A Time of Unrest / Milwaukee's Riots and Their Legacy; Flash Point; Racial Tension in the Summer of 1967 Fueled Deadly Violence

Summary

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First of three parts

Thomas Crosby walked out of the St. Francis Social Center, at N. 4th and W. Brown streets, into chaos.

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A Time of Unrest / Milwaukee's Riots and Their Legacy; Flash Point; Racial Tension in the Summer of 1967 Fueled Deadly Violence

Crosby, then 17, and fellow members of a local rhythm and blues band were loading instruments into his father's station wagon around midnight July 30, 1967, when a fight broke out in the parking lot of the center, where black people came on weekends to dance.

A crowd gathered to watch. Moments later, Crosby said, Milwaukee police cars appeared, and people started throwing rocks at the police vehicles. Soon after, more police came wearing riot gear.

The entire incident developed too quickly to be coincidental, Crosby said. The sight of patrons battling police so mesmerized him, he drove his father's car into a hydrant.

"It blew my mind," Crosby said. "I think the fight was planned to get something started, because everything happened so fast, like people knew something. . . . It felt like someone said, 'Go and incite the people.' "

The Summer of Love in the United States was also the summer of racial tension, civil disturbances and rioting in some American cities. The mood in Milwa...

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