Gallery: The 50th Anniversary of the Harlem Riots of 1964

On July 16 of 1964, a young black student named James Powell was shot and killed by off-duty New York Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan. The reason Gilligan shot Powell is still disputed. One version of events claims that a group of black students were taunting a building superintendent named Peter Lynch who retaliated by saying, "Dirty niggers, I'll wash you clean," and then proceeded to hose the youths down. What transpired afterwards would incite six days of violence in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

New York City hosted the World's Fair that year. It was also the same year the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. It was a moment in time characterized by a national outcry to curb police brutality against African-Americans and to end segregation. Public figures like Bull Connor had shamelessly advocated for the use of force to help maintain racial inequality in Birmingham. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had happened in September. Race relations in America were at a fever-pitch. Civil unrest was common—especially among students. 

On the west coast, students on the University of California, Berkeley campus were actively organizing protests regularly. Change was in the air, and yet, it was anyone's guess what that change would look like. It was the dawning of what we now often refer to as the Culture Wars, when ideological conflicts—conservative versus liberal, progressive versus traditional, good versus evil—started to take on new, fundamentalist overtones (enter Barry Goldwater.)

This was the America of James Powell's youth. It was one full of hope, exasperation, and rage. If you were a 15-year-old black boy growing up in New York at the time, I imagine something would be stirring in your stomach. You would be inclined to start standing up for yourself. You would be inclined to stand up for your peers who were also being treated as second-class citizens.

Powell was only 15-years-old. He was not immune to the change in the air. He saw what Peter Lynch was doing to his peers and went over to fight back, to stand in solidarity. Of course, things don't always go down the way we want them to. Powell was accused of following Lynch into his building, things continued to escalate, and the confrontation was being observed by Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan. When Powell reemerged from the building less than two minutes later, Gilligan shot three times. One is said to have been a warning shot. The other two hit Powell's arm, and one went straight through his chest. It was fatal. Powell was unarmed. 

The news of his death spread like wildfire, and local residents and students immediately began to rally in protest. And thus, the Harlem Riots of 1964 (sometimes referred to as the Harlem Race Riot) were born. Eventually they would go on to inspire similar protests in other cities along the east coast.

It may not come as a surprise to you, but a Grand Jury acquitted Gilligan of all charges by September. All told, the events resulted in one dead rioter, 118 injured, 465 arrested, and an estimated $1 million in damages. The gallery that follows includes archival photos from those dark days in American history. The Harlem Riots of 1964 may have occurred 50 years ago, but in many ways we are all still waiting for the same change Powell and his peers had been hoping for. At this point, it's still anyone's guess it if will ever come.

Written by Lauretta Charlton (@laurettaland)

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