Krista Holobar
English 083T: Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement
Professor Selzer
11/18/11
Camden, New Jersey’s Involvement in the Civil Rights Movement: The Riots of 1969 and
1971
Most people avoid driving through or near Camden, New Jersey. Today it is known
all over the country for its grotesquely high crime rates and extreme poverty. In 2009,
there were 1,880 violent crimes in Camden, which was higher than the violent crime rate in
New Jersey and also higher than the violent crime rate in the United States as a whole (FBI).
What many people might not know, though, is where Camden’s troubles originated, and
how Camden played a role in the African-American Civil Rights movement.
Camden, New Jersey, is a city in Southwestern Jersey. Located about five miles North
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Camden has an extremely long and interesting history, as
one of the oldest colonial settlements in America’s history (Dorwart 5). Europeans first
settled where present-day Camden is today in 1626 (“Early Settlement”). Throughout
Camden’s history, it has gone through many periods of growth, as well as many periods of
decline. In Camden’s early history, the ferry business helped drive the economy.
Throughout the early 1900s, Camden went through a period of industrialization that is
called by some “the most significant period” in the developmental history of Camden. New
factories, new people, and new methods of transportation all emerged (“Industrialization”).
But the racial riots of 1969 and 1971 significantly impacted Camden, and the effects of the
rioting and tension can still be observed in Camden today.
Race riots have been occurring in Camden, New Jersey, since as early as 1864,
according to Jeffrey Dorwart’s book, Camden County, New Jersey: The Making of a
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Metropolitan Community, 1626-2000. Although race riots occurred early in Camden’s
history, riots became more frequent and more serious throughout the 1960s and 1970s,
during the African-American Civil Rights movement. There were several causes that led to
the riots of 1969 and 1971. There was also a specific event that served as an instigator of
the riots. In August of 1967, a speech given by H. Rap Brown, the chairman of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, stirred up many black Camden youths. As a leader of
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee1, he once said that blacks using violence to
achieve their goals was “necessary” and “as American as cherry pie” (Time Magazine,
October 25, 1971). In Brown’s address in Camden, he reportedly said, “the only way to
defend yourself is to go out and get guns” (Gillette 75). 2 Brown dominated the rally and did
not allow speakers from the Camden County NAACP and the Congress of Racial Equality
Leaders to speak (Dorwart 153), practically ensuring that black power, rather than
peaceful tactics for acquiring civil rights, would be the focus of the gathering. Some people
were against Brown speaking because he was known for militant speech, but others
wanted him to speak 3 (Gillette 75). Brown ended up speaking to a rather large crowd of
about four thousand people at Camden’s Convention Center in August 1967 (Gillette 75),
despite the controversy.
After Brown’s speech, the audience was excited—it was clear within minutes after the
speech that Brown had made an impact. 4 Although no extreme damage was caused,
Camden had to install many more police officers in order to keep the people under control
(154 Dorwart). Vandalism and property damage continued to happen sporadically from
1967 onward.
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Camden’s situation quickly grew worse in early September 1969 when white
Camden police officer Rand J. Chandler and a fifteen-year-old black girl named Rosa Mae
McDonald 5 were both shot and killed by a sniper (Cross, Dillon). This was not the first
violent incident to occur that week. A day before, a 12-year-old black girl named Janice
Evans was abused by police, and then arrested. According to Evans, police broke down the
door of her house and proceeded to handcuff her nephew. She picked up a knife because
she wanted to defend her nephew, and then the police hit her on the back of her head,
handcuffed her, and hit her head again—this time on the right side of her head using a
blackjack. After the incident Janice’s face was covered with bruises (Cross, Dillon). This
incident supposedly kick-started the rock-throwing incident at which Rand J. Chandler and
Rosa Mae McDonald died. Although these two young people died, the violence did not
cease.
