Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power

360 Pages·2019·6.69 MB·English

by  Simon Balto

Occupied Territory
Justice, Power, and Politics
Coeditors
Heather Ann Thompson
Rhonda Y. Williams
Editorial Advisory Board
Peniel E. Joseph
Daryl Maeda
Barbara Ransby
Vicki L. Ruiz
Marc Stein
The Justice, Power, and Politics series publishes
new works in history that explore the myriad
struggles for justice, battles for power, and shifts
in politics that have shaped the United States
over time. Through the lenses of justice, power,
and politics, the series seeks to broaden scholarly
debates about America’s past as well as to inform
public discussions about its future.
More information on the series, including a
complete list of books published, is available at
http://justicepowerandpolitics.com/.
t
oCcupied
e
r
POLICiNG BLAcK
R
cHICAGO FRoM i
T
RED SUMmeR TO o
r
bLACK POWER
y
simon Balto
The University of North Carolina Press | Chapel Hill
This book was published with the assistance of the
Authors Fund of the University of North Carolina Press.
© 2019 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by April Leidig
Set in Arnhem by Copperline Book Services
The University of North Carolina Press has been a
member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover photograph courtesy of the Chicago History Museum
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Balto, Simon, author.
Title: Occupied territory : policing black Chicago from Red Summer
to black power / by Simon Balto.
Other titles: Justice, power, and politics.
Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2019] |
Series: Justice, power, and politics | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2018049256| isbn 9781469649597 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9781469649603 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Chicago (Ill.) Police Department—History—20th century. |
Discrimination in law enforcement—Illinois—Chicago—History—20th
century. | African Americans—Civil rights—Illinois—Chicago—History—
20th century. | Chicago (Ill.)—Race relations—History—20th century.
Classification: lcc hv8148.c4 b35 2019 | ddc 363.2/308900977311—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049256
For those who dream and work
to bring about a better world,
and in memory of my mother,
who spent her life doing both
of those things
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Contents
Abbreviations xi
I ntroduction: Overpoliced and Underprotected in America 1
P rologue: The Promised Land and the Devil’s Sanctum:
The Risings of the Chicago Police Department and Black Chicago 13
1 Negro Distrust of the Police Increased:
Migration, Prohibition, and Regime- Building in the 1920s 26
2 You Can’t Shoot All of Us:
Radical Politics, Machine Politics, and Law and Order
in the Great Depression 56
3 Whose Police?:
Race, Privilege, and Policing in Postwar Chicago 91
4 The Law Has a Bad Opinion of Me:
Chicago’s Punitive Turn 123
5 Occupied Territory:
Reform and Racialization 154
6 Shoot to Kill:
Rebellion and Retrenchment in Post–Civil Rights Chicago 190
7 Do You Consider Revolution to Be a Crime?:
Fighting for Police Reform 222
E pilogue: Attending to the Living 256
Acknowledgments 263
Notes 269
Bibliography 313
Index 333
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Illustrations
Maps
xiv Map 1. Chicago community areas, indicating areas of major black
residency, 1920
xv M ap 2. Chicago community areas, indicating areas of major black
residency, 1970
Figures
28 Chicago police officers stand over a black victim of the 1919 riot
31 A crowd of black men gathers on the South Side during the 1919 riot
33 Chicago police officers and a soldier with the Illinois National
Guard on a South Side street corner during the 1919 riot
36 Political cartoonist Cecil Jensen comments on the deep
politicization of the cpd
107 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an
incident of police violence against Joseph Clay
108 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an
incident of police violence against Tommy Melson
109 1952 handbill distributed in Chicago seeking information on an
incident of police violence against Joseph Murray
121 cpd officers arrest and beat a black Chicago man, 1958
122 cpd officers arrest a black Chicago man, 1958
183 cpd officers gather in Garfield Park during the urban rebellion
of 1965
184 cpd officers occupy a Chicago street corner
185 cpd officers handle crowd control as racists gather to oppose the
Chicago Freedom Movement