What the Riots Wrought
Nostalgic pop culture recalls 1967 only as the Summer of Love, but it was also summer race riots burned through Detroit and Newark, to name only the deadliest incidents. Back in the '60s, inner-city property values were the last thing opinion elites were concerned with. But the riots of the 1960s had devastating long-term effects on the most significant assets owned by urban blacks: their homes. Those effects that may still exacerbate the so-called wealth gap between blacks and whites. My latest NYT column looks at research on the 1960s riots' long-term economic impacts:
As an economic historian, Robert A. Margo has long wanted to study the 1960's. But, he says, "for the longest time people would say, 'That's too close to the present.' "
Not so anymore. The 1960's are as distant from today as the Great Depression was from the 1960's, and economic historians, including Professor Margo, of Vanderbilt University, are examining the decade's long-term effects.
Consider the wave of race riots that swept the nation's cities. From 1964 to 1971, there were more than 750 riots, killing 228 people and injuring 12,741 others. After more than 15,000 separate incidents of arson, many black urban neighborhoods were in ruins.
As soon as the riots occurred, social scientists began collecting data and analyzing the possible causes. Until recently, however, few scholars looked at the riots' long-term economic consequences.
In two recent papers, Professor Margo and his Vanderbilt colleague, William J. Collins, do just that by estimating the impact on incomes and employment and on property values.
The riots not only destroyed many homes and businesses, resulting in about $50 million in property damage in Detroit alone, but far more significantly, they also depressed inner-city incomes and property values for decades.
Read the whole thing here, and check out the photo.