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Blacks in Passaic, New Jersey, begin boycotting against downtown merchants in protest because of a series of incidents of police harassment and brutality.
1971 (Jul 21)
Blacks in Passaic, New Jersey, began a long boycott against downtown merchants protesting alleged police brutality. The boycott grew out of a series of incidents of police harassment and brutality which culminated in an incident on the night of July 20 between police and eight Blacks. During the altercation a Black man was beaten and shots were fired. The Reverend Calvin McKinney, leader of the Black Urban Crisis Council, protested that the town's all-white city council ignored Black pleas for protection against police harassment. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) did, however, agree to investigate the charges.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.