Rare Footage of the 1965 Watts Riots | From the Archives | NBCLA

From the Archives: Rare footage of the 1965 Watts Riots in Los Angeles. The riots started after white CHP officer performed a traffic stop on a African American driver as crowds watched. The incident exploded, leading to six days of riots. More than 30 people died and there was 40 million dollars worth of damage in Los Angeles.
Original Air Date: August 1965.
Residents reflect on the uprising in Aug. 2020, 55 years later: 4.nbcla.com/zidtOzC
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[@nate_kang]

This is such an important historical document, especially today, so it's amazing to see it preserved on the internet. Thanks for sharing this valuable footage.

[@DonJulio510]

Yes especially now that we dont have to deal with this kind of racism anymore 😊

[@terranceaddison4599]

What you been living under a rock or something?

[@josephlouwerse2105]

History repeats.

[@Gaylel1]

Joseph Louwerse true. There was no You Tube or CNN in those days. The film was my You Tube.

[@lovestonedgold1504]

Yep.

[@annetteslife]

sadly the Minneapolis riots was bigger than the 92 Los Angeles riots and the Ferguson riots

[@roadyrider]

@@annetteslife and STILL we learn nothing from them. Minorities are still exploited and at the bottom of the food chain! By the way, I was living there during the '65 Watts riot, I remember it well.

[@annetteslife]

@@roadyrider they sure are. Watch it in another year or so there will be another riot. I remember the Los Angeles riots but not to the extent that the way Californians remember it. It was on the news everyday

[@YamFZR93]

Damn media... always the same... is the scary dramatic music really necessary ?

[@tdlanier1959]

I laughed when I heard that dramatic music, like it was an old tv show!

[@Maximus20778]

i mean thats the 60's for ya

[@howardthealien2606]

It sounds like King Kong movie from the 30s

[@konstantpapas1583]

@@howardthealien2606 Spot on

[@michaelcolt4196]

@@tdlanier1959 technically it was an old tv show

[@faustuskrauss6457]

This news reel from 1965 sounds more like 1942.

[@simonyip5978]

This was less than a decade before I was born, but it seems much earlier.

[@terranceaddison4599]

That's what I said. I've seen reels from the same period and it was super clean

[@daheikkinen]

Came for the riots, stayed for the soundtrack.

[@zeroeffortmemes]

Looks like Minneapolis now

[@annetteslife]

You should have seen the 92 Los Angeles riots

[@rasheeda1303]

1965 riots and how blacks were deliberately treated no comparison 😪

[@xpxpe5645]

@@rasheeda1303 bruh stfu always pulling out the race card smh

[@joshdaboss2365]

@@xpxpe5645 shut up whte boy

[@r.pres.4121]

Don’t forget Kenosha.

[@islamicchronicles5381]

THANK YOU

[@lindadcline]

I was very close to the riot I was 15 I didn't go to see it I was glued to the tv. So scary and sad.

[@Gaylel1]

Kids, when I was a child, the film and video tape was our You Tube and CNN.

[@kruxxed1339]

Well lucky we live with morden tech!

[@stacchk64dta37]

ok boomer

[@senormexicano5685]

@@stacchk64dta37 Dead meme get a better one

[@Maximus20778]

@@stacchk64dta37 o h look a zoomer

[@nosecandie3890]

Do you honestly believe children today are that ignorant to history of past technology ?

[@techa.p.8856]

“Use minimum amount of force necessary” jee i wonder what happened to that line of thinking.

[@Michael1966W]

You should unless you are fired on first.

[@theimmortal4718]

Those dudes had belt fed machine guns and bayonets fixed on their rifles.

[@privatedeletebuttongooglei5221]

I was 9 years old then living in Tulsa Oklahoma.

[@privatedeletebuttongooglei5221]

@@Michael1966W

[@zoed9667]

Is anyone else experiencing cutting out audio?

[@skarmachild]

Yeah they remove out audio/video they dont want you to see. Gotta hide the real history! (:

[@kingofthecatnap6246]

Sounds like a military propaganda film.

[@humphreybumblecuck5151]

It is! lol

[@RichardCockerill]

oh i remember this,i was 15 and from Whittier,California and was there right after and the guard ..some where still there.

[@arturocavendish6859]

Anyone know what the intense soundtrack is from? Can’t find it anywhere else? I bet it would sound really good with modern sound quality.

[@devinwest1234]

They were real happy to see the army yea foh man

[@joeshulman675]

I used to live in Glendale . I passed that armory many times

[@sparkysmom7149]

I don't understand how destroying their own neighborhood and community made them think it would help and improve things

[@herbieberieherb]

trust men its better than burning yours up...shut up please

[@sparkysmom7149]

@@herbieberieherb no, it's a legitimate question, one that no one, including yourself, has ever bothered to answer. I'm a member of the NAACP. I'm absolutely NO RACIST. I just don't understand what the point of tearing up their own homes and businesses was. When people want a legitimate statement to be heard, rioting and trashing your own neighborhoods is not the way to go about it.

