Toledo Race Riots

1. This post is on another article from The Obsidian. The article that I will summarize for you is “Toledo Riots Aftermath: 2 Years Later” by Richard Autry. First of all he basically summarized the situation two years ago in Toledo during the Neo-Nazi march. He said that there were fourteen Neo-Nazis and around 600 rioters of which many were arrested. Many of the African American’s who were arrested were given harsh sentences. Now today Toledo still holds a bad reputation because of this march. Autry says that the reason that the Neo-Nazis came to Toledo was because of a fight between Thomas Synch and his black neighbor. He says that one reason the event got out of hand was because it was so over hyped by the local media. Others wonder why the group was allowed to protest through a residential neighborhood rather than at a building downtown. The mayor at the time Jack Ford said that he had to let them march due to freedom of speech. Other Toledo residents wonder why they weren’t factored into the discussion on whether to let them march. He states that freedom of speech involves peaceful actions not something that would stir up violence like this march did. In the end, Autry insists that the Neo-Nazis won and the city of Toledo lost.


Autry, Richard. “Toledo Riots Aftermath: 2 Years Later.” The Obsidian. 25 Oct. 2007: 4-5.

2. The article was about the Toledo Neo-Nazi march two years ago. It argues that it set up African Americans to get in trouble with the law. He also mentions that Toledo still has a bad reputation, because of this event. He says the ways that the black population in North Toledo were set up were that the march was hyped up so much in the media that the whole city became aware of the event, the citizens of Toledo were not asked on their opinion regarding the march, and the citizens of these northern Toledo neighborhoods were not informed on why the march was being held. The reason that I chose this article is because when I saw the article in the magazine, it reminded me of watching the coverage of this on television. I didn’t really know much about it back then, so I decided to read the article and see what it was all about.
3. I think one way that this article was related to class material is that the black people received very harsh sentences for their actions during the riot. For example, Autry writes, “Olajadai Crenshaw, who was 17-years-old at the time of the riot, was tried as an adult and sentenced to 8 years in prison for allegedly looting and setting fire to a bar.” Those are fairly bad actions, but would a white minor have been tried as an adult and put in jail for 8 years for that crime which was in the heat of the moment? Probably not, that’s where our numerous discussions about white power and privilege come in. A white minor probably wouldn’t have been given as harsh of a sentence. Another thing that disfavored the African Americans was the intense media coverage before the event. Did the white population in Toledo want the media coverage in order to stir up the black population? Another example of privilege in the article had to do with the right to obtain the permit to march. Autry writes in his article, “The question on some African Americans’ mind is if they would be allowed to lead a hate march in a majority white neighborhood. Many feel it would be near impossible to garner a permit and police protection to do this” Josh Newson is quoted as saying, “I know for one thing; if I gathered a racist black group to Ottawa Hills, they lock my a** up!” I think these are excellent points. With their privilege and power, the neo-Nazis had no trouble obtaining a permit and carrying out their demonstration in a primarily black neighborhood. If an African American group asked for a permit to walk through Ottawa Hills, they would probably be turned down. Clearly still today the white population has rights that the black population does not.
4. I think it is sad that an isolated event like this can tear up a city like Toledo for a long time. I remember hearing about this on the news. As a senior in high school, I didn’t really care about the event and I wished they would just stop talking about it. I can remember the coverage on TV lasting weeks before the march was even planned. I do think that this had an effect on the severity of the violence towards the march. I think it was the cities fault because there are restrictions of the law of free speech that are described nicely by Autry when he says, “Hate speech is restricted if it is defamatory or causes incitement to violence.” Clearly the city should have known that this march would cause violence. It is mainly their fault for putting these people in this dreadful situation. I’ll finish this post off with a wonderful quote from Autry that accurately described the whole event. He exclaims, “Many would argue that the city government brought the wood and the media was the gasoline, whereas the North Toledo community was the match that only needed to be sparked.”