Harlem Riots

Hi my name is Enis Bektesevic. I am currently studying Violence in American Art and Culture taught by Professor Justin Rogers Cooper. This class focused on major riots that took place in America and some fiction novels that relate to these riots. We are finishing off the semester with the Harlem riots. The takeaway from this class that will stay with me is not only the simple fact that I have learned about these riots that would've been otherwise hidden from me, but knowledge as to why people caused the riots because as a class we discussed the possible reasons and shared many different point of views. My belief is that people riot when they feel that their human rights are violated and there is no civilized options left on the table, so expressing rage is an effective way of getting a point across.

The Harlem riot of 1935 began after a black Puerto Rican boy was caught shoplifting. Authorities kept the boy away from excited spectators, an action that ultimately lead the spectators to believe that the boy had been later killed. This was just a false rumor and caused that African American community to riot and cause destruction to Harlem.

But this incident is merely the reason why this riot took place. The African American community in Harlem was severely mistreated by whites because of their race. All of the local stores were only owned by whites and blacks were not allowed to open their own stores. Another thing was that blacks weren't even allowed to work at these stores. In fact, blacks were only allowed to spend their money in these stores, go figure. Blacks were also mistreated by white police officers frequently. Meat prices were raised past the normal prices because blacks did not have any political power to prevent this from happening, which forced them to spend more money on meat that they didn't have. These are just a few examples of a typical day in the life for an African American living in Harlem.

Any one who has empathy can see why these riots occurred. This incident was just a spark to an already angered African American community. A tipping point that gave this fed up community a reason to let their anger come out in order to fight against discrimination.