Forty years ago, widespread violence broke out in Detroit and Newark, just as it had two years before in Rochester, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Civil unrest caused deaths, injuries and property damage in other cities during the next few years, but Los Angeles, which still showed scars from the Watts Riots of 1965, broke all the records in 1992. Symptoms of urban decay include unemployment, lack of affordable housing, racism and police abuse. What can be learned from past outbreaks? What does it take to trigger a riot and what's the state of American cities today?
The History and Possible Future of Urban Violence in America
Credits
Guests:
- Max Herman - Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University
- Peter Dreier - Occidental College - @PeterDreier
- Joel Kotkin - fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University