[@herbieberieherb]

@@sparkysmom7149 ...ok next time ill tell them to come to your hood ...ok ...happy now ?

[@JadenFolster]

@@herbieberieherb you don’t have an answer lol

[@samuelteegeer2721]

There was an interview with a rioter at the black lives matter riots last year and he stated that if you are pushed that far into nothingness and poverty sometimes people just go wild in blind hate. Thats what happened then. There was no masterplan. It was the result of frustration.

[@gabriellima7900]

Lawrence of Arabia music 😂

[@erob1950]

its 2020 and its still the same that should tell you something

[@trustme7660]

No ones learning from history there bound to repeat it

[@michaelarcher8142]

Yeh there never going to fit in !!!

[@alexdoesntlikeyoutubethatmuch]

Maybe the people who built the White House should take it back

[@ATF.California]

I didn’t see myself in this video but I was there serving the army ❤ sad to see nothing has changed. I will never forget this event

[@DonJulio510]

What hasnt changed?

[@barbaraobach]

Uh ..and the Mayor of Los Angeles is ? ...a black women and the Vice President is ?..a black Indian.. And the Senators of Confederates states of Georgia is ? ..a black man and the Senator of South Carolina is ..a black man. and after Geurge and r u okay ? .. u oughta know alot has has changed, though Republican fascist are trying to

[@sweatysack9103]

@@barbaraobachall races have bad and good mate. It’s not just the “blacks” fault. That said those politicians you listed r horrible black people 💀

[@reddroid8499]

@@barbaraobachNo it hasn’t changed at all. Cherry picking has never said much.

[@smkandmrr]

​@@barbaraobachthe Tim Scott's of the world aren't here to progress things. They are here to maintain the status quo.

[@theresa1601]

Seems nothing has changed since 1965. Damn shame. No one seems to be learning anything.

[@sayitdontsprayit9325]

some things have changed. blacks are the main focus of 95% of commercials. that will effect social change. its not 1965 anymore. wake up.

[@alexdoesntlikeyoutubethatmuch]

Complacency leads to ignorance and arrogance

[@millymilly8264]

History repeating itself

[@392nightrunner]

2023 here, nothings changed

[@dc9345]

Same thing happened today in Minneapolis

[@theimmortal4718]

The cops shot 28 people dead in the Watts riots. Did they even shoot one in Minneapolis?

[@JasonW-kd5ve]

I'm glad I wasn't in that area at that time, it got out of control and out of hand

[@christopherlyonas6523]

what is being said when there is no sound

[@michaelarcher8142]

Hello Black and white older then Dirt . Trying to make something out of nothing it's probably because never mind.

[@thetrib-1eofjudah758]

You know why😏 Satan hides himself by playing victim when he's the one who started it.

[@marialigon9334]

Hate to say it this is what is needed in today's world...right now police and Guards hands are tied.....

[@agirlwithdifferenttools5850]

Exactly. They are treated with kid gloves!

[@ailleananaithnid2566]

Your white privilege is showing.

[@xpxpe5645]

@@ailleananaithnid2566 white privilege is a myth you racist POS

[@xpxpe5645]

FACTS 🇺🇸

[@joshdaboss2365]

@@xpxpe5645 how many times are you gonna comment whte boy

[@troyboy5533]

I wish could have been there to see this.

[@gussalas2866]

no it was bad i was there iwas 12yrs old

[@etheldavis9221]

Crazy time 😬🫨😵‍💫

[@markhayhurst1496]

"...the minimum amount of force necessary to contain "this problem" 2:27 / 16:20

[@tmanthemost1157]

It repeated in 1992 and almost in 2020

[@franklinclinton2998]

gta san andreas reality version

[@shroudwoman]

Bayonets???

[@dowhatiwantc7637]

My same thoughts treating it like vietnam

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

At that time there were many expectations on the Great Society.Nowadays, those days are gone.

[@smorris5638]

Why are so many people threatened by teaching the Fact’s

[@r.pres.4121]

Because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

[@ronaldkonkoma4356]

People started out looking for information to help things get better. Now they make the information fit their ideas and opposing sides pick their facts and interpret the data differently in order to win the argument for their vision.

[@Reaper-cm4jr]

No really sure how looting and destroying other peoples property and infrastructure fixes a social wrong. How many businesses left that area after the rioting and stealing that never returned thereby depriving the residents of that area access to goods and services. Makes no sense to me.

[@richardbyfield1918]

white people stole those buisnesses from black people that is why they were being looted.

