Hello, and welcome to today's lesson on the riots of 1965 to '67 and the Kerner Report of 1968.

This lesson is part of a broader inquiry looking at the changes in the Civil Rights movement after 1965.

In the course of this inquiry, we'll cover lots of different things, from the role of Malcolm X, the emergence of the Black Power Movement and the Black Panther Party, all the way up to consider how much the Civil Rights had seen success by 1975.

But for today, we're just going to be focusing on the riots of 65-67 and the Kerner Report.

In order to do that, you're going to need a piece of paper and a pen.

If you don't have one, absolutely fine, not to worry.

Just pause the video now, get everything you need, and then come back and press play when you're ready to go.

Great, now we're ready to get started.

We can have a look at our lesson outcome on the slide here.

So by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say, you can describe the Watts riots, and explain the significance of the riots that followed.

But in order to do that, we're going to need some keywords.

And for today we've got just two, discrimination and commission.

Now, discrimination is the unjust treatment of a person or group of people, usually on the grounds of a physical quality or belief.

And a commission is a group of people trusted by a government to carry out a task, usually some form of investigation.

Now we've got an idea of what discrimination means, and commission, before we see them in the context of the lesson.

I think we're good to get started.

And in the first part of the lesson, we'll be looking at the Watts riots of 1965.

Now, by 1965, several Civil Rights Acts had been passed.

Now, the most important of these were the Civil Rights Act passed by Eisenhower in 1957 and the Civil Rights Act passed by Johnson in 1964.

The latter was greatly celebrated by many civil rights activists, especially as it was followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, for others, they felt that these acts were in fact, too little, too late.

This was because the rates of unemployment amongst Black Americans remained incredibly high, and many Black Americans felt that the poverty they faced was the result of ongoing discrimination that they faced in their everyday lives.

And as a result of this, the Watts riots broke out in the summer of 1965.

So here, we can see a photograph of President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

Like I said, it was hugely celebrated.

We can see from this photograph, it's a huge moment in history, but, as already mentioned, many felt this was too little, too late, because higher levels of unemployment and continued poverty meant that many Black Americans felt that this act had not done enough.

Now, before we go on to find out a little bit more about the Watts riots, we're just going to pause and check our understanding so far.

So first, I'd like you to tell me whether this statement is true or false.

All Americans were satisfied with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

So pause the video now, make a decision, and come back when you've got an answer For me.

Great, we know that this statement is false, but we know that it's not enough to just say this statement is false.

We need to think about why.

So I need you to justify your answer.

Is it false because all civil rights activists criticised the act for not bringing enough change? Or is it false because some Black Americans felt the act brought change that was too little, too late? Now, think about the phrasing of these statements before you make a quick judgement.

Read them again if you need to.

Pause the video now and come back when you've got an answer.

Brilliant, we know that this statement is false because some Black Americans felt the change brought by the act was too little, too late.

It can't be A, because it would be incorrect to say that all civil rights activists criticised the act, because many did celebrate it as a huge success.

Now, I'd like you to have a discussion with the person next to you.

If you're completing this lesson by yourself, not to worry, you can have a go at articulating a response out loud or jotting down some of your key ideas.

But I would like you to explain why did some Black Americans feel the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act were too little, too late? So we've already addressed the fact that this is how some Black Americans felt in response.

Now I'd like you to explain why.

So pause the video now, give yourself a couple of minutes so that if there's more than one of you, you will get a chance to explain your response.

If you're doing this by yourself, you get a chance to clearly articulate it out loud and have a go at jotting down the key ideas you mentioned.

So pause the video and come back when you're done.

Brilliant, so hopefully in your response you said things like rates of unemployment amongst Black Americans remains high, and that many felt the poverty they faced was the result of ongoing discrimination in their everyday lives, and therefore, the act brought changes that were just too little, too late.

Really well done, let's go on to find out a little bit more about the Watts riots.

So as you already said, as a result of the Civil Rights Act of '64 and the Voting Rights Act of '65 not bringing as much change as many Black Americans would hoped, the Watts riots broke out in the summer of 1965.

