By 1943, Detroit was overpopulated and racial tensions were high. One day, a racially provoked fight broke out, with rumors soon flooding the city – and the tensions overflowed into violence.
Black residents were told a white mob murdered a Black mother and child, while white residents heard a Black man raped a white woman. Detroit erupted in chaos.
Initially, both white and Black residents protested, but after a few days the white mob, who had the police on their side, grew violently out of control.
Eventually Black community leaders begged for help from President Roosevelt. By the time 6,000 US Army troops arrived, 25 Black people had been murdered, 700 were injured, and roughly $27.5 million worth of damage had been done – primarily to Black property.
Even though the white mob had caused the most damage, Black residents were blamed for the 1943 Detroit Riot. Outraged, the NAACP published a pamphlet exposing what REALLY happened, but the white mob only received mass criticism as “punishment.”
Today we’re villainized whenever we protest, whether it’s violent or non-violent. White supremacists can publicly threaten our deaths and still be painted as “very fine people.”
Like the NAACP, we must always speak up, using the truth to expose white supremacist lies that erase what really happened!