In 1971, large disturbances in Camden started again. On Saturday, August 21, 1971,
“Camden: A City in Trouble” was printed in big, block letters on the Courier-Post’s front
page. The Courier-Post declared that the rioting that occurred on the night of August 20
was the “worst night of rioting in the city’s history” (Busler). The riots in 1971 resulted
largely from anger of the Hispanic and Puerto Rican community over the alleged beating of
a Puerto Rican man named Horacio Jimenez (Markam). The two policemen accused of
beating Horacio Jimenez were named Gary Miller and Warren Worrell6. Many people
wanted these two officers to be dismissed, which pressured the mayor of Camden, Joseph
M. Nardi into suspending the officers (Narvaez).
Many people blamed the riots on people like Joseph Nardi, Camden Mayor; and
William Yeager, Director of Public Safety, because they were believed to have mishandled
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the situation. Lack of communication was a major instigator. Puerto Rican leaders blamed
Mayor Nardi for “lack of direct and speedy action” (Lang) and claimed that Nardi refused to
meet with them to discuss the beating of Jimenez and the suspension of Miller and Worrell.
Mario Rodriguez, a former Camden City councilman and a commissioner for the State
Division of Civil Rights in 1971, said he tried over a period of ten days to set up a meeting
with Mayor Nardi without success (Busler, Wolk). Letters were written to Mayor Nardi,
who did not reply. Joseph Dorris, Camden City Business Administrator, told citizens that
Nardi was too busy to meet with them (Busler, Wolk). Rodriguez said the reason for the
demonstration, which later turned into the riot, was to drive Nardi to meet with Puerto
Rican leaders. He claimed that if Nardi had agreed to meet with the leaders earlier, the
demonstration would have never occurred (Busler, Wolk). Rodriguez also added that Nardi
kept a crowd waiting outside City Hall for ten hours in heat and rain, which made the
crowd rowdier and harder to control. The Puerto Rican community was not demanding
much, according to Joseph Rodriguez, a Camden lawyer. He said that the Puerto Rican
community realized the rights of the patrolmen and knew the case should be taken to the
courts, but he also said “Nardi has a moral obligation to the Puerto Rican community and
other Camden citizens to suspend them” (Busler, Wolk). Nardi’s “lack of direct and speedy
action” was not only evident in faulty communication, but also in other ways. Hector
Rodriguez, director of the Puerto Rican Convention in Trenton proclaimed that Nardi
should have imposed a curfew, but did not. Rodriguez said they imposed their own curfew,
and Nardi did not impose one until later. Rodriguez added that without the curfew Puerto
Rican leaders imposed, more people would have been at the demonstrations (Lang).
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William Yeager, Director of Public Safety, did not seem to do much besides frequent
verbal spewing. He definitely did not hold back any sentiments. In a Courier-Post article he
called rioters “rationless, two-legged beasts” (Jefferson, McCarthy) and went on to say that
“everything [rioters] did yesterday was wrong. They were one hundred percent wrong.
They had no right to commit these unlawful acts. There are courts to resolve these things.
The group of people were completely out of control by their leaders, and their motive was
to steal and plunder, in addition, which they accomplished” (Busler, Wolk). Yeager also
refused to answer questions from reporters about the riots—all he said was “Get lost”
(“Burning in Camden: A Hell for Cops”).
What started out as a demonstration outside Camden’s City Hall with people
chanting “Justice, now!” (Caparella) quickly turned into a full-fledged riot. Nardi declared
that Camden was in a “state of emergency” at 2:10 a.m. on Friday, August 20. Before this
statement, Camden had undergone about seven hours of “unrelieved violence,” according
to the Courier-Post (Busler). There were fires all across the city, in West, South, and North
Camden. There were so many fires that the Camden Fire Board could not keep track of the
number, and the fires were so out of control that firemen from nine nearby towns—Mount
Ephraim, Gloucester City, Oaklyn, Merchantville, Cherry Hill, Westmont, Haddon Heights,
Brooklawn, and Pennsauken—were called into Camden to aide the struggling firefighters.
