Two Societies: Riots

Vaughn says of the riots, “I don’t think it was the call for Black Power that did it. I think it was the

lack of power that did it.” What does he mean?

Vaughn believes that the reason blacks rebelled and rioted against whites was not because of how much they wanted power, but was because they were keenly aware of how much more power whites had over them and wanted change. For example, the police force in Detroit whom was prodominately white abused their sense of power to terrorize black citizens. They made notorious "elite" teams called 'Tacs' whose only job was to strictly patrol black communities for prostitution and illegal drug and alcohol sales. "During these patrols, suspects were regularly harassed and beaten; in a few cases, blacks were even shot and killed." Because only whites were chosen to be put in a position of power, blacks literally could not even attempt to fight the laws from the inside. They rioted because it was the only way they could physically get their point across.