Harlem Riot Stirs up the City

In The Intuitionist, Whitehead explores the Harlem Riots as a way to characterize the city. The Harlem Riot of 1964 is an example of police brutality in the Harlem, New York. Police ideally are expected to maintain the safety of a city; however, in this riot they killed an innocent teenager. This is a prime example of policemen taking their job too far, which affects the character of a city. On July 16, 1964, James Powell was shot and killed by a New York police Department (NYPD) lieutenant. Powell was playing around outside of an apartment building with other boys. The superintendent sprayed the boys with a hose, and Lieutenant Gilligan shot Powell because Gilligan claimed Powell lunged at him with knife. In response to this, on July 18, people marched down the street protesting the brutality of the police, who eventually tried to stop the protest, only inciting more violence. People were injured and arrested. This incident only ignited more rebellion against the police officers in Harlem. Instead of wanting to follow the law and work with officials, the brutality only led to more violence and unrest.

In the Intuitionist, Whitehead references this riot in talking about New York. While the elevator inspectors sit at the local bar, O’Connor’s, “Everyone thinks, as they must, of last summer’s riots, of how strange it was to live in a metropolis such as this (magnificent elevated trains, five daily newspapers, two baseball stadiums) and yet be too afraid to leave the house. How quickly things fall into medieval disorder” (23). Whitehead explores the reaction to the Harlem Riot. He shows that the police brutality involved frightened the people living in the city, even though the city is developed and does not seem to present a reason to feel unsafe.

The Harlem Riot of 1964 created a lack of comfort in the people who live there, and created a distance between the law and those living under the law.