[@KOVIDGOON]

Chief Parker!? Parker center? Hmmmm 👀

[@williamchick]

As long as there is the human race there will always be racism . These things will sadly never stop there maybe a break now and then but the tension will always be there to start another from of riot .

[@mattcekanor4771]

Is there a warrant to your argument? Why is racism so embedded in the human experience that it will always exist? Also, what is your justification for rioting is inevitable? It seems like you're making certain arguments about the inevitability of racialized violence which I find disturbing. I'm surprised folks have just left this "racism is inevitable" comment alone without more scrutiny.

[@williamchick]

Matt Cekanor I will reply to this first let me say I hope I am wrong in this case . With that being said racism has been around since slavery probably even before that . History has shown not that US is racist but there are many parts of the world are as well . The key thing in this is many people don’t really understand what racism truly is . It’s not calling a black man the N word it’s the way we perceive people which in many ways is wrong . People need to change their way of thinking which is like telling a leopard to change its spots . Unfortunately this will never end I’m sorry but I am neither an optimist or a pessimist but a realist many many things need to change for racism to end and I just don’t see it happening . I wish it would be seriously doubt it ever will .

[@lefthanded5473]

Rioting and racism will always be a part of culture in America too. That’s one of the faults of being a melting pot. We can try to control them but some individuals will always take part in these activities.

[@joshdaboss2365]

@@mattcekanor4771 shut up whte boy

[@anmolbains2425]

No. As long as there is CAPITALISM, there will always be racism. It is the material conditions of Capitalism which make racism inevitable.

[@ytsn_THE_OG]

It's even more deplorable today the way people act in the streets.. smh. Can't act right, refuse to take accountability, all da yt ppl fault, all da times.

[@honestcommentary91]

I watched some excerpts from archival footage of these riots and read interviews about this tragedy known as the Watts Riot of 1965. I thought this riot was not motivated by racism in anyway and was just against police brutality. I was wrong. Rioters, motivated by racial hatred and ingratitude, attacked white motorists. There were even reports of them using weapons to terrorize the city. The Black Americans moved to Los Angeles as new settlers in the 1940s to work in WWII-era industries. It is incredible that in such a short time Los Angeles became the center of racial violence in the country. How come the Asians did not riot against white people when they were facing discrimination in the 19th century? The Chinese were victims of massacres in the 1870 riots. They were not the ones instigating racial violence like the Black Americans in Los Angeles from the 1960s-1990s.

[@avatar9737]

your white fragility is showing

[@howardthealien2606]

Are you stupid? Asians did riot and there was a riot way more deadlier than this riot could ever be, In 1944 Japanese-Americans rioted because of how they were treated because of WW2, and in 1969 Vietnamese rioted and protested because of the same reason.

[@Michael1966W]

@@avatar9737 your stupidity is showing

[@ailleananaithnid2566]

When a poster uses the word "honest" it's a red flag that their post is anything but. When a poster adopts the term "patriot" it's an indication of xenophobia & nationalism.

[@xpxpe5645]

@@avatar9737 stfu racist

[@imarooster3548]

We need this for BLM/Antifa..

[@greg4673]

watching this video I don't know whether to laugh or cry . but I must say the commentary against the crazy music definitely makes me laugh . watching this type of production in 2024 definitely has a bearing on my attitude No Doubt

[@brandonfiore8982]

When did they invent color tv?

[@tuffgonggbUNCTION]

MARANATHA

[@rule34artist87]

Da fuq they doing ova there

[@charlessavoie2367]

Has Al Sharpton approved of this?

[@ronaldkonkoma4356]

Dag yo You just made me think of Clayton Bigsby Al Sharpton and Al Qaeda

[@peterle6883]

Looting has always been part of the culture.

[@clashgaming3585]

I aggree

[@thefruityking6722]

@Mandingo Blax Lol shut up

[@markh1434]

@@thefruityking6722 does the Truth hurt?

[@joshdaboss2365]

@@clashgaming3585 whte boy alert

[@anmolbains2425]

Yeah you’re right about that. Western powers built their “civilization” on looting!

[@thegreatnessoftheraiders4948]

Like a bad Hanna baraera cartoon.

[@RippSnortin]

They used machine guns twice! They can't use bean bags or rubber bullets now.

[@michaelarcher8142]

That's too bad

[@georgecaldwell1092]

@@michaelarcher8142 What would you think if some loose bullet shot a kid?

[@newvibes3033]

Can’t believe how evil this deployment was. The narrator is speaking on the matter as though the soldiers were going to fight against armed forces. These were civilians for God’s sake. These were California residents who were fed up with all the mistreatment that was being done to them.

[@ronaldkonkoma4356]

If you win you are a revolutionary If you don't you are called a rioter If the British had shut Washington down in Manhattan, history would have called them trouble makers.

