One of the most difficult and transformative times for this country in modern history was the Second World War, both at home and abroad. By 1943, the United States of America had entered the war officially, meaning that food rationing was in effect and production focused on the war effort. By that time, Detroit had already begun its meteoric rise, with a population of 1.4 million that dwarfed surrounding cities [1]. Factories were soon retooling auto production lines for munitions, planes, and many other instruments of war, in addition to producing engines for other wartime factories [2]. However, the active bustle of wartime Detroit would soon be shaken to its foundation.
Belle Isle is shown on the bottom, joined with Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge
On June 20th in 1943, around 100,000 Detroit residents were seeking refuge from the summer heat on Belle Isle, a small recreational island connected to mainland Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge. While reports differ on the exact cause, an altercation eventually erupted on Belle Isle between black and white visitors, soon crossing the bridge and largely overwhelming the city's police force. John H. Gooden, a longtime resident of Detroit and a witness to the 1943 riot, said that many rioters were provoked by rumors that a black woman and her child were thrown from the MacArthur Bridge during the fray. Conversely, many white rioters claimed they had been provoked by a similar story regarding a white woman [3]. However, the person or persons originally responsible for the rumors were never found. Both blacks and white suffered savage beatings at the hands of each other as anarchy spilled into the streets of Detroit, with cars being lit on fire and many police officers shooting to kill. This state of chaos continued for almost 24 hours despite pleas from the local government and pillars of the community, at which point federal martial law was officially declared. Within several hours Detroit was under the control of the National Guard, but not before the city had suffered $2 million in property damage, 34 deaths and 675 injuries (the majority of which were black) [4].
White protesters reportedly lit black-owned cars on fire during the riots
Resident of Detroit during the 1943 Race Riots gives his personal account
Footage of Detroit under Martial Law following the riots
It would be impossible to name a single cause of the 1943 race riots, as there were simply too many contributing factors that led to that fateful summer's day. 1943 was a tumultuous year for entire country as much as it was for Detroit, largely due to World War Two and the United State's involvement in it. The rapid increase in social mobility as men went to fight or into industry created, or at least amplified, many problems. Los Angeles had also been struck by rioting only a few weeks beforehand, as a result of continued conflict between whites and a quickly growing black and Hispanic population (casualties and arrests were once again mostly black) [5]. This serves to illustrate the universal sentiment of the time, which was a blatant and omnipresent prejudice against minorities. In Detroit, much of the black community had to resort to "ghetto" housing by 1943, often not being able to afford or find better housing as the amount of newcomers increased and availability of jobs and wages decreased. When impoverished Southern whites also began arriving in Detroit for work, tensions were high as they saw blacks competing for the same jobs as themselves for the first time [6]. The year before the riot, black and polish residents were embroiled in a conflict over recently built defense housing. Blacks eventually moved into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project, which certainly contributed to the animosity between races. As the oppression of Detroit's black community continued to build, the groundwork for the 1943 riots was laid long before that hot Summer's day.
Sign protesting black residents moving into recently built housing for defense workers before the riots
Despite the shock and destruction of 1943 Race Riots, Detroit's status as a military industrial powerhouse helped it avoid immediate ruin. However, the city had lost many vital hours of wartime production and drew derision from Axis propaganda because of the internal struggle which the riot had revealed. The underlying problems of an oppressed black workforce and a violently prejudiced police department was left unresolved, and the blame was soon shifted to the same black community, while theories of subversive influences ran abound. Detroit's population continued to grow as impoverished migrants arrived in search of employment, and the city would go on to reach its peak population about 15 years after the riots. However, Detroit's problems which contributed to the riot were largely left unsolved and the city would not be as lucky again.
Sources used:
1: “Table 23. Michigan - Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Large Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990.” United States Census Bureau, United States Government, July 13, 2005, www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/MItab.pdf
2: Ferguson, Robert G. "One Thousand Planes A Day: Ford, Grumman, General Motors And The Arsenal Of Democracy." History & Technology 21.2 (2005): 149-175. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
3: Langlois, Janet L. “The Belle Isle Bridge Incident: Legend Dialectic and Semiotic System in the 1943 Detroit Race Riots.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 96, no. 380, 1983, pp. 183–199. www.jstor.org/stable/540292.
4: Jackman, Michael. “The Summer of ‘43,” Detroit Metro Times, Detroit Metro Times, June `8 2003, www.metrotimes.com/detroit/the-summer-of-43/Content?oid=2176439
5: Cosgrove, Stuart. “The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare.” History Workshop, no. 18, 1984, pp. 77–91. www.jstor.org/stable/4288588.
6: Capeci, Dominic J., and Martha Wilkerson. “The Detroit Rioters of 1943: A Reinterpretation.” Michigan Historical Review, vol. 16, no. 1, 1990, pp. 49–72. www.jstor.org/stable/20173210.
1: “Table 23. Michigan - Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Large Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990.” United States Census Bureau, United States Government, July 13, 2005, www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/MItab.pdf
2: Ferguson, Robert G. "One Thousand Planes A Day: Ford, Grumman, General Motors And The Arsenal Of Democracy." History & Technology 21.2 (2005): 149-175. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
3: Langlois, Janet L. “The Belle Isle Bridge Incident: Legend Dialectic and Semiotic System in the 1943 Detroit Race Riots.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 96, no. 380, 1983, pp. 183–199. www.jstor.org/stable/540292.
4: Jackman, Michael. “The Summer of ‘43,” Detroit Metro Times, Detroit Metro Times, June `8 2003, www.metrotimes.com/detroit/the-summer-of-43/Content?oid=2176439
5: Cosgrove, Stuart. “The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare.” History Workshop, no. 18, 1984, pp. 77–91. www.jstor.org/stable/4288588.
6: Capeci, Dominic J., and Martha Wilkerson. “The Detroit Rioters of 1943: A Reinterpretation.” Michigan Historical Review, vol. 16, no. 1, 1990, pp. 49–72. www.jstor.org/stable/20173210.