On "The War" last night, Ken Burns only mentioned the 1943 Detroit race riot.

[raccoon]

Detroit Race Riot (1943)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1943 Detroit Race Riot was a race riot which occurred during World War II. The racial tension in Detroit during WWII increased as migration of blacks from the South to the industrial cities of the Manufacturing Belt accelerated. A prime motivation for the migrations was the labor shortage and the opportunities to obtain factory jobs….

The riot began on June 20, 1943, on Belle Isle (Detroit's largest park) when roughly one hundred thousand Detroiters gathered to enjoy the hot Sunday afternoon. Hostile confrontations between young blacks and whites broke out throughout the day, and fights erupted on the bridge connecting Belle Isle to southeast Detroit. Rumors of race war roused whites and blacks, who both took to the streets near Belle Isle and in the downtown area and attacked passersby, streetcars, and property. Blacks in Paradise Valley (“Black Bottom”) looted white-owned shops; whites overturned and burned cars of black drivers on Woodward Avenue. The Detroit police, however, sympathized with the white rioters and were brutal to the blacks: 17 blacks were shot to death by the police, but no whites.

The riot came to an end once Mayor Edward Jeffries Jr. and Governor Harry Kelly asked President Roosevelt for help….Over the course of three days, 34 people were killed, of whom 25 were black. 675 suffered serious injuries, and 1,893 were arrested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Race_Riot_(1943)


He spent several minutes talking about racial dissension at a defense plant in Alabama. No deaths or major injuries were involved there.

Wonder why he didn't go into the Detroit riot?

[mod mom]

1. He mentioned that racial riots sprang up at that time, but he is concentrating on 4

communities and how the war effected them. The beginning of each segment states he couldn't cover everything so decided the 4 community approach.

[Mike Daniels]

2. Deleted / post was practically identical to #1

[msongs]

3. you should have paid more attention because the show clearly stated that

there were substantial attacks and injuries and blacks were in fear for their lives in the Alabama situation. It was described as considerably more than "racial dissension".

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[raccoon]

6. Maybe, but it still doesn't compare to the Detroit riot. nt

[lpbk2713]

4. The story line for the entire series concentrates on four cities on the home front.

Detroit wasn't one of the four. It may have only been mentioned as a sign of the times.

[shain from kane]

5. And that is the reason for its failure. If I see that woman from Alabama again, I'm

going to scream.

[mod mom]

10. I totally disagree. The personal accounts gives the war a much more human face

than any account of WWII I've ever seen. The total body of history is so large you must place limits. Ken Burn's choice gives perspective to diverse people from very different areas of the country.

[shain from kane]

13. With World War II veterans disappearing at the rate of 1,000 per day, don't you

think they could spend more time with soldiers who actually saw action in the various battles, rather than that woman from Alabama? Of course, in the civil war series, there were no soldiers available. I just think that he has squandered a valuable resource by not concentrating on veterans. I don't know whether you know any World War II veterans, but many are close-mouthed about their experiences during the war. If they were approached for a documentary film on their service, they may have an incentive to reveal their stories. I'm sorry, but I don't believe that woman from Alabama is all that interesting, and she is slower than molasses in explaining anything.

[Xithras]

24. The purpose of the series isn't to recount battles.

There have already been a thousand shows on the battles of WW2. A thousand shows documenting the military actions of the soldiers. If The War had done that, it would have gone down as just another war documentary on an already saturated subject.

Instead, he chose to focus on the more human aspect of the war. Something that has NOT been well documented. What did the PEOPLE actually experience? What was the impact on America, at a human level? That's new territory for a WW2 documentary.

[lpbk2713]

11. The lady that talks about the *wah*?

:rofl:

[LanternWaste]

14. It's a failure?

It's a failure? I was under the impression it's a ratings spike for PBS.

(Or is that failure in your opinion only?)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. You're suggesting ratings are an indicator of success?

Sure, it's an indicator of marketing success, but I don't think that's what we're talking about.

[LanternWaste]

16. I'm not sure what the problem is with the overall film.

Then we're talking about success of what Burns wanted to accomplish with it? Or what we wanted him to accomplish with? Other than personal critiques, I'm not sure what the problem is with the overall film.

