Derek G. Handley on Elizabeth Hinton’s *America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s*

Elizabeth Hinton’s book America on Fire provides a detailed study of African American communities’ reactions to often unwarranted police violence. With example after example, Hinton supports her provocative central argument that “violent” protest in Black communities in the 1960’s against police brutality should not be characterized as riots or a “wave of criminality” (7). Instead, the more accurate term, according to the author, is rebellion or a “sustained insurgency” (7). There is a clear and distinct difference. Hinton argues that Black communities were rebelling against long-term violence by police, “unequal conditions,” and government supporting law enforcement.

After reading the introduction, some may be skeptical of Hinton’s argument. Her central claim appears to be more of an argument over semantics. A rebellion is often thought of in the context of overthrowing a government and installing new leadership. But Hinton quickly disavows the reader of that notion through her meticulous research by showing how various Black communities and individuals organized and responded to unwarranted violence committed against them. In short, Hinton’s book addresses a major gap in the literature on community-based “violent” resistance in African American communities much of which tend to focus on the Black Panther Party and other revolutionary groups by examining the lived experiences of African Americans living with and rebelling against the militarized actions of the police.

The book is organized in two parts: “Origins” and “The Legacies.. With its seven chapters, Part 1 is the bulk of the book and examines numerous cases of police terrorizing young African American males and community reactions to this treatment. It begins with an overview of the cycle of violence conducted by police in Black and Brown communities in places such as Broward County, FL; Jersey City, NJ; and Albuquerque, NM (chapter 1). Then Hinton takes the reader to a housing project in Cairo, IL where young Black men suffered from the “infrastructure of racial oppression” and were often targeted for unwarranted police action in the 1960s (chapter 2). One of the more shocking examples of violent racial oppression in the book is where a citizen organization of white people just shoots randomly into the Cairo housing project in the name of keeping order (chapter 3). Hinton describes how these white “vigilantes” were not being stopped by the police but were in some cases being joined by them. One justification for this abhorrent behavior and continued police terror was the false claim that Black communities where rebellions were taking place were filled with “Black Snipers” (chapter 4). As a result of this faulty belief of snipers, police terrorism in Black communities was often ignored or believed justified by political leadership. Hinton ends Part 1 by examining the effect school segregation has on community rebellions (chapter 6). The reports of commissions formed to address the cycle of racial unrest caused by police violence and Black rebellions (chapter 7).

In Part 2 of the book, Hinton highlights the legacies of this police action and Black rebellions. She examines political systems, reform proposals, and reform actions (chapter 8, 9, and 10). The treatment of Black people by police officers is part of a larger racist narrative that Black people are more prone to commit crime. As a result of this misguided belief, policing in these communities becomes more aggressive. This narrative has extreme negative effects today, as Hinton discusses in the Legacies part of the book. She draws a direct connection between the violence of police towards Black people in the late 1960’s and the recent violence of today.

A key strength of the book is that it provides a more nuanced understanding of the vocabulary that often accompanies the conflict between police and Black people. For instance, Hinton discusses how Black communities and mainstream audiences differ in use of the term” “bad apple” when discussing police brutality. The actions of police offices in brutality cases are often categorized by governments or political leaders as one or two “bad apples” who are committing these heinous acts and not indicative of the entire police force. This overused excuse for police brutality is a euphemism to shift blame from away law enforcement entities so that structural problems will not have to be addressed. In other words, the police brutality is often sanctioned or viewed as being part of good police work. It is not only accepted by law enforcement, but also often expected. Hinton argues that Black people use the term differently, as in a “bad apple” can only spring as fruit from a “poisonous tree.” (126). Hinton notes that “bad apples” from the community’s perspective aren’t the ones who commit extreme violence and get away with it. Bad apples are the worst of the generally violent police force who “assault residents verbally and physically, in ways big and small, on an everyday basis” (125).

For readers lacking a background in the Black Freedom Movement post-1965 as well as northern urban environments, then, this book will provide a much-needed explanation of how and why Black communities have a hostile relationship with police. Hinton’s book gives historical context to explain how what happened to Brianna Taylor and George Floyd was not a case of “bad apple” police but rather a recurring trend in Black communities. In addition, the book further reinforces James Baldwin’s belief that “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time.”[1]

[1] Baldwin, James. “’The Negro in American Culture:’ a group discussion.” 1961. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNpitdJSXWY