PHOTOS: 1968 Kansas City Race Riots
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Students and community leaders in Kansas City, Missouri, wanted district officials to shut down KCPS schools on the day of his funeral, April 9, so they could mourn. When KCPS refused to do so, students from Lincoln Prep, Manual, and Central high schools walked out.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Walking in the eastbound lanes of I-70, the students marched west toward City Hall, against the flow of traffic.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bruce R. Watkins joined the march on I-70, leading with a raised fist.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The students all met up at Parade Park, where they and some community leaders spoke.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Then-Mayor Ilus Davis met the students at the park. He heard their concerns and permitted them to protest at City Hall.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As a report commissioned by the mayor would later show, the issues that gave rise to the riots ran much deeper than school administration’s decision keep classrooms open.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As students made their way downtown, police were preparing for the crowd.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Protestors filled the courtyard. One retired officer who was there that day remembered the number of people coming seemed as large as 1,000 people, though it was closer to 300UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Officers patrolled the area, some equipped with guns, others wearing gas masks and wielding batons.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Demonstrators stood on the steps of City Hall to make speeches.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As word spread of what the students had done, many adults joined the crowd in support. Some would go on to found or get involved in organizations that worked to support minorities and promote unity.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The police officers lined up shoulder-to-shoulder. A black woman walked up and down that line, yelling and cursing. Someone from the protesting crowd behind her hurled a glass soda bottle at the officers.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
At that moment, the first can of tear gas exploded.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The gas sent protestors scattering.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Young students recalled feeling the sting of the tear gas for the first time.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The retired officer said he never saw a need for the first can of tear gas to be thrown, but others had a more aggressive mindset toward the protestors.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The gas split the crowd up, but demonstrators would come back together in the days that followed with a vengeance, burning parts of the city to the ground.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II said 1968 was an “earth-shattering” year for Kansas City. Former Mayor Sly James said “the world lit up.”UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
To get the students away from the tear gas, and to try to calm the situation, KCPS officials organized a dance at Holy Name Catholic Church. When police were called to the church in reference to a disturbance, the students began taunting the officers. The police threw cans of tear gas through windows into the basement. Some say they didn’t know there was a dance happening there. Nearly everyone says this is when the riots really began.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Then-Mayor Ilus Davis declared a state of emergency and enforced the city’s first emergency curfew. The National Guard moved in.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Police set up a command post at the Scottish Rite Temple.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Red Cross (van pictured near the back) was also on the scene.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Many businesses were damaged or destroyed in the riots. The damage totaled $4 million in 1968, which would be closer to $29 million in 2018.UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The destruction was mostly contained to the area surrounding 31st and The Paseo. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II said this was because “to go west of Troost was to die, and I think everybody realized that.”UMKC - LaBudde Special CollectionsCopyright 2018 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.