And this frustration reached boiling point on the 11th of August that year.

The riot began in the Watts district in Los Angeles, California.

It started with the arrest of Marquette Frye, who tested positive for drinking and driving.

Now his brother stepped in to help him with the arrest, but soon became a scuffle between Frye and the police officers.

And a crowd then quickly gathered around the incident.

Their mother Rena arrived to protect her son as she believed he was being abused by the police.

The Frye brothers and their mother were arrested and a riot broke out in full force.

By 7:45 PM that evening, rocks, bottles, and other dangerous items were being thrown at buses and cars.

Now the riot went on to involve 30,000 people, and 34 were killed.

1,072 were injured, and around 4,000 were arrested.

Now, in addition to all of this, it is estimated the riots cost the city $40 million in damage.

President Johnson said the riot was the inevitable outcome of the discrimination towards and oppression of the Black community.

When Martin Luther King visited Watts after the riots and expressed shock at the damage and the number of people who felt that the riots, a rejection of non-violent direct action, had been a success.

So despite Martin Luther King's commitment to non-violent action, many of the Black Americans who resided in Watts believed that their riots had been a success, a successful demonstration of their growing frustration at their circumstances.

A huge shock to Martin Luther King, who had largely committed his life to using non-violent methods to campaign against racial injustice.

And here we can see a photograph of police standing over people suspected of looting on the fourth day of the Watts riots.

We can see them being treated inhumanely, to be lying on the floor before police.

Photographs like this spread across the US.

It only further inflamed tensions between Black Americans and the police, particularly those who supported the actions of those participating in the riot.

Again, it was this that shocked Martin Luther King, particularly when he realised that many felt it had been a success.

Now, before we go on to look at how these riots would impact other cities in America in the following summers, we're going to pause, check our understanding so far, and put what we've learned about the Watts riots into practise.

So first, I'd like you to list five details about the Watts riots as quickly as possible.

Give yourself a few minutes.

How many details can you remember from what I've just told you about the Watts riots of 1965? Pause the video now, give yourself a few minutes, and come back and press play when you're done.

Excellent, so you might have said that they began on the 11th of August 1965 with the arrest of Marquette Frye.

You might have said that people believed that Frye and his brother were being abused by the police a crowd gathered.

You might have also mentioned that by 7:45 PM, a riot had broken out following the arrest of Frye and their mother.

You might also have added that the riot went on to involve 30,000 people, 34 of whom were killed, 1,072 were injured, and 4,000 arrested.

And finally, you may have remembered that in total, the riots cost around $40 million in damages.

If there's any of these that you're worried you won't quite remember, just pause the video now, make notes, that'll be very helpful for our practise task.

So for this task, I would like you to write an account of the Watts riots.

I told you, it'll be very helpful, for not just any account.

I'd like you to make sure you're using the following phrases, introducing consequences in your response.

So this led to, as a result of this, consequently.

So it's not just a case of listing the things that we just spoke about, you are clearly explaining how one event led to the next.

So pause the video now, give yourself five to ten minutes to write this account for the Watts riots, and come back and press play when you're done.

Excellent, so your answer might look something like this.

On the 11th of August 1965, in the Watts district of Los Angeles, Marquette Frye was arrested for drinking and driving.

Within hours, this led to riots because the growing crowd believed that Frye and his brother were being abused by the police.

By 7:45 PM, the Frye brothers and their mother had been arrested.

As a result of this, the riot escalated with rocks, bottles, and other dangerous items being thrown at cars.

The riots grew to involve 30,000 people.

Consequently, 34 people were killed, 1,072 were injured, and around 4,000 were arrested.

In addition to this, the riot caused $40 million in damages.

Now, if there's any details that you didn't quite remember but you'd like to add, don't worry, just pause the video now and give yourself a chance to add them in before we move on to the next part of today's lesson.

So in the next part of the lesson, we are going to be looking at how the rioting spread over the following summers.

Now here, we can see burning buildings in the Detroit riots of 1967.

But we initially started off talking about riots in the Watts district of Los Angeles in 1965.

But the Watts riots would only be the beginning of three summers of rioting and violent protests.

