Week 8 – Protest Movements of the 1960s

Riotsville, U.S.A.

• The film's title refers to a fictional place the U.S. military created in the 1960s on two bases named for racists.

• The military staged activities against a backdrop created to look like an inner city, and soldiers played the parts of law enforcement and "troublemakers" to mimic rioting and the recommended police and military response.

• The exercises were performed for a live audience and were recorded.

• The documentary utilizes archival footage from the military's recordings, shows that predate PBS, community hearings, and news reports of the 1968 Republican Convention.

• The documentary critiques the militarization of the police force as a response to civil unrest.

• In 1967, President Johnson created The Kerner Commission to discover the reasons for civil unrest.

• The Kerner Commission's report concluded that the U.S. was moving toward two societies, one Black, one White, separate but unequal.

• The government latched onto the idea of increasing the budgets of law enforcement in major cities.

• The documentary shows community meetings between Black people and White cops, where cops deny racism within their forces, while Black people provide angry counter-arguments.

• At Riotsville, all-White spectators watch soldiers play cops and robbers, with Black participants screaming "I’ll be back to get you" as they’re arrested, and the audience cheers.

• The 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami was a real-life test run of the concepts crafted in Riotsville simulations, with Black denizens of Liberty City as recipients of this show of force.

• The film does not make comparisons to current events but implies contemporary references.