Watts Riots

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

I looked up a bit of information on the Watts Riots, and I am confused. During a time when racism was rampant, an African American reports another African American for "driving erratically" to a white cop nonetheless? The pride and togetherness amongst the black community is one uncertainty I have. The other issue is police violence and the risk took to report such a thing to a white cop. Furthermore, it took place near a poor black neighbourhood, and I hardly consider their biggest worry to be driving safety? Is anyone else skeptical of this "historical" account?

[RedAnarchist]

Where was this account? If the account came from a secondary or tertiary source, it wouldn't be anywhere near as accurate as a primary source.


Primary - someone who was there or experienced it
Seconday - someone who heard about if from someone who was there or experienced it ( a journalist interviewing the primary source for an article)
Tertiary - someone who hears about it from the seconday source (a person reading the article)

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

http://www.lasell.edu/images/userImages/fw.../watts_riot.pdf (http://www.lasell.edu/images/userImages/fweil/Page_495/watts_riot.pdf)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riot

[Reuben]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2006, 10:44 PM
Where was this account? If the account came from a secondary or tertiary source, it wouldn't be anywhere near as accurate as a primary source.


Primary - someone who was there or experienced it
Seconday - someone who heard about if from someone who was there or experienced it ( a journalist interviewing the primary source for an article)
Tertiary - someone who hears about it from the seconday source (a person reading the article)
not necessarily.

A secondary source may have a less partial more global picture of the whole affair than someone who happened to be in the thick of it.

[rebelworker]

First off you have to remeber that the watts riot ocurred early in the sixties, long before "Black Power" or "Black Pride" were the political and cultural phenomenon that they would be a few years later.

Even during periods of "revolutionary conciousness" absolute unity in communities is not a reality.

Also remeber that especially in the most opressed communities "law and order" ha a very strong apeal to people who are terrorized by crime and violenece on a regular basis.

irratic driving, peobably the result of drinking or drugs is the type of thing people would turn to the police to try and keep their roads safe.

Did many fear the police in the ghetto more than the crime, surely, but there are alwasy going to be some, particularly the elderly, who have nothing or little to lose from going to the police.

[Hampton]

Interviews with Ron Johnson (http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/ron_johnson.htm)