Immediately after the riots in the Watts district, rioting broke out in Chicago, Illinois after Dessie May Williams died in an accident involving a firetruck ladder.

In summer 1966, there were more riots in Chicago.

Many of the riots had broken out in a similar way to the riots in the Watts district.

They began with the arrest of a Black American, followed by suspected police brutality, before escalating to a full-scale race riot.

The violence reached its peak in the summer of 1967 as riots broke out in 125 cities.

The biggest riots were in Newark, in which 26 people were killed and over 1000 people were injured.

And in Detroit where over 7,000 were arrested and over 40 people were killed.

At the end of 1967, it had become abundantly clear to the US government that something had to be done.

So the riots that started off in the Watts district of 1965 spread over the following two summers to 125 cities, some of the worst taking place in Newark and Detroit in 1967.

Now, before we go on to look at how the US government responded to this, when it was clear that something had to be done, we're going to pause, check our understanding, and put our learning of this part of the lesson into practise.

So, either jotting this down quickly on paper or having a discussion with the person next to you, I'd like you to have a go at answering this quick question.

After the Watts riots, where did the riots spread to from '66 to '67? Pause the video, make a quick note, or quickly tell the person next to you, and then come back and press play.

Brilliant work.

Hopefully you said Chicago, Newark, and Detroit.

Which of the following was typically the trigger for these riots? Was it attacked by the KKK, suspected police brutality, or were they often spontaneous? Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer.

Well done, the answer is, B, suspected police brutality was often the trigger for these riots, as it was in Watts, Chicago, and then it will go on to be the case in many other cities.

Now we're going to put our learning into practise.

So first, let's have a look at what Jacob has said.

So Jacob has said, although the Watts riots of 1965 were significant, it was a single riot, and therefore, we cannot say that Black Americans continue to struggle against racial injustice after the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Now, Jacob here has misunderstood significance of the Watts riots of 1965, and does not seem to be aware of the rioting that continued afterwards.

So I'd like you to now write a response to Jacob to help him understand the significance of the Watts riots, and the riots that followed.

So pause the video now, give yourself up to 10 minutes to write an incredible response, which I know you will, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Really well done.

Now let's have a look at what your answer might have included.

So you might have said, Jacob, I see you are aware of the Watts riots of 1965, but your answer needs to include how significant it was for 30,000 people to take part in a riot following suspected police brutality.

After the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, many Black Americans felt that it was too little too late as they continue to face high levels of unemployment, poverty, and discrimination in their everyday lives.

The outbreak of the Watts riots shows just how much tension was building as a result of this continued frustration.

The riots then spread to Chicago, Newark, and Detroit in the following two years.

This continued rioting and the spread across several cities and states shows just how widespread the dissatisfaction was amongst Black Americans.

Really well done if you were able to use those key details to explain to Jacob why the riots were so significant, especially by using details from other riots in other cities.

Really well done.

Now we can move on to the third and final part of our lesson.

And in this part of the lesson, we'll be looking at the Kerner Report of 1968.

Now, as a result of the outbreak of the riots in the US, in 1967, President Johnson ordered an investigation to be launched into the causes of the riots and provide recommendations to prevent it happening again.

The group set up to lead the investigation was called the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, and later became known as the Kerner Commission, named after the chair of the commission, Otto Kerner.

And you can see him here on the slide leading the commission in 1967.

After seven months of investigation, the commission published their report.

It became known as the Kerner Report of 1968.

And this report became a bestseller across the US with more than 2 million copies sold.

The report found the main reason for the outbreak of the riots was the lack of opportunity for Black Americans and the racial discrimination that they faced, a conclusion that was shared by many in the Black community, including the revolutionaries of the Black Panther Party.

The report pointed to the ongoing police brutality and institutional racism in the US as one of the main issues that needed to be addressed.

The report suggested that large scale federal reforms were needed in order to prevent further riots.

Reforms that would require a huge amount of funding.

However, in late 1968, Nixon, a Republican, was elected president, and the suggestions from the report were largely ignored.

