A good deal of ink has been spilt in an attempt to determine the causes, both short- and long-term, that were responsible for the five days of destruction and unrest in the Watts section of Los Angeles during August 1965. A good deal less attention has been paid, however, to the cultural effects Watts had on the many different public spheres of civil society, both in Los Angeles and throughout the nation. At the national level Watts, along with the 1964 urban riots in Harlem, Rochester, and Philadelphia, not to mention Chicago in 1965 and Detroit in 1967, was important in redirecting some attention away from the civil rights struggles of the south and toward the different problems that existed in the urban centers of the north and west. In these cities, where African-Americans already were supposed to possess the rights being fought for in the south, the urban uprisings led to the first recognition in the mainstream public of the existence of a frustrated and desperate “underclass.” In Los Angeles, the riot shattered the indifference of the white population toward the activities and concerns of the African-American community. At the same time, the events of Watts were crucial in galvanizing African-American opposition against Los Angeles Mayor Samuel Yorty, and they were central to the biracial coalition through which Thomas Bradley was eventually able to defeat Yorty and become mayor.