Exactly 59 years ago today, on July 18, 1964, the Harlem Race Riot began after a 15-year-old Black teenager was fatally shot by a white off-duty police officer. As news of the police-involved incident spread, thousands of people took to the streets.
Clashes erupted between the protesters and law enforcement. The uprising spread to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. Both neighborhoods were densely populated by Black people who faced systemic discrimination, housing segregation, and limited access to quality education and job opportunities.
A movie cameraman sprawls on street pavement next to a helmeted, pistol-carrying police officer, ducking objects thrown by African Americans during rioting in Harlem, New York City, on July 19, 1964. Several newsmen, including a television cameraman, were injured in the outbursts following the funeral services for 15-year-old African American James Powell who was shot to death on July 16 by a police officer. (AP Photo)The steel mesh screen which guarded a Lennox Avenue pawn shop lays twisted in the street, after a night long racial riot in Harlem section of New York City, July 19, 1964. Steel helmeted policed stand guard to prevent looting. Scene is between 125th and 126th Street. (AP Photo)Their hands braced against window of a Harlem jewelery store, a group of black youths are searched by white-helmeted New York City police in July 21, 1964. The young men were stopped and searched in the Harlem area of New York where many demonstrations occured for the fourth straight night. Hundreds of club-wielding police continued to patrol area to curb incidents. (AP Photo/John Lent)A steel-helmeted policeman wields his club on fleeing African American youths at West 125th Street during violence in New Yorks Harlem neighborhood, July 20, 1964. Demonstrators were protesting the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old African American, James Powell, by a white police officer. (AP Photo)
According to reports, one person died, over 100 were injured, and more than 450 were arrested. The uprising was a precursor to several other uprisings that took place across the country.
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