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The Conditions of Racial Violence in American Cities: A Developmental Synthesis*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Joel A. Lieske
Joel A. Lieske*
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati
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Abstract

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This article analyzes the social and political conditions associated with the incidence of racial violence in a sample of 119 American cities. Data on the incidence of racial disorders are drawn from newspaper accounts compiled by the Lemberg Center for the Study of Violence during the period 1967–1969. A total of 334 disorders are analyzed.

Two alternative hypotheses are examined. The first assumes that the causes of the black urban riots are rooted largely in the disorganized environment of socially marginal individuals. The second attempts to locate the outbreak of rioting primarily within a closed and unresponsive political system. Paradoxically, the results tend to provide empirical support for both theoretical perspectives. At the same time, the data suggest the need to reformulate and revise conventional interpretations of the black urban riots. This is done by synthesizing and testing a developmental model which implies a curvilinear relationship between the incidence of racial violence on the one hand, and black political development on the other.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 72 , Issue 4 , December 1978 , pp. 1324 - 1340
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1978

Footnotes

*

I would like to express special thanks to William Keech, Paul Power, Han Kyo Kim and my referees for their thoughtful and helpful criticisms of earlier drafts. I also owe a heavy intellectual debt to Alden Lind, William Keech and Thad Beyle for teaching me the importance of theory in guiding empirical research. These individuals, of course, do not share any responsibility for the analysis or conclusions.

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