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‘Don’t Tell Me About History, Unless You Tell The Truth’

Newark Public Library

Life-long Newark resident Richard Cammarieri was a teenager in the city's central ward in 1967.  

"There was a sense that things were quite inferment throughout the 60's if you were paying any attention at all,"  Cammarieri said.  "My father worked in a town not too far from Newark.  I recall drving with him one day to work.  It was probably the second day.  Because we were white, we were able to pass through the road blocks and cross checks without any problem.  Other cars being stopped had black drivers.  Both men and women, old and young, it didn't seem to matter."

Cammarieri says issues with race were brewing in Newark for years before the rebellion in 1967.

"Depending on your historical knowledge, people think that 67' was the cause of Newark's demise.  We shouldn't use 67' as a reason for reminiscing.  We should analyze what happend in 67' only as a purpose of how it serves us moving forward.  To understanding what happened, why it happened, and how it's still affecting us today."

You can hear the entire interview with Richard Cammarieri by clicking the link above.