ABSTRACT
Liberals have been moaning those empty-head blues. Black radicals will be certain to condemn the liberal integrationists who have again left them and their children holding an empty bag. Black violence has reduced support for measures designed to help Negroes. The most straightforward explanation of riotous behavior is that the violence is a combination of anger and opportunity. Black rebellion presents a crisis of legitimacy—a questioning of “white” authority. The most obvious political need is for mechanisms to reduce the blatant conflicts between Negroes and police with the police being the most visible and oppressive manifestation of governmental authority. The most compelling need is for a fast and vast job program designed to virtually end unemployment among Negroes. The usual American response to difficult political problems has been to disperse and fragment them into smaller conflicts that take place in different localities and times.
