Remembering the Newark Riots, Fifty Years Later

The Brian Lehrer Show | Jul 12, 2017

It's been 50 years since the Newark riots took place, sparked by white police officers beating a black cab driver. Rebecca Carroll, editor of special projects at WNYC and Junius Williams, director of the Abbott Leadership Institute at Rutgers Institute--Newark, attorney and author of Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power (North Atlantic Books, 2014), talk about the riots (or rebellion, the word Williams uses) and the effects they had on the city, and Karen Rouse, WNYC New Jersey reporter, discusses the mayors elected since the riots, and what their tenures tell us about the city's trajectory.

Junius Williams says people were both helped and hurt by the riots in Newark. Nobody wanted violence, he says, but the rebellion, as he calls it, did affect the power structure in Newark. Black people in Newark were able to gain some political and social power as a result of the rebellion.

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

The Latest on the Cyclosporiasis Outbreak

Marcia Brown breaks down the latest news regarding the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak.
The Brian Lehrer Show |

Brooklyn’s dollar vans squeezed by Mamdani’s Flatbush Avenue bus plan

For years, MTA Chair Janno Lieber has called on the city to crack down on dollar vans, which peel away fares from the transit agency's buses.
Gothamist |

NYC's Office-Space Boom

Greg David talks about the recovery of the office-lease market and economic effects of the World Cup.
The Brian Lehrer Show |

Every good night you've ever had at the club owes a debt to New York City

With Webster Hall, the city invented the modern night club. Night life impresario Susanne Bartsch breaks down what makes the dance floor such a special place.
Gothamist |
YOU ARE ONLINE