It was 50 years ago this week that Rochester was rocked by three-days of rioting that erupted in two predominantly African American neighborhoods. A number of factors contributed to the violence, including a lack of job opportunities for African Americans, overcrowding and allegations of police brutality.
All this week, WXXI News is broadcasting a special series called “Lessons from July ’64” - not only to look back at the issues that led to the riots 50 years ago, but to also look forward at the issues still impacting that same community and whether we could ever see something like that happen again.
In Part One of the series, Hélène Biandudi Hofer examines the plague of unemployment in Rochester - specifically for minorities. While efforts to address this issue have made advances in the past 50 years, the disparity remains. But some believe fundamental steps to long-lasting change are already at our fingertips.