Wilmington riot of 1968

Wilmington riot of 1968
Wilmington riot of 1968
Part of the King assassination riots
Date	April 9–10, 1968
Location	Wilmington, Delaware
Caused by	Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Resulted in	Property damaged, citizens arrested, order restored, 10 month military occupation by Delaware Army National Guard
Casualties
Injuries	40
Arrested	154

Last updated July 07, 2022

The Wilmington Riot of 1968 occurred in Wilmington, Delaware, in April of that year following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The riot did not cause any fatalities, though there were numerous injuries, arrests, and buildings burned. Despite the quick cessation of rioting, the governor refused to recall the Delaware Army National Guard, leaving them in the city as an occupying force until the following year.

Background

Prior to the events of the late 1960s, tensions were already running high in Wilmington. There had already been a race riot in 1919. The flight of white city dwellers to the suburbs, migration of southern blacks to the city, and lingering bad feelings from the construction of I-95 resulted in a divided city, and attempts by local leaders to alleviate the social issue plaguing the city were unsuccessful.^[1]^[2] Heightened racial tensions and altercations in July 1967 were followed by two days of sporadic vandalism, looting, and firebombing. At the request of Wilmington Mayor John Babiarz, state police were summoned to increase patrols. For his part, Governor Charles L. Terry (a southern-style Democrat) publicly warned of minority violence and conspiracies and placed fifteen hundred National Guardsmen on standby alert at Wilmington's airport. He also proposed and signed legislation granting him sole authority to impose martial law and ban the sale of alcohol and established a riot commission. In addition to the Delaware National Guard, the Governor activated the entire Delaware State Police Department. All days off were canceled, vacations were canceled and all troopers were to report to their assigned Troop. The Delaware State Police who were nearest to the City of Wilmington were sent to Troop 2 located south of the city. Only a skeleton force was left at the other Troops located in New Castle County. The Troopers who were assigned to Kent and Sussex counties Troops were sent to Troop 2. Once the lower county Troopers arrived at Troop 2 they were paired with those of New Castle County. Any request for law enforcement assistance from the Wilmington Police Department was sent to Troop 2.

Events

In the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, a large number of black youths converged on the main downtown business area of Wilmington and began looting stores April 9–10, 1968. A report of sniper fire prompted Democratic mayor Babiarz to declare a state of emergency, to impose a curfew, and to request assistance from Governor Terry. The two-day riot that occurred after the assassination was small compared with riots in other cities, but its aftermath highlighted the depth of Wilmington's racial problem.^[3]

On April 9, 1968, Governor Terry ordered the twenty-eight-hundred-strong National Guard to patrol the streets of Wilmington and to restore order. He later ordered National Guard troops to be deployed also in Rehoboth Beach and at the campus of the predominantly black Delaware State College in Dover. Within a week, Mayor Babiarz requested withdrawal of the soldiers, but Governor Terry refused, citing unspecified intelligence reports of the potential of renewed and more violent racial disturbances.

Despite repeated requests by Mayor Babiarz and other notables to remove the National Guard, Governor Terry responded, "The Guard is going to stay in Wilmington until we're sure people and property owners are adequately protected." As a result, Babiarz openly broke with Terry and Wilmington remained under military occupation for the remainder of 1968 – nine months – reportedly the longest occupation of an American city by armed forces since the Civil War.

When the Governor decided to activate the Delaware National Guard he also decided that the Delaware State Police should be part of any Guard unit sent into the City of Wilmington. Delaware State Troopers were with each group sent into the City to ensure that there was a law enforcement representative who could assist the soldiers make informed decisions concerning the use of force. The participating units were helpful in protecting the fire departments who were responding to the numerous fires that had been set by rioters. Reports of firemen hearing gun shots forced many fire fighters to withdraw from fighting fires until the units could protect them.

