Growing Tensions

In the months and years before August of 1968, civil unrest in Chicago had been growing. Not only had there been race riots in many of the Chicago neighborhoods (especially during the summer of '66); there was also a festering animosity between the wild haired hippies and the straight laced police and city leaders. James P. Turner's essay, "Chicago '68 The Unconventional One", paints a picture of the tension that was in the Chicago streets. With shouts like "Off the pigs!"and obvious and purposeful infractions of the law, the counterculture participants were not afraid to get the Chicago cops riled up. On the flip side, the police officers weren't afraid to swing their billy clubs indiscriminately - battering protesters, innocent bystanders, and media officials alike. Overall, a distrustful prejudice grew between the Chicago P.D. and the hippies/Yippies. One off duty cop was reported to have given a ride to a teenager hitchhiking home, and upon hearing that the long haired teenager was a supporter of Eugene McCarthy (the anti-Vietnam presidential hopeful) the man "went ballistic, called him a "Hippie", hit him in the head and broke his glasses...chased him down, and, with pistol drawn, forced him back into his private car. He then drove him to his suburban home and aroused the family with loud banging. "Here's your Hippie kid!"" (Turner). Such exchanges were becoming more and more common as the date of the convention drew closer.
Overall, I think the essay does a pretty good job illustrating the mounting tension of both sides. One story in it describes some hot head protesters screaming profanity at cops, trying to start a fight, while others like in the paragraph above show other unprovoked attacks on members of the hippie culture. I was also pleased to see such an accurate, less opinionated account of the events that took place during and before the convention. The author, James P. Turner, was actually present throughout the convention and witnessed many of the riots. The essay brings light to both sides of the issue, and the with the tensions described it seems to say that conflict when these two groups met head on would have been inevitable.


Turner, James P. "Chicago '68 The Unconventional One." Turner Home. N.p., 1996. Web. 1 Apr 2010. .

The Whole World is Watching

1968 Chicago, generally the thing that comes to mind (if anything comes to mind at all) is the infamous protester versus police riots that occurred. In the Chicago Tribune article, "Democratic Convention 1968" an overall picture is give of the violent chaos that played out over those infamous days. The clash took place in August of 1968 during the Democrat's presidential nomination convention. Over 10,000 anti-war demonstrators under the satirical direction of the Youth International Party, most commonly known as the Yippies, had gathered not only to protest the ever unpopular Vietnam War, but also the potential re-nomination of Lyndon B. Johnson. They were met by a police opposition 12,000 strong as well as 6,000 National Guard troops. Ignoring the order of the police, the protesters continued with their mission of civil unrest. What happened next was nothing less than a police riot. The mass of news media present filmed and photographed the shocking violence and brutality used by the police to subdue demonstrators amid shouts from the crowd of "The whole world is watching." The chant was true. The alarmingly violent fiasco went down as an embarrassing blemish in Chicago's law enforcement and civil history.
Such an event grabs my attention. How does order fall apart like that? Was the riot planned by militant extremists? that's what the city thought when they put organizers of the demonstration on trial. Or, as others believe, it was the protesters that instigated the violence. However, I don't think that's how it all went down. I tend to side with the arguments that the bulk of the chaos was wrought by the police and guardsmen. Yes, they were following orders. Yes, the demonstrators were resisting and fighting back. But, that does not give excuse for the brutal methods used to dispel the marchers as is described here, "Officers pushed people through a plate-glass window and then, according to witnesses, attacked the dazed victims as they lay amid broken glass"(Chicago Tribune). On the flip side, I also know that history rarely has a single one cause for something, and that there are more than just one or two sides to a story. That's why more research is necessary to understand what went wrong at this free expression movement.

"Democratic Convention 1968" Chicago Tribune n. pag. Web. 24 Mar 2010. .