that can be answered either by survey techniques or inferred fromproperties of the social system (Gurr, Why Men Rebel, p. 83).Power Values and Political Violence. The distribution and uses of power values in a political system have tworather different effects on the value capabilities of its members. If thecirculation of elite individuals is high and the opportunities for politicalparticipation wide, citizens’ power value capabilities are likely to be high(Gurr, Why Men Rebel, p. 143). Into the 1960’s in Detroit, blacks saw those inpower positions as foes rather than friends. They perceived those elite few asroad blocks to their success. Blocking of goals, if you will.Power is not always widely distributed, nor is it always effectively usedfor adjustive purposes. When it is not, value capabilities may decline to thepoint at which collective violence is likely. This, or at least the perception ofthis by blacks, likely contributed to the discontent that lead to the riots.To sum up, the Detroit riots were not caused by the blind pig raid earlyon the morning of July 23, 1967. The raid that morning was merely the eventthat “triggered” the riots. Years of frustration and tension had been buildingamong the black community. Relative deprivation had been building and waswide-spread among blacks. More specifically, aspirational deprivation waspresent. That is, blacks value expectations had been on the rise for nearly acentury yet their value capabilities had remained much the same. Thisdiscrepancy lead to increased frustration which finally “boiled over” intoaggression and resulted in the Detroit riots of 1967. Whites saw the cause of the riots entirely different than did blacks.Whites didn’t perceive discrimination or police brutality to be a factor at allwhere as black saw these as the major causes of the discontent. This lack ofunderstanding by whites ultimately contributed to the relative deprivation...