There was not only a shortage of firefighters, but many of the firefighters also could not get
to the fires for as much as two hours due to sniper fire and rock throwing. Some fires were
reportedly still burning at dawn. Many stores, homes and warehouses were burned
to“smoldering rubble,” and almost every window on Broadway Street from City Hall to
Kaighns Avenue was broken (Culnan).
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Courier-Post writer Joseph Busler described the city’s streets as “bombed-out ruins,
littered with broken glass, burned trash, objects hurled by demonstrators and spent tear
gas canisters” (Busler). One hundred and forty-four people were arrested for various
charges such as looting and weapon charges (Busler). A gang kidnapped journalist Rich
Wisenhutter of the Courier-Post, but he was not harmed. Two people Puerto Ricans were
shot and treated for gunshot wounds at the West Jersey Hospital and forty-two people
were treated for lacerations (Busler).
Though the riots were primarily caused by unrest in Camden’s Puerto Rican
community, Camden’s black community was also involved. People in the black community
wore black armbands to support the Puerto Rican community (Jefferson, McCarthy). The
chairman of the Black People’s Unity Movement (BPUM), Charles “Poppy” Sharp, made a
statement saying the black community could “support the Puerto Rican community”
because they “too [had] been victims of police brutality.” Sharp said the community would
wear the black armbands until “unity, justice, and equality” prevailed (Jefferson, McCarthy).
Other prominent black leaders also gave their support to the Puerto Ricans. Another leader
of the BPUM, Omar Davis, stated that “both the Puerto Ricans and blacks were oppressed
peoples who must stick together to achieve political power.” He further emphasized unity’s
importance by saying “only by unity can we lick this thing, together we are seventy-five
percent of this city. Neither of us can do it by ourselves” (Busler, Wolk). Davis and the
BPUM were so supportive of the Puerto Ricans that he said “whatever decision you make,
we’re going to be with you” (Busler, Wolk).
The rioting ended, but repercussions continued for quite some time. Much looting
occurred in the days after the riots, because there were many abandoned and burned
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stores. In an article in the Courier-Post, a young black man was quoted about his reasons
for looting. He said, “You know why we do it. Like, man, there’s a limit. Like, you get angry.
Like, you know you’ll never get it any other way.” He also referred to the Jimenez situation,
saying that blacks got angry, too, “just like the Puerto Ricans” (Durchschlag). He went on to
say that “no one listens any other way” (Durchschlag). Unrest in Camden continued
throughout late August and into early September. On August 24, 1971, the social and
political headquarters of the Puerto Rican community in Camden was bombed (Markham).
Consistent rioting and turbulence led much of Camden’s white population to leave
the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This process is usually referred to as the “white
exodus.” Camden’s population was approximately 117,000 in 1960, and by 1970, it was
102,551 (Dorwart 152). This dramatic decrease in population illustrates the “white
exodus.” As whites and other middle-class people who could afford to leave quickly exited
Camden, many Hispanics and blacks came to Camden looking for jobs 7 (Dorwart 152).
Camden had already had acquired a strong Hispanic population in the 1940s during World
War Two. In that time span, many Hispanics came to Camden to work, because local
industries were in dire need of workers. After World War Two, many Hispanics stayed in
Camden, and the Hispanic population continued to grow steadily (Dorwart 148). In a New
York Times article written in 1971, James Markam declared that out of the 101,000 people
living in Camden, 16,000 were Puerto Rican and 35,000 were black. Because Camden was
left with a population mostly built of minorities in poverty, tensions grew and grew.
Tensions brought on by the rioting continued throughout the late 1970s and still exist
today. 8 By 1980, approximately 75 percent of Camden’s population was comprised of
“nonwhites” (Dorwart 155).
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Rioting and violence were a big part of the exodus, but economic reasons were also
important. Between 1950 and 1980—only thirty years—Camden lost a whopping 75
percent of its manufacturing jobs (Dorwart 151). Though many people left between 1960
and 1970, even more would leave after the riots of 1971. After the riots of 1971, the “final
migration of whites and businesses from the city began” (Dorwart 155). Many people who
had money had already left by 1971, but if they had not left yet, they made sure to after the
riots in 1971. This departure left Camden isolated.
