Riotsville, USA

A door swung open in the late '60s,

and someone, something

sprang up and slammed it shut.

Nothing that big or bright or sudden had ever happened,

and in so many American cities.

Nothing so fierce

or hard to grasp.

The riots blew the roof off daily life.

1965:

Watts, ripped apart by crowds.

1966:

Chicago swarmed by the National Guard.

And in 1967:

Newark, Detroit, and 100 other cities,

what felt like the entire nation.

That summer,

the people took revenge on the cities that confined them,

retribution for a history of containment

and contempt.

A new force lurched to life in the '60s,

and threatened to shatter everything.

But that didn't happen.

What does it look like when the state, the establishment

whatever you want to call the people who keep things locked in place,

is forced to face the consequence of its own callousness?

How does the machine go rumbling on

undaunted?

A brick flies through a squad car's windshield,

and the riot crashes through the night.

But we'll be lingering on the cop car,

and the pile of shattered glass.

My fellow Americans,

we have endured a week

such as no nation should live through.

A time of violence and tragedy.

For a few minutes tonight,

I want to talk about that tragedy.

And I want to talk about the deeper questions that it raises

for us all.

I am tonight appointing a Special Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.

Governor Otto Kerner, of Illinois,

has agreed to serve as chairman.

The Commission will investigate the origins

of the recent disorders in our cities.

It will make recommendations to prevent

or contain such disasters in the future.

But first, let there be no mistake about it:

Crime must be dealt with forcefully and swiftly,

and certainly, under law.

It would compound the tragedy, however,

if we should settle for

order that's imposed by the muzzle of a gun.

The only genuine, long-range solution

lies in an attack,

mounted at every level,

upon the conditions that breeds despair,

and breeds violence.

So let us act, in the Congress,

and in the City Halls,

and in every community,

so that this great land of ours

may truly be

one nation

under God

with liberty and justice

for all.

Bruce, what did you think of it?

I think it was a great speech.

It was a call for national unity.

It wasn't a political speech,

it was a great speech, I think.

You all pretty much share that view?

You know, I think he normally gives a pretty good speech,

but I think this is a thing that you have to dwell on, unity.

We haven't had very much of that recently.

I share that- as far as it is, tonight,

I can't say that's always true,

but I certainly agree with Levi one hundred percent tonight

that this was not political at all.

I could see no taint of politics in it.

I thought it was a leader addressing his people.

I don't think anyone can say

that the situation that's arising all over the country today

is any one person's failure.

It's been a failure of all of us.

Governor, there have been criticism

of the Commission on the grounds that

the voice of the ghetto is not represented.

Would you comment?

Well, we discussed this slightly.

And there's no reason why we cannot have

even a voice of the ghetto, so-called,

as part of staff.

And I can't imagine a more preferable position

to be in to be heard.

One thing should be absolutely clear,

this matter is far, far too important for politics.

It goes to the health and safety of all American citizens.

And I think the composition of this Commission

is proof against any narrowness or any partisanship.

You think it's a good idea

to have this sort of Warren Commission

panel of some of the biggest names in the country?

I think it's a good idea, yes.

My greatest concern is,

have we asked the people who are in need of the program

what their needs might be?

We decide what their needs are.

I think perhaps that they should decide,

that they should be able to speak.

This is a neighborhood business district of Riotsville,

an area as yet unaffected by the violence

occurring in other parts of the city.

However, the situation here is considered to be explosive

and the area is being closely watched

by state and local authorities.

The local police have assigned covert agents to gather intelligence

and to report indications of possible violence.

Joint military and police patrols

are operative in the area to maintain order

and to demonstrate the presence of a superior force.

As a part of the precautions to prevent Riotsville

from experiencing a violent civil disturbance,

the authorities have made arrangements to prevent weapons and ammunition

from falling into the hands of troublemakers.

Even a routine precautionary measure,

such as this pick-up of weapons,

can breed resentment among the local residents.

What are we looking at?

Riotsville is a chessboard,

a stage set,

everything

and nothing about the 1960s.

Fake names and non-places,

marched past by soldiers, doing what they can

to move the play to its next act.

Maybe it's a dream.

After all,

this is where the state assembles its fears,

its cruel delusions,

its tattered scraps of memory.

So these are dream riots,

the young men acting out the fantasy

of conquest and invasion.

What are they thinking of?

Home?

Vietnam?

Do they feel something when they see a hammer smash a window?

Or when the tanks come roaring in?

When we asked them, they had different answers.

Some said, "It was a long time ago."

Many said,

"I don't know."

I'll get you.

Once I get my boys, I'll be back.

It is Sunday evening, December 17th,

and this is the Public Broadcast Laboratory,

an experiment in public television

combining elements of information,

education and entertainment.

Tonight, from PBL in New York.

and from cities across the United States

a totally live and unrehearsed examination

of police / minority relations

with PBL chief correspondent

Edward P. Morgan.

Good evening.

Do you believe that there has ever been a case

of police brutality against

a black citizen in the city of Newark?

Now that all depends on what you consider

to be police brutality.

- I'm going to answer your question. - Physical abuse of a citizen in the city.

Mr. Harrington, I interrupted you a moment ago

do you have something that you want to come in with now?

Yes, I had about fifteen things

if I had the chance to come back and say them.

Because I have a book here, Reader's Digest,

which is a very respected book

and it states that-

Well, I'm sort of in a tough spot here.

I know you are.

But you're always short-cutting us.

Now, let us have our say or we might as well go home.

I don't think we're short-cutting you, Mr. Harrington.

And if you don't mind, we want to go to Detroit, where I think the temperature

is somewhat high in Reverend Cleage's church.

Yeah, we feel that this whole program, up this point

has been a deliberate attempt to evade the issue.

Police brutality-everybody knows police brutality exists.

For police officers to take our time, to waste the time

of an entire nation, talking about

they never heard of police brutality,

they don't know what black people are talking about, they can't prove it.

We know, in Detroit, any time a black person

is brutalized by the police, he goes into court

and he's arrested for assault and battery.

Everybody's talking about-

PBL will continue its examination

of police / community relations