Louisville riots of 1968

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The Louisville riots of 1968 refers to riots in Louisville, Kentucky in May 1968. As in many other cities around the country, there were unrest and riots partially in response to the death of Martin Luther King Jr. On May 27, 1968, a group of 400 people, mostly blacks, gathered at Twenty-Eight and Greenwood Streets, in the Parkland neighborhood. The intersection, and Parkland in general, had recently become an important location for Louisville's black community, especially as the local NAACP branch had moved its office there.

The crowd was protesting the possible reinstatement of a white officer who had been suspended for beating a black man some weeks earlier. Several community leaders arrived and told the crowd that no decision had been reached, and the crowd began to disperse.

However, rumors (which turned out to be untrue) were spread that Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee speaker Stokely Carmichael's plane to Louisville was being intentionally delayed by whites. After bottles were thrown into the crowd, the crowd became unruly and police were called. However the small and unprepared police response simply upset the crowd more, which continued to grow. By midnight, rioters had looted stores as far east as Fourth Street, overturned cars and started fires.

Mayor Kenneth A. Schmied called in 700 Kentucky National Guard troops and established a city-wide curfew. Violence and vandalism continued to rage the next day, but had subdued somewhat by May 29 and business owners began to return, although troops remained until June 4. Police made 472 arrests related to the riots. Two black teenagers had died, and $400,000 in damage had been done.

The disturbances had a longer-lasting effect, as most white business owners quickly pulled out or were forced out of Parkland and surrounding areas, and most white residents eventually left the West End. Perhaps more than anything, the incident would shape the image of Louisville's West End that whites hold: predominantly black and crime-ridden, although this is not an entirely accurate viewpoint.