Attica Prison Inmates:
On September 13, 1971, Five Days Of Rioting At The Maximum-Security Prison In Attica, New York, Came To A Dramatic Conclusion.
The Majority Of The Security Guards At Attica Were White, While 85 Percent Of The Inmates Were Black And Puerto Rican. The Inmates Had Become Increasingly Politically Aware And Had Expressed Grievances Over Poor Conditions, As Well As More Explosive Race Issues.
Prisoners Took Control Of Cell Block D After Tensions Reached The Boiling Point. Forty-Three Inmates And Hostages Died At Attica, Making It The Second-Deadliest Prison Riot In U.S. History.
Four Years Before The Riot, President Lydon B. Johnson Assembled The Kerner Commission To Examine The Underlying Causes Of The More Than 160 Violent Protests That Occurred In America In 1967. According To The Commission's Report, "Shortcomings Throughout The American (Justice) System" Were One Factor. These Included: "assembly-line justice in teeming lower courts ...wide disparities in sentences...antiquated corrections facilities...inequities imposed by the system on the poor --- who, for example, the option of bail only means jail."
The Aftermath Of The Attica Riot Called For Prison Reform, Especially In The Treatment Of Minority Inmates, Who Were Becoming A Majority In Several State Penal Institutions Across America.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