[@Gfysimpletons]

If they just would have let loose with the lead. Tsk-Tsk……..lesson learned I say!

[@TheBlackbelair]

Can't be making traffic stops on the brudda man! The entire jungle comes alive!

[@chynashaw8226]

😎✌🏽🖤

[@johnmorgan7523]

S t fun. !!!!

[@conservativeamber1216]

Black People had it Rough..Its sad

[@terranceaddison4599]

Still do... unfortunately...😔

[@theblackmoth1111]

People still wonder why some will and do burn America down with their anger .

[@jcastellon04]

looters will never change.

[@markh1434]

Police will never change

[@d.jmooreburner672]

Its racism u racist bum

[@anmolbains2425]

Yeah… And imperialist states like the United States of America have mass looted the planet!

[@dowhatiwantc7637]

@@markh1434facts and people do cops lives matters flags 😂😂wtf

[@ThatMoonshine]

Interesting..I doubt we would have torn down our own stores and houses that we owned. Looks like watts was prospering and the government couldnt stand for it.

[@theimmortal4718]

No, Watts wasn't prospering.

[@stoball8293]

One of the reasons this even happened was cuz watts wasn't prospering lol ..

[@fahrenheit2530]

The riot started because a drunkard named Marquette Frye decided it was a good idea to get behind the wheel drunk. When inevitably got arrested, a scuffle broke out and a rumor began to spread that a pregnant woman was kicked or beaten (this was proven false). This rumor caused all the destruction you see here.

[@johnmorgan7523]

Game all twisted, blacks& Mexicans divided,,,black&brown should unite& mob on white people,,, real talk!

[@fahrenheit2530]

@@johnmorgan7523 because this will solve racism, right? Surely it won't make it even worse

[@harleydavidson6851]

50yrs! 5 Trillion $$! Yadda Yada?? STILL suffering From C- OVS... Chronic Oppressed Victim Syndrome!! Samey Same!!!!

[@battleelf6523]

WE WUZ KANGZ!!!!

[@bardo1345]

wyte power!

[@dowhatiwantc7637]

L

[@mer_meh]

only one race does this

[@lindaoneil5085]

They were given their freedom over 100 years ago, Jim Crow & segregation abolished 50 years ago, Affirmative Action and EEO endorsed over 30 years ago, and all kinds of taxpayer-funded goodies other races are not allowed to have. And this is how they say "thank you"? If they think they have it so bad here in the U.S., they can live in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda (former home of Idi Amin), Rwanda, or any African nation that will accept them. One condition: They may not take any U.S. taxpayer paid benefits with them. Wanna bet how they long they would stay there?

[@DGLA13]

@@lindaoneil5085 The system continues to keep people of color disempowered. It is a settler colonial system ment to keep us down. We need to unite across racial/national lines and change this system/rebuild our communities.

[@lindaoneil5085]

Rebuilding our communities? Tell that to these "protesters" aka thugs, who loot and burn businesses & have zero respect for other's property, yet keep screaming they DEMAND respect. How can you have respect for people who act like that?! And as far as keeping people of color disempowered, please tell me how Maxine Waters, Condoleeza Rice, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poitier, the Tuskegee Airmen, Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix, Kobe Bryant (R.I.P.), and other people of color who managed to become so rich & famous? Barack Obama, our first colored president was elected twice in a row. Colin Powell, who is a retired 4 star general, served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, what were you saying again about keeping colored people disempowered? These rioters have proven one thing: They are being judged by the content of their character (or lack thereof), not by the color of their skin. What would Martin Luther KIng, Jr., say if he could see all the destruction and looting that's been happening recently? Do you think he would approve?

[@DGLA13]

@@lindaoneil5085 Dr. King was a radical. Stop whitewashing his legacy. He was met with harsh resistence at times. Societal change will never be too calm it is pretty turbulent at times.

[@lindaoneil5085]

@@DGLA13 Sure, Dr. King was met with harsh resistance at times. So was Rosa Parks. So was Susan B. Anthony, who was white, and crusaded for women's rights. So were the early American colonists, who engineered the break from England to found the United States in the 1700s, sometimes at the cost of their own necks. So was Margaret Sanger, who was white, and an advocate for family planning. She was relentlessly hounded and harassed for her cause. You haven't said anything about the "disempowered" (your word) people of color, like Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey, etc. Societal change HAS taken place, that's why all previously mentioned people are in the station in life they have. Exactly how is rioting, looting, & burning going to achieve POSITIVE societal change, except to drive out the businesses out of town? Especially the businesses & property of people who had nothing to do with the death of Mr. Floyd. That's not fair to them. Stop ignoring the facts I have mentioned. You are being deliberately obtuse.