After several days of rioting and intervention by many agencies, the City of Wilmington began to quiet down. However, the Governor had declared that he would keep the city safe. He instituted an order to have three Delaware State Troopers and multiple vehicles manned by Delaware National Guardsmen patrol the streets of Wilmington. Each unit could respond as needed with sufficient force to quell almost any level of threat. The units worked in support of the Wilmington Police Department in addition to having independent authority to act on their own. The three units became known as the "Rat Patrol" named after the popular T.V. series by the same name. The "Rat Patrol" patrolled the streets of Wilmington until Governor Peterson took office.

Impact

The severity of the disorder in Wilmington following King's assassination is questionable. One writer claimed that "21 buildings were destroyed by fire, 40 people were injured…154 citizens were arrested," and arms caches were found. On the other hand, another writer asserted that "only a dozen persons were reportedly injured and property damage was minimal." The historian Carol Hoffecker concluded that "the Wilmington riot was a small, short-lived affair that did relatively little damage."^[4]

Whatever the case, the prolonged military occupation of Wilmington received nationwide attention, increasingly tarnished the city's image, and became an embarrassment to Wilmington's corporate elite, who unsuccessfully tried to persuade Terry to pull the National Guard out. In November 1968 – six months after the riots – the National Guard was still patrolling Wilmington over the objections of city leaders, who accused the governor of playing to white fears in an election year. City Supervisor O. Francis Biondi told the New York Times, "the National Guard here has become a symbol of white suppression of the black community. That may be a useful way to get elected, but who wants to … run a city under those circumstances?"^[5] When Governor Terry sought to discredit the Biracial Coordinating Committee, comprising corporate representatives, the committee publicly stated that the National Guard patrols "create an aura of police state repression which is drastically reducing the effectiveness of longtime programs aimed at correcting the urban conditions that cause riots."

Effects on the 1968 Delaware gubernatorial election

The 1968 Delaware gubernatorial campaign was dominated by the issue of the National Guard in Wilmington. After his defeat by Russell Peterson for reelection in November, lame-duck governor Terry still refused to withdraw the National Guard. It was left to Governor Peterson, and within an hour of his inauguration in January 1969 he signed the order finally ending the military occupation of Wilmington.^[6]

Effects on urban development in Wilmington

The riot intensified suburban fears of the city and set the stage for the deep animosities that developed during the 1970s over interdistrict school desegregation and the relocation of the region's primary health care facility.^[2]

Related Research Articles

Wilmington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine River, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area. Wilmington was named by Proprietor Thomas Penn after his friend Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, who was prime minister during the reign of George II of Great Britain.

The 1967 Detroit Riot, also known as the Detroit Rebellion and the 12th Street Riot, was the bloodiest incident in the "Long, hot summer of 1967". Composed mainly of confrontations between black residents and the Detroit Police Department, it began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967, in Detroit, Michigan.

Russell Wilbur Peterson was an American scientist and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He served as Governor of Delaware as a member of the Republican Party. An influential environmentalist, he served as chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and president of the National Audubon Society.

Charles Layman Terry Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court as well as Governor of Delaware.

The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state. At present, it has 2,187 troopers, 1,500 of them being uniformed troopers, and 540 civilian support staff—making it the largest law enforcement agency in New England. The MSP is headed by Colonel Christopher Mason.

The Connecticut State Police (CSP) is a division of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection responsible for traffic regulation and law enforcement across the state of Connecticut, especially in areas not served by local police departments. The CSP currently has 940 troopers as of October 8, 2020 and is headquartered in Middletown, Connecticut. It is responsible for protecting the Governor of Connecticut, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, and their families.

The Washington, D.C., riots of 1968 were a four-day period of violent civil unrest and rioting following the assassination of leading African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1968. Part of the broader King-assassination riots that affected at least 110 U.S. cities, those in Washington, D.C.—along with those in Chicago and Baltimore—were among those with the greatest numbers of participants. President Lyndon B. Johnson called in the National Guard to the city on April 5, 1968, to assist the police department in quelling the unrest. Ultimately, 13 people were killed, with approximately 1,000 people injured and over 6,100 arrested.

