1968 Miami riot

1968 Miami Riot
Part of the Civil Rights Movement
DateAugust 7–8, 1968
(1 day)
Location
Caused by
  • Deplorable housing conditions
  • Racial discrimination
  • Poor economic conditions
  • Poor police-community relations
  • Economic competition with Cuban refugees
Parties
Lead figures

SCLC member

Governor of Florida

Mayor of Miami-Dade County

Casualties
Death(s)3
Injuries29
Arrested200

A group of black organizations in Miami called for “a mass rally of concerned Black people,” to take place on August 7, 1968, at the Vote Power building in Liberty City, a black neighborhood. Sponsors were the Vote Power League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and numerous smaller organizations. The protest was not provoked by a specific incident, but was intended “to show their frustration with the nation’s unfair political, social, and economic systems.”[1] Another scholar described the root causes as “discrimination, proscription, and segregation.”[2] A more extensive statement from the same scholar says the “major grievances... included deplorable housing conditions, economic exploitation, bleak employment prospects, racial discrimination, poor police-community relations, and economic competition with Cuban refugees.”[3]: iv  The date was chosen to coincide (because of the publicity opportunity) with the Republican National Convention being held in Miami Beach.[3]: 202 

  1. ^ Mergel, Sarah Katherine (July 21, 2016), The 1968 Republican Convention, werehistory.org, archived from the original on November 20, 2017, retrieved November 24, 2017
  2. ^ Tscheschlok, Eric (Spring 1996). "Long Time Coming: Miami's Liberty City Riot of 1968". Florida Historical Quarterly. 74 (4): 440–460. JSTOR 30148880.
  3. ^ a b Tscheschlok, Eric G. (1995). Long Road to Rebellion: Miami's Liberty City Riot of 1968 (MA). Florida Atlantic University.