3 Chapter 10 Fighting Poverty

Chapter 10 Fighting Poverty Even with the right to vote, even with the right to sit anywhere on a bus or eat in any restaurant, black people were struggling. Too many did not have jobs. And those with jobs weren't making enough to live decently. They lived in homes with no heat and leaky pipes. Many people were sick and did not have money to see a doctor. Black people were angry. They were frustrated. Some were tired of listening to Martin. Change wasn't coming fast enough. People who had followed Malcolm X, who was killed in 1965, were forming groups to carry on his message of fighting back with violence. Groups such as the Black Panther Party emerged. These groups talked about black pride.

In August 1965, a riot broke out in a Los Angeles neighborhood called Watts. Angry mobs of black people ran through the streets. They threw rocks and bottles. They shattered store windows. They stole. They set fires. Many people were killed andinjured. The rioting went on for six

days. Finally, the U.S. Army was called in to stop the violence. WATTS RIOTS On AUGUST 11, 1965, A BLACK MAN NAMED MARQUETTE FRYE WAS PULLED OVER WHILE DRIVING On A CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY. A POLICE OFFICER LATER SAID HE WAS DRIVING DANGEROUSLY. AS THE POLICE QUESTIONED FRYE AND HIS BROTHER, A GROUP OF PEOPLE GATHERED. THEY WERE ANGRY. SOME PEOPLE BEGAN TO SHOUT AT THE OFFICERS. THEY SAID THE FRYE BROTHERS WERE ONLY PULLED OVER BECAUSE THEY WERE

BLACK. SOME PEOPLE THREW ROCKS. WHEN FRYE AND HIS BROTHER WERE ARRESTED, THE CROWD GREW ANGRIER AND BEGAN RIOTING. THE RIOT LASTED FOR SIX DAYS.

In WATTS, PEOPLE FELT DESPERATE AND HOPELESS. THEY

FELT LIKE VICTIMS. Martin understood people's frustration. But he said, "When people are voiceless, they will have temper tantrums like a little child who has not been paid attention to. And riots are massive