The Hough riots were riots in the predominantly African-American community of Hough in Cleveland, Ohio, United States which took place from July 18 to 23, 1966. During the riots, four African Americans were killed and 50 people were injured. There were 275 arrests and numerous incidents of arson and firebombings. City officials at first blamed black nationalist and communist organizations for the riots, but historians generally dismiss these claims today, arguing that the cause of the Hough Riots were primarily poverty and racism. The riots caused rapid population loss and economic decline in the area, which lasted at least five decades after the riots.

The Baltimore riot of 1968 was a period of civil unrest that lasted from April 6 to April 14, 1968, in Baltimore. The uprising included crowds filling the streets, burning and looting local businesses, and confronting the police and national guard.

New Jersey State Police State law enforcement agency of New Jersey

The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.

Delaware State Police Police force of Delaware, U.S.

The Delaware State Police (DSP) is a division of the Delaware Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security and is responsible for traffic regulation and law enforcement across the state of Delaware, especially in areas underserved by local police departments. The DSP is headquartered in the capital Dover, Delaware.

The Louisiana State Police is the state police agency of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is officially known in that organization as the Office of State Police.

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is the highway patrol and acting state police agency for the U.S. state of Mississippi, and has law enforcement jurisdiction over the majority of the state.

Delaware Army National Guard Component of the US Army and military of the state of Delaware

The Delaware Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.

The 1968 Chicago riots, in the United States, were sparked in part by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rioting and looting followed, with people flooding out onto the streets of major cities. Soon riots began, primarily in black urban areas. Over 100 major U.S. cities experienced disturbances, resulting in roughly $50 million in damage.

From 1967 to 1973, an extended period of racial unrest occurred in the town of Cairo, Illinois. The city had long had racial tensions which boiled over after a black soldier was found hanged in his jail cell. Over the next several years, fire bombings, racially charged boycotts and shootouts were common place in Cairo, with 170 nights of gunfire reported in 1969 alone.

The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising, were a wave of civil disturbance which swept the United States following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Many believe them to be the greatest wave of social unrest the United States had experienced since the Civil War. Some of the biggest riots took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City.

The Delaware State Guard is the currently inactive state defense force of the state of Delaware, which was active during both World War I and World War II. As the official militia of the state, the Delaware State Guard was created with the intent of acting as a stateside replacement for the Delaware National Guard while the National Guard units were deployed abroad.

A group of black organizations in Miami called for “a mass rally of concerned Black people,” to take place on August 7, 1968, at the Vote Power building in Liberty City, a black neighborhood. Sponsors were the Vote Power League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and numerous smaller organizations. The protest was not provoked by a specific incident, but was intended “to show their frustration with the nation’s unfair political, social, and economic systems.” Another scholar described the root causes as “discrimination, proscription, and segregation.” A more extensive statement from the same scholar says the “major grievances... included deplorable housing conditions, economic exploitation, bleak employment prospects, racial discrimination, poor police-community relations, and economic competition with Cuban refugees.” The date was chosen to coincide with the Republican National Convention being held in Miami Beach.

The 1966 Dayton race riot was a period of civil unrest in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The riot occurred on September 1 and lasted about 24 hours, ending after the Ohio National Guard had been mobilized. It was the largest race riot in Dayton's history and one of several to occur during the 1960s.

References

↑ Burke, Melissa Nann (November 14, 2013). "I-95 in Delaware linked East Coast, divided city of Wilmington". The News Journal. Wilmington, DE
1 2 Hoffecker 1983.
↑ Delton, Jennifer A (2009). Racial integration in corporate America, 1940-1990. Cambridge University Press. p. 262. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511814051. ISBN 9780511651878. OCLC 667037112. DOI access:
↑ Hoffecker 1983, p. 198.
↑ Franklin, Ben A. (1968-11-17). "Armed Guardsmen Still Patrol in Wilmington's Slums, 7 Months After Riot" . The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
↑ Boyer, William (2000). Governing Delaware : policy problems in the first state. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9780874137217. OCLC 42953426.