Intensity

I recently joined a group called Writers' Corner that is open to anyone who wants to improve their writing with constructive feedback. The members' writing is quite diverse, from poetry to short stories or full length novels. Some members have been honing their craft for years while others have just begun their writing journey. At our recent monthly session we were issued a challenge: write a short paragraph or one page essay about a moment of intensity. I chose to write about a colleague who told me about an experience he had as a training instructor in 1965. This is his story.

                                                Intensity

            A drunk driving arrest that spiraled out of control ignited six days of rioting in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in the summer of 1965. Television screens were filled with images of  mostly Black rioters looting and burning stores and vehicles, violently clashing with police, and chanting “Burn baby, burn.” The chant echoed in news reports throughout the country and became the phrase most Americans associated with the unrest. Hundreds of miles away in Washington State, those same headlines cast a long shadow over Carl Hanson’s classroom.

            As a training instructor at a naval shipyard, Carl was tasked with conducting a communication skills course. His class roster included electricians, riggers, pipefitters and other tradesmen who worked in the shipyard overhauling and repairing naval vessels. The course was mandatory for anyone who had responsibility for teaching other workers, either on-the-job or in a classroom setting. Every one of the twenty new students waiting in the classroom for Carl’s arrival were white males.

            As the only Black instructor in the shipyard, Carl had always enjoyed a good working relationship with the employees he taught. But that morning with the riots still raging, he paused before entering the classroom. His mind swirled with questions about what he could face. Would the racial tensions that had escalated because of the riots cause him problems? Would his all-white students even give him a chance? Or would they simply stand up and walk out before he had spoken more than a few words. What should he do to ease the potentially tense situation?

            There was only one way to find out. He squared back his shoulders and walked into the classroom. The room was deathly quiet. Without comment, he turned to the chalkboard and picked up the chalk. He felt all eyes drilling into his back as he wrote these simple words: Class Motto - Learn baby, learn. For a brief moment, no one moved or uttered a word. Then  someone in the first row laughed and soon the entire room erupted in laughter and cheers. In that instant, the tension dissolved. The slogan acknowledged the unrest everyone had seen on the evening news, yet redirected it toward a common purpose. Carl’s wit had accomplished what argument never could—it reminded the class that they had come together for one reason, to learn.

            The rest of the day’s instruction unfolded just as he had hoped. By replacing fear with humor and suspicion with shared purpose, Carl transformed what could have been an uncomfortable confrontation into a successful learning experience. It was a small victory, but one that demonstrated the remarkable power of education to bridge divides that seemed, at least for a moment, impossible to cross.

Watts Riots Explained

The Facts: The Watts riots—also called the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising—were one of the defining events of the American civil rights era. They occurred in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles from August 11-16, 1965, just days after President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.

The immediate trigger was the arrest of Marquette Frye, a 21-year old Black man, during a traffic stop on suspicion of drunk driving. As officers attempted to arrest him, a struggle broke out. His mother and brother became involved, a crowd gathered, and rumors spread that police had beaten a pregnant woman and used excessive force. Tensions escalated rapidly.

The traffic stop was only the spark. The deeper causes had been building for years:

·         Longstanding accusations of police brutality and discrimination by the LA. Police Department.

·         High unemployment and limited economic opportunities.

·         Segregated housing and poor schools.

·         A widespread feeling among many Black residents that city leaders ignored their concerns.

Many historians emphasize that the uprising was not caused by a single arrest but by years of accumulated frustration. For six days, parts of South Los Angeles experienced:

·         Widespread looting.

·         Arson

·         Street confrontations with police.

·         Thousands of California National Guard troops deployed to restore order.

By the end:

·         34 people were killed.

·         More than 1,000 were injured.

·         About 3,400 people were arrested.

·         Roughly 1,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, causing an estimated $40 million in damage (1965 dollars).

Historical Significance – The Watts riots marked a turning point in the civil rights movement. They demonstrated that although landmark civil rights legislation had addressed many legal barriers in the South, many urban Black communities in the North and West still faced profound economic inequality and difficult relationships with law enforcement. The unrest in Watts was followed by similar uprisings in other American cities during the late 1960s.

For many people, the Watts uprising is often compared with the 1992 Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King verdict. Both involved deep frustration over police conduct, but they occurred in different historical contexts and had different social and demographic dynamics. Watts centered primarily on the experiences of Vlack residents in 1965, while the 1992 unrest involved a much broader cross-section of Los Angeles communities.