Remember when 110 U.S. cities including Washington, Chicago and Baltimore were basically on fire?

[NNN0LHI]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Washington,_D.C._riots

1968 Washington, D.C. riots

Five days of race riots erupted in Washington, D.C. following the April 4, 1968 assassination of Civil Rights Movement-leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil unrest affected at least 110 U.S. cities; Washington, along with Chicago and Baltimore, were among the most affected. snip

Crowds of as many as 20,000 overwhelmed the District's 3,100-member police force, and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey dispatched some 13,600 federal troops, including 1,750 federalized D.C. National Guard troops to assist them. Marines mounted machine guns on the steps of the Capitol and Army troops from the 3rd Infantry guarded the White House. At one point, on April 5, rioting reached within two blocks of the White House before rioters retreated. The occupation of Washington was the largest of any American city since the Civil War. By the time the city was considered pacified on Sunday, April 8, twelve had been killed (mostly in burning homes), 1,097 injured, and over 6,100 arrested. Additionally, some 1,200 buildings had been burned, including over 900 stores. Damages reached $27 million. This can be estimated to be equivalent to over $156 million today.

[Vincardog]

1. It is going to happen again

[quinnox]

2. Probably a cakewalk compared to what will happen in the future

Mad Max, here we come.

[Posteritatis]

3. As someone born well after that I can only barely imagine.

Can't begin to think of what it'd be like, or how I'd react, if something like that occurred today.

[bemildred]

5. I remember flying into LA during the Rodney King riots.

And discussing with the stewardesses how best to get home from the airport. And of course who can forget Darryl Gates and his clown act.

[FarCenter]

4. Many of the 110 were never rebuilt in the most affected areas

Stores that were looted and burned never reopened. Landlords abandoned property. Those who could, got the hell out.

[pinboy3niner]

6. I was on alert to take an Army riot control squad to Chicago

Luckily, they didn't send us. We'd been trained for jungle warfare, not riot control.

[NNN0LHI]

7. I can remember watching troop carriers driving down Lake Shore Drive coming into the city

It was a sight.

Don

[EFerrari]

8. I remember Bobby's assassination very clearly,

even what we did that day and the next day but I don't remember April at all except that my mother and grandmother watched more tv. The Civil Rights Movement was like something happening on a different planet than my segregated white suburb.