Final answer:
The urban riots of the mid-1960s, including the confrontations in Harlem (1964), the Watts uprising in Los Angeles (1965), and the violence in Detroit (1967), were manifestations of national racial tensions and inequalities.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the mid-1960s, the United States witnessed a series of urban riots amid the larger context of the Civil Rights Movement. These riots were centered in African-American communities and were expressions of frustration and anger over racial injustice and inequalities in jobs, education, and housing.
- The site of the first large-scale confrontations between police and black protesters in 1964 was Harlem, New York. This symbolized the growing unrest in northern urban neighborhoods.
- In 1965, the Watts uprising took place in Los Angeles, California, just days after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, highlighting nationwide racial tensions.
- In 1967, one of the deadliest riots occurred in Detroit, Michigan, where the level of violence and destruction was particularly severe with more than forty people dying and extensive property damage.
The widespread urban riots of this era underscored the national scope of racial issues and the persistent struggle for equality faced by African Americans across the country, not just in the South.