How A Detroit Blind Pig Became The Center Of A Social Uprising in 1967
Bridge Magazine’s Bill McGraw tells the story of how a police raid ballooned into social unrest.
In 1967, an uprising in the city of Detroit — that some classify as a riot and some call a rebellion — began at a blind pig restaurant on the city’s west side.
WDET’s work with the Detroit Journalism Cooperative (DJC) takes a deeper look at the issues that led to the overwhelming tension in 1967 and what has changed or remained the same since that time.
Bill McGraw is a reporter for Bridge Magazine, one of our partners in the DJC. He talks with Detroit Today Host Stephen Henderson about his new profile on the blind pig at the center of the uprising and the family that ran it at the time.
“The blind pig is an after-hours drinking place,” says McGraw. “They were mainly African American and, of course, as we know, the police force was mainly white in those days. And that was one of many clash points between the black community and the police — the police raided the blind pigs.”
He goes on to describe how a police raid at this bling pig escalated into what eventually turned into the widespread civil unrest in the city.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