In 2004, Camden was named the most dangerous city in the United States
(Associated Press). Currently, Camden is not listed as the most dangerous city in the United
States, but its troubles are hardly over, and its future is not exactly bright. The riots of 1969
and 1971 changed Camden. The combination of these riots and Camden’s economic decline
was too much for many of Camden’s middle-class citizens. When they left for a more
comfortable life in the suburbs, Camden was left with an entire population of impoverished
citizens, most of whom being minorities. The racial riots of 1969 and 1971 significantly
impacted and changed Camden and the effects of the rioting and tension can still be
observed in Camden today.
Notes
1
In 1969, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee changed its name to the Student
National Coordinating Committee (267 Ellis). This change was mostly made in order to
represent the new face of SNCC. By 1966, SNCC had a new leader named Stokely
Carmichael. While Carmichael was in charge, SNCC’s new focus began to be black power,
which was a more violent focus than SNCC’s previous focus, which had been primarily non-
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violent tactics in support of civil rights. By 1967, SNCC inherited yet another leader who
was very interested in the black power movement, a man named H. Rap Brown (267 Ellis).
2
H. Rap Brown was known for violent tendencies. Before helping to trigger riots in Camden
in 1969, he also is considered to have started a riot in Cambridge, Maryland in 1967. It was
in Maryland where he uttered one of his most famous quotes: “Black folks built America,
and if America don’t come around, we’re going to burn American down” (CNN). He is still
alive and currently serving a life sentence in prison because he shot two Fulton County
deputies. One of the deputies died. In 2000, he was sentenced to life in prison.
3
The local president of the NAACP, John Robinson, did not want Brown to speak because of
his militant tendencies (Gillette 75). It is interesting how often the many groups (NAACP,
SNNC, etc.) supporting black civil rights clashed because of their different strategies and
goals.
4
Brown’s speech actually was a catalyst for the formation of a group called the Black
People’s Unity Movement. The BPUM was formed by Charles Sharp, who was in H. Rap
Brown’s audience (Gillette 77). He felt so strongly about what Brown had said that he
addressed a small group of people at a local bar after a speech, and formed the group
(Gillette 77). From the BPUM formed another group, called the Black Students Unity
Movement (BSUM). This group included students from Rutgers-Camden and another
university (Levins). The BSUM was responsible for creating the newsletter The Black
Observer. The BSUM played an important role in achieving rights for black students at
Rutgers-Camden (Levins).
5
It was rather hard to find out information about Rosa Mae McDonald, which surprised me.
After all, she was only fifteen when she was killed. Her death was such an atrocity, and
there is only information about it in old newspaper articles. I was only able to find an
article detailing what happened to Rosa by searching Rand J. Chandler, the name of the
police officer who also died, in a New York Times database.
6
After emailing an owner of a website with a large collection of information about Camden,
I acquired the email address of “Larry” Warren Worrell, one of the police officers who was
involved in the riots of 1971. I emailed him to ask him if he could talk to me about the riots,
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but he never responded. It would have been amazing to have him as a source—you cannot
really find a source more primary than that.
7
A large employer in Camden was Campbell Soup Company. Most Americans have come
into contact with Campbell Soup Company products; but most people do not know that the
company is actually based in Camden, New Jersey. It was started in 1869 in Camden
(Campbell Soup Company) and there are still factories in Camden to this day. After doing
research on Camden’s economic status in the ‘60s and ‘70s, I mentioned Campbell Soup
Company to my mother (she lived in Pennsauken, New Jersey—only minutes from
Camden—until her senior year of high school in 1979). She told me an interesting personal
connection that illustrates just how big of an employer Campbell was: a man who lived
down the street from her worked at Campbell.
