Remembering The Augusta Civil Rights Riot, 50 Years Later

The story is all too familiar: a Black teenager suspiciously dies in a county jail. Law enforcement’s explanation of what happened doesn’t line up with the boy’s injuries. In response, people protest in the streets and, violence erupts. These events didn’t happen last month. They happened in 1970 in Augusta, Ga.

For two days, starting on May 11, 1,000 Black residents rebelled against the city’s systemic oppression. More than 100 blocks of neighborhoods and businesses — about 7 miles — were ransacked and vandalized. Police killed six Black men.

But, until earlier this year as a result of a podcast and the 1970 Augusta Riot Observation Committee’s efforts to raise awareness, most people in Augusta weren’t aware this happened. The event went unmentioned and at present remains omitted from the Georgia Encyclopedia of History. The Georgia Historical Society’s director and staff say didn’t event know about it until the committee’s application for a state marker was submitted. News outlets do occasional anniversary pieces, but these are staid and seeming don’t stick in anyone’s mind.