"If racial progress comes from understanding, then knowing history must be a part of it. To that end, Colling’s work is a fine contribution and a ’must read.’"

- Howard McCurdy, President, Windsor and Detroit Black Coalition

The Detroit Riot of 1967 marked a turning point in the attitudes and behaviour of people in all walks of life in the Border Cities. As the citizens of Windsor watched their nearest neighbour burn, the way they felt about Detroit changed radically. Perceptions of race relations, of the city across the river, and indeed of themselves, were altered in ways many had not thought possible. For the City of Detroit, the riots created an irrevocable change. Throughout its history the city has struggled with concerns of labour, social and racial justice, but today Detroit is experiencing a renaissance as it continues to address the outcomes of the conflagrations of 1967.

This book, written in the present tense as if the story is unfolding before the reader’s eyes, analyzes one small portion of Detroit’s history: the events leading up to, and immediately following, the Riot. Taken largely from first-hand accounts of the people who lived it, Detroit’s racial history is viewed through the eyes of its nearest neighbour, at perhaps the city’s darkest, but most poignant, moment. In an effort to comprehend the past, in order to better understand the potential for the future, this book examines differences and similarities of life on the Canadian and American sides of the river. By delving into our collective past, Herb Colling vividly portrays the violence and the frustrations of the time, and sets the stage for a more optimistic tomorrow.