The Miami Riot of 1980 marked a significant event as the first major race riot in the United States since the late 1960s. The riot was sparked by the acquittal of several white Miami-Dade police officers involved in the beating to death of Arthur McDuffie, a black motorist. Despite evidence that the officers had used excessive force, an all-white jury found them not guilty on May 17, 1980. This verdict angered residents of Liberty City, a predominantly African American community where half of the city’s black and Afro-West Indian population lived.
The protests in Liberty City turned violent when some protesters began throwing objects at white motorists. The violence escalated into a full-blown riot, spreading into neighboring white business districts and the headquarters of the Dade County Department of Public Safety. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Jesse Jackson attempted to halt the violence but were unsuccessful. As a result, the Florida National Guard was called in to aid the Miami-Dade police force, and the riot was eventually confined to Liberty City.
The riot lasted for four days, resulting in ten black and eight white deaths, over 800 arrests, and over $80 million in property damage. Some have argued that the riot reflected the dissatisfaction and alienation of a younger post-Civil Rights/Black Power generation of African American youth with both the tactics and strategies of an older generation of black leadership, as well as with continuing racial discrimination.
Overall, the Miami Riot served as a reminder of the possibility of urban insurrection in underprivileged neighborhoods, coming twelve years after the Martin Luther King Riots in April 1968.
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