8
My mother grew up in Pennsauken, New Jersey, a town right next to Camden. She
remembers that on bus rides home from school, she was told to duck because students
from Camden high school often threw rocks at Pennsauken school buses. A friend I work
with is from Philadelphia, and he told me when on field trips to the aquarium in Camden,
teachers would quickly usher the students inside.
Works Cited and Consulted
Busler, Joseph. "Worst Riots in History Put City Under Seige." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New
Jersey] 21 Aug. 1971. Print.
Caparella, Kitty. "100 Stores Reported Damaged." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 20
Aug. 1971. Print.
Caparella, Kitty. "Yeager to Mario: ‘5 Minutes’." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 20
Aug. 1971. Print.
Comegno, Carol. "N. Camden Fires: Neighbors Watch in Frustration." Courier-Post [Cherry
Hill, New Jersey] 21 Aug. 1971. Print.
Cross, Tommy, and Clay Dillon. "Many Residents Afraid to Leave Safety of Homes.”
Philadelphia Tribune 6 Sept. 1969. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.
Culnan, Dennis M. "Camden Put to the Torch, Can't Keep Count of Fires." Courier-Post
[Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 21 Aug. 1971. Print.
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Dorwart, Jeffery M. Camden County, New Jersey: the Making of a Metropolitan Community,
1626-2000. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2001. Print.
Durchschlag, Beth. "Loots Enjoy Field Days during Riots in Camden." Courier-Post [Cherry
Hill, New Jersey] 23 Aug. 1971. Print.
Ellis, Carl F. Free at Last?: the Gospel in the African-American Experience. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity, 1996. Print.
Gillette, Howard. Camden after the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-industrial City.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2005. Print.
Jefferson, James, and Joseph R. McCarthy. "Yeager Hints Riot a Possible Plot." CourierPost [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 20 Aug. 1971. Print.
Lang, Dan. "New Riots Also Blamed on Nardi." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 21
Aug. 1971. Print.
Levins, Hoag. "Reliving a 1969 Racial Clash: The Black Students Who Changed
Rutgers."Historic Camden County. 12 Feb. 2001. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
Markham, James M. "Curfew Is Continued in Quiet but Riot-Torn Camden." The New York
Times 23 Aug. 1971. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.
Markham, James M. "Fire-Bombing of Puerto Rican Offices Stirs New Fear in Riot Torn
Camden." The New York Times 24 Aug. 1971. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web. 11 Oct.
2011.
Narvaez, Alfonso A. "1 Killed, 2 Shot in Camden Riots: Mayor Declares Emergency After 2nd
Night of Violence." The New York Times 22 Aug. 1971. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web.
11 Oct. 2011.
Waters, Craig R. "Jimenez Reported ‘In a Coma’." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 20
Aug. 1971. Print.
Winkler, Renee. "Rioting Deepened Camden's Divisions." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New
Jersey] 1 Feb. 2007. Print.
Wolk, Mike. "20 Hurt, 40 Jailed in Camden Rioting." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey]
20 Aug. 1971. Print.
Wolk, Mike, and Joseph Busler. "Both Sides Disclaim Riot Responsibility." CourierPost[Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 21 Aug. 1971. Print.
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"2 Patrolmen Are Backed By Yeager." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 19 Aug. 1971.
Print.
"Burning Camden: A Hell for Cops." Courier-Post [Cherry Hill, New Jersey] 21 Aug. 1971.
Print.
"Camden, N.J., Named Most-dangerous City." MSNBC.com. Associated Press, 22 Nov. 2004.
Web. 15 Oct. 2011.
"CRIME: Cherry Pie." Time Magazine. 25 Oct. 1971. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877306,00.html>.
"Early Settlement." City of Camden New Jersey. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.ci.camden.nj.us>.
"Ex-Black Panther Convicted of Murder." CNN. 9 Mar. 2002. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2002/LAW/03/09/al.amin.verdict/index.html>.
"History of the Campbell Soup Company." Campbell Soup Australia. Campbell Soup
Company. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. http://www.campbellsoup.com.au/about-campbells/ourhistory.aspx.
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