Hough Riots
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The Hough Riots, were race riots in the predominantly black community of Hough in Cleveland, Ohio that took place over a six-night period from July 18 to July 23, 1966. By the end of the riots, four people were killed and 30 were critically injured. In addition, there were 275 arrests, while more than 240 fires were reported.
The conflict began at approximately 9:00 on the 18th at the 79ers Cafe, a white establishment on the corner of East 79th Street and Hough Avenue. An African American man had entered the building for a glass of water and was told that blacks were not being served, while an African American woman seeking money for charity was also told to leave.
Soon after, a crowd of about 50 people gathered outside. As anger expanded over a 23-block area, chants of "Black Power" were followed by the throwing of molotov cocktails in the surrounding areas, bringing more than 300 police and firemen. Racial tension was high between Cleveland's police and African American community as the Cleveland Police Department was accused on numerous occasions of racially motivated brutality. Additionally, only 165 of Cleveland's 2,200 police officers were African American adding to the distrust of Cleveland's African American community and the Cleveland Police Department.[1] Their presence brought gunfire, as well as brick-throwing by angry residents, with police eventually shooting out some street lights and asking drivers to turn off their lights to limit possible targets by snipers.
The first fatality of the conflict came that first night as 26-year-old mother, Joyce Arnett, was killed after being led off the street into a vacant building by police. Frantically looking for her children from a second-floor window, she was mortally wounded by a spray of gunfire.
The next day, Ohio governor James A. Rhodes activated 1,600 local members of the National Guard, but their presence only seemed to enrage the residents even further. An attempt by Cleveland mayor Ralph S. Locher to limit potential violence by closing local bars and taverns at 6:00 p.m. proved to be equally fruitless as abandoned houses and commercial buildings became the main target of arsonists.
A 38-year-old divorced father of two, Percy Giles, became the second victim of the violence, when he was shot and killed while on his way to help a friend protect his business. In all, 77 people were arrested, while unrelenting fire alarms kept firemen busy through the night.
On the third night of violence, the heavy presence of police and guardsmen helped push the rioting to the southern and northeastern parts of the area. Five people were wounded, including a woman and her two young children. The next night, a 54-year-old man, Sam Winchester, was killed while walking to a bus stop. While he lay dying, Winchester told police that he had been shots by whites from a passing vehicle.
As the uprising was winding down, rumors fostered tension in the Mayfield Road-Murray Hill section known locally as "Little Italy." Though located some 40 city blocks from the Hough epicenter and under heavy National Guard patrols, Little Italy's residents had armed themselves and organized a system of patrols. A baseless report of a "sniper" on a roof just outside the neighborhood and the injury of two youths when they accidentally discharged a shotgun -- reported falsely as "two white boys shot by Negroes" -- led a trio of men to shoot 29-year-old Benoris Toney, a black man sitting in his car in a nearby Euclid Avenue lumber yard. During the ensuing investigation and trial, triggerman Warren LaRiche claimed that Toney had pointed a gun at them, and was ultimately acquitted of murder charges by an all-white jury on the grounds of self-defense.
Heavy rains on July 24th helped put an end to the violence, but did nothing to end the animosity between residents of the area and police. During the most heated moments of the uprising, Cleveland Chief of Police Richard Wagner had claimed that the countless bombs had been built by a Hough area group, a statement that even Locher denied.
The underlying cause of the riot, which occurred during a period of racial unrest in major cities across the United States, was the combination of local issues that failed to be addressed, resulting in the area's nickname as, "Rough Hough," or simply, "The Jungle." Reports of stores overcharging customers and living conditions that saw garbage and rats everywhere, along with a high crime rate served as the powderkeg.
Earlier in the year, Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, who was serving as a commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, had stated that conditions in the area were, "the worst I had seen." In addition, the commission had urged city leaders to be more understanding of the needs of the community, but Locher disputed the findings.
Four decades after the havoc, some scars of the Hough Riots are still visible today.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) ISBN 0-253-33056-4
