Tonight the local civic set offers their version of history, culture and political conflict in Kansas City . . .
The Library, in collaboration with KCPT-Kansas City PBS and KSHB-41 Action News, examines the indelible episode and its aftermath in a two-pronged event marking its 50th anniversary. First is the premiere screening of the new documentary short '68: The Kansas City Race Riots, Then and Now, co-produced by KSHB and KCPT. Then, a panel discussion featuring Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, Mayor Sly James, and former city council member and longtime community activist Alvin Brooks addresses the lessons learned from the violent chapter of history, from the role of policing to the value of protest.
Joining Cleaver and Brooks on the panel: Clarence Gibson, the last Kansas City police officer at the time of the unrest who remains on the force; Linda Spence, a Central High School student in 1968; and Southeast Missouri State University historian Joel Rhodes, who has extensively researched the episode. KCPT’s Nick Haines moderates.
Now, the movie will be rebroadcast later but we are students of history on this blog and there is news coverage available online featuring the scenes of the event.
Description:
"In 1968, WHB Radio in Kansas City was one of America's leading top 40 radio stations. In the early 2000s, I came in contact with Bud Carter, who had been WHB's News Director in the late 1960s. He gave me a tape recording that he had made while working at the station consisting of a radio station composite of the station's news coverage of the 1968 Kansas City riots following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The composite was made for the station's sales department so they could demonstrate to potential advertising clients the quality of WHB's news coverage of breaking stories that the WHB News department was known for at the time. I have simply taken that composite, wrapped some old WHB jingles around it and added pictures I found through the Kansas City Public Library's awesome website . . ."
Take a look:
For our blog community, what should out is the change in language and tone from present day terminology describing an "uprising" to reporters at the scene who were far less thoughtful in the words they used to describe the chaotic scene.
You decide . . .
A great time for all!
ReplyDeleteKC hasn't had a free TV give away for quite some time.
This is a great lesson for the history books and a sign that we really have come far as a nation. Now it's not just riots but restaurant altercations that are recorded for posterity.
Really sad to imagine that now the mayor is talking about how great the riots were. Anybody who remembers it at the time realizes that the entire city was plunged into fear that week.
DeleteIt is a moment when a lot of people were convinced they needed a gun to protect themselves. Think about it.
50 years later. KC is one of the most violent cities in the nation. Think about that.
DeleteIt would be interesting to know if today’s east side would be any different if they hadn’t burned and destroyed what they did.
ReplyDeleteRE: '68: The Kansas City Race Riots, Then and Now
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, is it accurate to describe the events as "Race Riots"?
Which races were rioting?
If the spark for the riots was the failure to close schools to honor the death of MLK Jr., why were stores looted and burned that had absolutely nothing to do with the death of MLK or the decision to keep schools open?
What was the race of the criminals who did the looting and arson?
Was anything positive accomplished by destroying the businesses operating in the protesters neighborhoods?
What's the difference between the 1968 KCMO rioters and today's protesters like Black Lives Matter and Antifa?
Be hard to argue against what 7:49 has said here. To be honest they're dead on the money with their facts. Also 7:39 points out a lot of truth as well.
ReplyDelete^^^^It would be hard for YOU argue because you’re a retard. No one but stupid Dave says “ dead on the money”. Remember stupid Dave , your truth is different from everybody else’s. So kindly crawl back under that rock you crawled from.
Deletethe estrogen shots mixed with prozac is not a good look for you
Delete^^^ The music was much better back then and the public didn't question every decision by police who didn't fire their guns as much but got in fist fights a lot more often.
ReplyDeleteIsn't diversity wonderful ? Golly, what would our lives be like without the "benefits of diversity" ? Gosh, how would our society survive without (gulp) Black People ? I mean, they're all so awesome and contribute so much to the world ! Every city in the country benefits from their presence ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !
ReplyDelete^^^Well for one, we wouldn’t have had Hitler, The Civil War, slavery, the American Indian extermination, mass murders, the atomic bomb, etc.
ReplyDeleteHitler did nothing wrong, Abraham Lincoln instigated the War For Southern Independence, Blacks lived longer when slavery existed, the Indians made war with the Whites and the Whites were more cunning and more numerous, Truman saved a million American lives by dropping the A-Bomb.Any questions Jew-Boy ?
ReplyDeleteRemembering the good old days when blacks used to riot, burn, assault, rape and murder. Yep. That's just great.
ReplyDeleteWe should now, get out the hoses and German Shepherds and wash those Black Lives Matter scum into the gutter where they belong.
The Left wants the end of the Rule Of Law. Me too, then we can end this pretense that "Diversity" is wonderful.
Fuck those black pieces of shit.
After the downtown protest were broken up, a radio station held a dance and Holy Name church (since demo'd) at 23rd and Benton.
ReplyDeletehttp://curmudgeonkc.blogspot.com/2005/11/holy-name-church-kansas-city-missouri_06.html
The cops teargassed the church with the dance going on inside. The rest is riot history.
I find it interesting that this is only mentioned at the tail end of the news broadcast.
The powers that be were scared that blacks and whites would find common ground and work together for equal (human) rights. So, they riled up both sides with their ultimate weapon - FEAR. We were told to fear the "others" and it worked. Fifty years ago we could have had cooperation between the races. Fear did a good job on us.
ReplyDeleteReally liked some of the original reporting. Some of it seems amateur by today's standards but there are a lot of great on the scene details that most people forget. Thanks for posting this video TKC!
ReplyDelete^^^^^^
ReplyDelete9:52
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and so not true!
8:28 you're a jackass who isn't dead on the money, chuck says it once in a while I have seen him. You think those two are the only ones who ever say that? Here is the true meaning of it for your simple little mind;
ReplyDelete"Dead on" means "exactly"
"On the money" means "correct"
So 8:28, Learn it. Know it. Live it.
HA HA HA 828 just got OWNED
ReplyDelete8:28 That means bitch slapped.
ReplyDeleteThe losers burned their own neighborhoods. Let's hope they don't wise up.
ReplyDelete952 speaks the truth and 1001 is a fucking tard
ReplyDelete10:07 is dead on the money
ReplyDeleteI wish they would riot again, although it really should be called looting. There would be a lot more than 6 hood rats killed this time around.
ReplyDeleteThings would be a lot better in KC if the cops were still allowed to night stick the colored folk.
ReplyDelete