Unionization was an auto-industry issue from its inception, but not until 1935 were employers prevented from firing union workers at will. What began in 1936 as an attempt by the United Mine Workers to organize unions in the steel industry escalated into what became known as the Big Strike, first against General Motors, where workers staged a sit-down strike and occupation of various assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, and then against Chrysler and Dodge. Membership in the United Auto Workers (UAW) zoomed from 30,000 in 1936 to 400,000 by the end of 1937 (Leuchtenburg, 1963). Ford, which had a history of employing strikebreakers and firing union organizers, was last

Larson, T. (1992, Winter). The effect of discrimination and segregation on black male migration. The Review of Black Political Economy, 20, 53-73.

The underlying causes for the riot can be traced to previous events in inner-city urban America in the 1960s. They had much to do with the then-current civil rights struggle, together with what were called the "long, hot summers" of the mid-1960s, which saw race-based violence erupt in many larger American cities. Despite the inability of the Detroit police to establish order after the initial incident, there is a view that excessive police violence was at the heart of the initial black response (Clark, 1971).