Oral+History+Reflection

Not knowing a lot before preparing for the interview with Mr. Parks, I was amazed at the size of the riots and the impact they had on the Detroit then and now. Mr. Parks explained how much the city was segregated and how the African American community generally had poor housing and living conditions. The riots were not as much a protest of a specific policy or cause, as much as they were a general release of long-held anger by African Americans who had been oppressed from slavery through 1967. Mr. Parks really showed us how intense the racial tensions were, which he described going downtown as a young boy and having rocks thrown at him simply because he was white.

The government didn't show much mercy to the African American community. Mr. Parks told us about when he was a 10 year old and watched tanks rolling to the city, followed by rows and rows of guardsmen and Army troops. Before this interview I did not fully comprehend how much of an impact the riots had on the city and the people who experienced them. Mr.Parks put this into perspective.