The civil disturbance of July 1967 was a pivotal moment in the city's history. The standard narrative considers it the beginning of Detroit's decline. The counter narrative says that disorder was the consequence of the urban crisis that originated in the 1950s or earlier.

Riot or Rebellion?

Activists Grace Lee Boggs, Ron Scott, Maureen Taylor, General Baker, Marian Kramer and others have insisted that the conflagration was in fact a rebellion -- a reaction against police brutality and economic conditions for blacks in Detroit.

References

Boggs, Grace Lee (1998). "The City is the Black Man's Land." Living for Change. University of Minneaopolis Press.