Now, before we go on to finish up for today, we're going to check our understanding of the Kerner Report.

That was a huge bestseller in the US because it acknowledged that there was ongoing racial discrimination and police brutality that needed to be addressed despite the passing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act a couple of years earlier.

But before we go on to wrap up for today, we're going to check our understanding and put what we've learned about the Kerner Report into practise.

So first I'd like you to tell me, which President ordered the Kerner Report as an investigation into the causes of the riots of 1965-67? Was it A, President Eisenhower, B, President Johnson, or C, President Nixon? Pause the video now, make a decision, and come back when you've got an answer for me.

Excellent, we know that it was President Johnson who ordered an investigation in 1967.

So now I'd like you to discuss with the person next to you, or if you're doing this lesson alone, that's absolutely fine, have a go at articulating it out loud, and then jotting down some of your key ideas.

But the focus of this discussion or articulation is to tell me, what did the Kerner Report find? What were the findings of this report? So pause the video now, give yourself enough time for both of you to have a go at explaining, if you're doing it in pairs.

If you're doing it alone, give yourself enough time to clearly articulate the key findings of this report.

Excellent, so you might have said that the riots were the result of the lack of opportunity for Black Americans, but also the ongoing police brutality and institutional racism were some of the main issues to be addressed.

Really well done if you included those key details in your discussion, or articulation if you're doing this by yourself.

Last question, I'd like you to tell me what happened to the suggestions from the Kerner Report of 1968.

Was it A, brought into law by Nixon, but never enforced, B, enforced after Nixon's election, or C, largely ignored after Nixon's election? Pause the video now, make a decision, and then come back and press play when you've got an answer for me.

Brilliant, we know that the suggestions from the Kerner Report were largely ignored after Nixon's election in late 1968.

So for our final task for today, I want you to have a look at this statement.

The riots from 1965-67 achieved nothing for Black civil rights in the USA.

How far do you agree with this statement? So I'd like you to write a response explaining how far you agree with the statement above, but also why someone might disagree with your judgement.

So pause the video now, give yourself about 15 minutes to write a response to this task, and then come back and press play when you're done.

Brilliant, now let's have a look at what your answer might have included.

So you might have said, I agree with this statement to a significant extent as the riots ultimately led to no change in the lives of Black Americans, despite the findings of the Kerner Commission.

The initial riots in the Watts district of California led to $400 million in damages and 34 people killed.

This clearly brought little change as riots continued in the following summers.

Although these riots came to the attention of President Johnson who ordered the Kerner Commission to uncover the causes of the riots, the report was completely ignored once Nixon was elected in 1968.

Ultimately, this shows that the riots brought no change, despite the attempts by Johnson to address the cause of the riots.

However, someone might disagree and argue that the riots did bring some change.

This could be supported by the fact that the riots gained the attention of the President in 1967, and the findings of the Kerner Report following the Kerner Commission.

The report said that the riots were the result of the lack of opportunity for Black Americans and ongoing racial discrimination.

The report then suggested the ongoing police brutality and institutional racism needed to be addressed in order to prevent further rioting.

This acknowledgement of ongoing racism and discrimination in the US might not have happened without the rioting, and was significant, even if Nixon did nothing to act on Kerner's recommendations.

So really well done there.

Hopefully, you were able to use our two keywords in your response as well.

If there's any key ideas that you really liked in these example answers that you weren't able to get down, not to worry at all, just pause the video now, make a note of them underneath your response, and then we'll have a look at a summary of today's lesson.

So we have covered so much today.

We learned that despite the passing of new acts, rates of unemployment and poverty were still high amongst Black Americans, leaving many to feel The Civil Rights Acts of '64 and '65 were too little, too late.

We learned that Watts riots triggered three summers of rioting across the US in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Newark.

We also learned that President Johnson ordered an investigation into the causes of the riots to prevent further rioting.

And finally, we learned that the Kerner Report, that the lack of economic opportunity and ongoing racial discrimination was the cause of the riots.

However, the suggestions made to address these issues were largely ignored following Nixon's election.

So, really well done, you've done absolutely brilliant work, I am so, so impressed.