It destroyed seventeen other buildings on Pine Street, which was a very important area for African-American life in the city.

Governor Spiro Agnew wanted Brown to be blamed for starting the unrest. The FBI helped find Brown, and he was arrested within two days.

Why the Riot Happened

The Cambridge riot of 1967 showed the frustration and anger of black people in Cambridge. They had been treated unfairly by state laws and customs. This area used to have large farms that depended on the work of enslaved African Americans. In the mid-1900s, many black people worked in low-paying jobs in the growing chicken industry. But they still earned low wages and often could not find work.

Schools and public places had mostly become desegregated after the June 1963 protest and "Treaty of Cambridge." However, black people still faced economic inequality. This meant they did not have the same chances to get good jobs or make a good living.

Early Protests for Equality

In 1961, the Freedom Riders came to Cambridge. They were part of a movement to end segregation on buses and in bus stations. Many of these activists were students from colleges like Howard University. Some were also members of civil rights groups like SNCC or CORE.

The black community in Cambridge also held its own protests. They did "sit-ins" in 1962 and 1963 to protest segregated places. In June 1963, the governor sent the National Guard into the city. On June 11, a protest led to shots being fired. This happened after white people attacked black protesters who were marching to the Dorchester County Courthouse.

Robert F. Kennedy, who was the Attorney General at the time, called a meeting in Washington, D.C. He brought together black and white leaders from Cambridge. He hoped to make an agreement that would help the city move forward and end the protests. Gloria Richardson, a leader of the Cambridge Movement, was there. They signed "The Treaty of Cambridge." This agreement added an equal rights rule to the city's official rules.

During 1963, the city desegregated its schools, library, hospital, and other public places. Black activists also pushed for more economic growth in the county. They wanted actions that would help black people improve their financial situation. In 1964, they joined a voter registration drive. They wanted to elect a state representative who would work for economic progress in the county.

H. Rap Brown's Influence

In late 1964, Gloria Richardson left Cambridge. She moved to New York and married a photographer named Frank Dandridge. In New York, she met Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, also known as H. Rap Brown. He was a black activist who believed in strong resistance. He said that African Americans could only win their rights through force.

Many cities had protests and unrest during the summer of 1967. Important civil rights laws had been passed in 1964 and 1965. But African Americans still faced many economic problems in their local communities.

H. Rap Brown was one of the activists who came to Cambridge. The local black community there continued to push for better conditions and opportunities. On the evening of July 24, 1967, a group of 20 to 30 black citizens from Cambridge began marching toward Race Street. A group of police officers stopped them.

After telling the group to stop, Deputy Sheriff Wesley Burton fired his shotgun twice without warning. One shot bounced off the ground and hit H. Rap Brown in the head. Because of this, Brown was taken out of Cambridge. Earlier that evening, Brown had stood on a car and said, "If Cambridge doesn't come around, Cambridge got to be burned down."

What Happened After

About an hour after people learned that Brown had been shot, black residents began to protest strongly. Police officers and African Americans exchanged gunfire on the streets of Cambridge. A black elementary school on Pine Street was burned down during the unrest. This school was the social center of the black community in Dorchester County. Its loss was very hard for the community.

The fire department, which was all white, did not respond to the fire. Some people said they claimed that if black people started the fire, they should put it out. Many black residents reportedly tried to put out the fire with buckets of water, but the fire was too big.

All the buildings on Pine Street burned down. A total of 17 buildings were destroyed. After these events, Governor Spiro Agnew blamed H. Rap Brown for the damage. He said it was because of Brown's powerful speech. After seeing the burned buildings on Pine Street, Governor Agnew said that the state would now arrest anyone who tried to start a riot. He said they would not let that person finish their harmful speech.

Governor Agnew's response to the Cambridge events helped him gain support from some white people for his political career. He was later elected Vice President in 1968 with Richard Nixon as President. He later had to leave his position because of problems with his actions.

Different Views of the Events

People had different ideas about what caused the unrest. City officials said Cambridge did not have a "black ghetto." They also said its schools were among the best in the nation, even though they had been segregated for many years. They claimed that relationships between black and white residents were "excellent."

At the time, many top FBI officials were worried. The news media reported connections between Black Power groups and communism. In response, the Black Action Federation asked residents where the protests happened. They found that black residents of Cambridge said white racism and inequality were the main reasons for the events. This was not widely reported in the news.

Many people in Cambridge, and the mayor of Baltimore, Thomas D'Alesandro III, thought the events had been planned. Black people said the events were a response to unfair treatment. Police officers and white leaders called it a riot and blamed some organization for it.

Two days later, Brown was arrested. The government used him as an example to try and stop the social action movement from spreading. There were different stories from state officials and black activists about what really happened. Based on official reports, the public media thought Brown was guilty. They believed his speech caused the unrest. Officials tried to make an example of Brown and avoid taking responsibility for the events themselves.

Governor Agnew was very upset about the events. He had a good reputation among the black community before this. But they later resisted him after his actions following the Cambridge events. He called Brown a "professional agitator." Agnew became more and more critical of black civil rights leaders. He said they "failed" to stop the protests.

In April 1968, after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, Agnew invited fifty black civil rights leaders from Maryland to a meeting. But there, he mostly blamed black individuals for the protests and looting that followed King's murder. Many of the leaders left during Agnew’s speech. He lost most of his support in the black community.