Newark Riots Commission

Talk of the town

Folks gather for reflection on Newark riots, Lilley Commission

By: Kristy Barry

Posted: 11/6/07

"We Should Have Listened" was the apt title of the event, a panel discussion of surviving members of the Governor's Select Commission on Civil Disorders which studied the 1967 riots in Newark, which killed 26 people and cost the city $10 million in damages.

"The ball was dropped," said Dr. Julia Miller, a research associate. "And we're faced with that today."

The event, which took place Oct. 30 at the Newark Museum, was hosted by the Rutgers Institute of Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience. The discussion marked the first time the commission convened since Feb. 1968. Ronald Smothers, a former reporter for the New York Times, moderated the event.

John J. Gibbons, a commission member, recalled he was vacationing in British Columbia when the riots broke out and when he flew into Newark, he saw the city burning and had no idea what was wrong. It wasn't until he got on the ground did he say he realized the "personal trauma" involved.

At the same time, Miller said health conditions in the city were "deplorable," that birds and bats flew freely around the hospital at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. There weren't enough doctors, linens, or curtains and the hospital board was run by the city government, she said. Miller said people wanted to come in from surrounding areas but the city was deemed "too dangerous."

When asked how race relations were impacted with the 1970 election of Ken Gibson, the city's first black mayor, Miller said the black community was "hopeful" but Smothers said Gibson was used as a "posterboy for urban problems."

Jennie Brown, a research associate for the commission, said that Newark still grapples with very important issues such as unemployment, crime, education, and healthcare as well as taking care of its weakest residents.

"There are hundreds of people in this city who are very fragile, out of hope, glad to wake up in the morning," Brown said, adding that the city needs to create a "sound group of people."

Miller added, "We need a sense of community again."

Max Herman, a sociology professor at Rutgers-Newark, has studied riots extensively in Newark, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit and Chicago. He said there are a myriad of cities that never fully rebounded from riots and with cities such as Buffalo, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, the riots just "pushed the cities over the edge."

"What's worse for Newark is an image problem," Herman said. "Cleveland was successful in revamping its image. People think Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cool. Detroit is still Motor City, cool."

But with Newark, he says, the riots and the airport became the city's identity but "image doesn't conform to reality."

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