America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s

This chapter is the first of the second half of America on Fire, in which Hinton turns her attention to the legacy of the “crucible period” of Black rebellion, continuing into the present day. She begins with the story of three white people—18-year-old Michael Kulp, his older brother Jeffrey, and Jeffrey’s girlfriend Debra Gettman—who drove their car into a Black neighborhood in Miami, Florida, in May 1980. They were met with brick-throwing protesters, and Jeffrey Kulp’s car hit an old man and an 11-year-old girl. The protesters attacked the white trio and beat them violently, ultimately killing Jeffrey Kulp.

This was one example of anti-white violence that exploded seemingly out of nowhere in Miami in 1980, though in reality it was the result of several years of mass incarceration and a justice system that consistently failed to serve the needs of Black people. A “new era” of rebellions in Black communities had been born, but now that the police had greater power than ever, the necessary systemic changes seemed even more impossible than during the crucible period.

Leading up to the rebellion in Miami, several instances of police brutality and injustice had piled on one another: A police officer molested a young Black girl and received no punishment; a Black teacher and his son were pistol whipped by police in a raid on the wrong house; a young Black man named Randy Heath was murdered in cold blood by an officer, who again suffered no consequences and was even given a pay increase.