Deseret News archives: ‘Blind pig’ raid lit the fuse for Detroit race riots in 1967

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archive

On July 23, 1967, the first of five days of deadly rioting erupted in Detroit as an early morning police raid on an unlicensed bar resulted in a confrontation with local residents, escalating into violence that spread into other parts of the city and resulted in 43 deaths.

And the country continues to grapple with the issue. Newspapers across the nation told the story.

The riots, the first of many across the nation in a sweltering summer of 1967, started with a “blind pig.”

According to historians, the phrase was made popular during and following the Prohibition era for a “speakeasy,” a place that sells alcoholic beverages illegally. A raid on just such an unlicensed bar escalated into a neighborhood confrontation, and spread across the city.

But the factors that are always present when such riots occur were in full force.

It was hot. Many inner-city Detroit residents didn’t have jobs, lived in poor conditions, and sent their kids to terrible schools. The same conditions existed in Cincinnati and Newark, New Jersey, where other deadly riots happened.

After the riots were quelled, the federal government asked for an investigation, which became known as the Kerner report. The report was shocking in that it pointed at racism as a key part of the discussion.

But according to reports in the Deseret News and in analysis since, many of the report’s recommendations on U.S. race relations and poverty were never adopted.

Here are some Deseret News archives on the topic:

“ Autos troubles, race at root of Detroit collapse ”

“ Detroit at crossroads 50 years after riots devastated city ”

“ Riots have been aspect of U.S. life from the beginning”

“ Reasons behind rioting remain cloaked in mystery”

“ Detroit files for bankruptcy ”

“ Take a black-history journey ”

“ Visceral ‘Detroit’ is a powerful cause-and-effect account of the Motor City’s 1967 race riots ”