The three episodes I've seen so far have been informative and entertaining...

[shain from kane]

17. Number 1: World War II didn't start on 12/07/1941. Number 2: The segment on

recycling tin cans lasted longer than any mention of the Rape of Nanking. By the way, has China even been mentioned yet? The entire Pacific war was fought between either parties trying to retain their colonial territories, or parties trying to expand their colonial empires. Of course, China was the prize. You can thank that struggle for Korea and Vietnam, also.

[OzarkDem]

23. Have you watched the series yet?

Have you seen all the episodes? If you've seen the ones so far, you would know he covered China. There are several more parts yet to air. Perhaps you should reserve your criticism until after you've seen them all.

Here's a link to the web site for more information

http://www.pbs.org/thewar/

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. I'm not sure what all the fuss is.

It's got higher production values, but it's not much better then what's on every day on the History Channel.

[raccoon]

7. I didn't even know about the Detroit 1943 riot until a few years ago.

One day, I googled "race riots" and that's how I found out about it.

[shain from kane]

8. Here's one from World War I.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis_Riot

[raccoon]

27. The worse one I've heard of yet. Thanks for the link. nt

[bryant69]

9. Well doing a project on World War II will inevitably leave out or downgrade

a lot of stuff - perhaps he felt whatever points he would make with Detroit was already made with his bit on Alabama?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[slampoet]

12. Ken Burns also thinks that no one who isn't a Marsalis made Jazz after 1970.

He forgot Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Sun Ra, Bobby McFerrin, all of Fusion jazz, every contribution Klezmer music made to jazz, and Miles' Davis' collaboration with rock and hip hop figures.

He made a Frickin Jazz documentary without Jaco Pastorius in it!!!!

That is like making a rock documentary and forgetting to include Bob Dylan!!




Ken Burns is the ignorant white guy who makes the documentaries that make ill informed white people still feel good about their role in the US.

I would love to see the Author of "Lies my Teacher Told Me" take on Ken Burns and his MANY lies of omission.

[Spazito]

19. I see the series as 'teaching moments'...

They are meant to introduce the subjects not to do the homework for the student. If Mr. Burns were to go into minute detail on everything, the series would never have been made or, if it did, would not have received air time in prime time, imo.

Mr. Burns didn't mention the Dieppe raid at all, to date anyway, yet the mistakes made were lessons well learned for the D-Day landings. At first I was miffed but realized he cannot cover everything each of us may deem important without losing site of the big picture lesson being taught.

[shain from kane]

20. I don't remember that Dunkirk was mentioned, to explain why British was suddenly absent from battle.

They mentioned the delay for D-Day, and the Italian campaign, and the soft underbelly of Europe. They mentioned Kasserine, but I don't remember any discussion about El-Alamein.
Montgomery, Alabama, but no Montgomery.

[Spazito]

21. It is interesting, it struck me that Mr. Burns' series is covering

areas that have been less covered in the movies with the exception, I am sure, of the D-Day landings being covered this evening.

For example, I was aware of the Anzio landings from various movies, ie Patton, but unaware of the length of time they were stuck on the beach. I was unaware of the riots discussed in the OP until watching this series.

All in all, I think Mr. Burns' work on "The War" is very good and, repeating myself, worthy teaching 'moments'.

[OzarkDem]

22. Burns has done a thorough job of showing the violent racism during WWII

The show last night went into great detail w/ narration, photos and film footage not just of segregation and Jim Crow practices, but also of the violence that was committed against blacks during that time, including reporting on blacks who were killed.

Burns is one of the few documentarians who has the guts to give unflinching coverage of some of the ugly parts of US history. He doesn't whitewash the history of the US, he tells the truth about. Nitpicking on this kind of thing is ridiculous.

[TahitiNut]

25. I was born in Detroit during that riot! (Helluva 'welcome' huh?)

The hospital (Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital) was short-staffed and my mother had to deal with sheets that didn't get changed and food that was "below par" and erratically deliverd.

8lbs 15oz.

[JVS]

26. Did he talk about the Zoot Suit Riots?