Procedures

• Step 1: WARM-UP

  Handout: The 1967 Detroit Riots (Google Doc)

  Ask students to define the following terms on the handout: Rebellion, Riot, Loot, Uprising

  As a class, discuss their definitions. They will return to these terms at the end of the lesson.

• Step 2: INTRODUCTION

  View the following video with students to provide background information of this event.

  Video Clip: 1967 Detroit Riots: Overview (5:07)

  Detroit historian and educator Jamon Jordan was interviewed near the spot where riots erupted on July 23, 1967. Mr. Jordan described the causes and events of the uprising, which led to 43 deaths, over 7,000 arrests, and the deployment of over 5,000 federal troops to restore order.

• Step 3 EXPLORATION

  Ask students to view the following videos and take notes on the handout to get different perspectives on the events that occurred on this day.

  You can jigsaw this activity among the class and students can share their findings through whole class discussion.

• Video Clip: Anthony Fierimonte Oral History Interview (8:33)

  Police officer Anthony Fierimonte recounts the early morning arrests on July 23, 1967 that led to widespread looting, violence and the arrival of federal troops in Detroit, Michigan. A police raid on an illegal bar, known locally as a “blind pig,” triggered the 1967 Detroit riots.

• Video Clip: Clarence Lusane Oral History Interview (3:50)

  Professor Clarence Lusane talks about his experience at the riot and provides background on circumstances around the country that led to this event.

• Video Clip: Joseph Califano Oral History Interview (1:43)

  Joseph Califano recalls this event during his time as Senior Domestic Advisor under President Johnson.

• Video Clip: Conrad Mallett Jr. Oral History Interview (5:43)

  Conrad Mallett, Jr., who was a paperboy for the Detroit Free Press during the 1967 Detroit Riots, talked about his experience that first morning.

• Step 4:

  Students will view the following videos and complete the chart on their handout to learn about the impact of this event and how it is being memorialized.

• Video Clip: 1967 Detroit Riots and Journalism (2:35)

  Journalists talked about the 1967 riots in cities across the country and how those events affected the practice of journalism.

• Video Clip: Memorializing the 1967 Detroit Riots (4:02)

  Marlowe Stoudamire talks about this event and how the Detroit Historical Society is memorializing the 1967 Detroit Riots.

• Step 5:

  As a class, view the following video. Then ask students to reflect on their original definitions and discuss either as a whole class or with a partner or small group, how they would describe this event.

• Video Clip: 1967 Detroit Riots (2:11)

  History professor Heather Ann Thompson and Detroit Free Press Editor Stephen Henderson discuss the perceptions of this event across the country.

• Step 6: CULMINATING ACTIVITY

  Have students select a culminating activity to share their understanding of the 1967 Detroit Riots. They should include information from their notes on the various perspectives they heard in the videos.

  • As a journalist, write a newspaper article detailing the events that unfolded.

  • Be a television reporter and use your phone to record your coverage of the events that are happening in the city.

  • Create a journal entry describing the events from the perspective of a resident in the city.

  • Create a fictional Twitter feed and write tweets that would describe what is happening around the city to inform the public.