The article that follows appeared, in shorter form, in the now-defunct Chicago Daily News one week after the riots that were touched off by the murder of Dr. King. Daily News editors cut out large chunks of the article, including the “fists” introductory section. Here we have restored most of those cuts and reedited the piece to conform to the Reader style. We present it as both a chronology of events and an artifact of the time.
The story was written at a time when journalistic convention required–and some black news sources requested–that the word Negro be used to refer to those who are now commonly called blacks. At the time, the term black was worn as a badge of protest. I usually asked blacks whether they wanted to be called black or Negro in print. Famed black historian John Hope Franklin of the University of Chicago once gave me a stern lecture urging me to avoid the term black, saying “Negro is the right word. It is the term historians use, and it is the word I shall continue to use.” Since then, Negro History Week has become Black History Month.
Jones talked about that fist inside of them and how “they didn’t know what to do about it.”
Rochford also called Richard T. Dunn, a Bloomington lawyer who is commander of the Illinois Emergency Operations headquarters. Dunn sounded a National Guard alert, warning the militia to be ready for an emergency call-up.
On the west side, a few older militants met and spoke of revenge. It was a short meeting, though. “Cool it,” one said. “We don’t know everyone here.” They didn’t. One of them was an undercover policeman.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“We didn’t need to meet,” said the youth. “Everyone knew what happened to King, and they knew what they had to do about it.” Several youths, he said, had cans of gasoline in storage. The gasoline was later poured into bottles that were hurled into white-owned businesses that burned to the ground.
