Ballots and Bullets
Black Power Politics and Urban Guerrilla Warfare in 1968 Cleveland
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
On July 23, 1968, police in Cleveland battled with black nationalists.The dramatic shootout in the Glenville neighborhood left ten dead and over fifteen wounded. The event sparked days of heavy rioting and raised myriad questions. Were these shootings an ambush by the nationalists? Or were the nationalists defending themselves from an imminent police assault? Mystery still surrounds how the urban warfare started and the role the FBI might have played in its origin.
Cleveland's story intersected with with some of the most important African American figures of the time. Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both came to Cleveland, shaping the debate over how to address systemic racism. Should it be with nonviolence or armed self-defense? Malcolm X first delivered his iconic "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech in Cleveland. Three years later, in 1967, Carl Stokes, with King's help, became the first black mayor of a major US city. The ballot seemed to have triumphed over the bullet—and then Dr. King was assassinated. In the spring of 1968, while Mayor Stokes kept peace in Cleveland and Bobby Kennedy came to deliver his "Mindless Menace of Violence" speech, nationalists used an antipoverty program Stokes created in King's honor to buy rifles and ammunition.
Ballots and Bullets examines the revolutionary calls for addressing racism through guerrilla warfare in America's streets. It also puts into perspective the political aftermath, as racial violence and rebellions in most American cities led to white backlash and provided lift to the counterrevolution that brought Richard Nixon to power, effectively marking an end to President Johnson's "War on Poverty."
Fifty years later, many politicians still call for "law and order" to combat urban unrest. The Black Lives Matter movement and continued instances of police misconduct and brutality show that the cycle of race-based violence continues. The root causes—racism and poverty—remain largely unaddressed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cleveland attorney Robenalt deconstructs the events leading to a violent 1968 confrontation between black nationalists and the Cleveland police that left three officers, three nationalists, and two civilians dead in this valuable history. Robenalt meticulously examines the larger forces that drove the 1960s black nationalism movement and the motivations and experiences of the individual black nationalists involved in the uprising. Particularly insightful are the discussions of the national debates among black people about how to improve the status of black Americans, specifically the contrast among the pacifist views of Martin Luther King, the more militant internationalist view of Malcolm X, and the even more militant view of other radical groups. Equally illuminating is Robenalt's frank description of the inequities affecting Cleveland's black population, which included high unemployment, a tattered relationship with the police, inadequate medical care, and animus directed at them by the city's politicians' and law enforcement, while one participant said, "It started over 200 years ago," when asked why the militancy now. The moment-by-moment description of the firefight between police and black nationalists is chilling. Readers will find much to contemplate in this balanced report.
