It all began in the small hours of a Sunday morning, July 23rd, 1967. A Blind Pig (an unlicensed, late night bar) on Detroit’s predominantly African-American 12th street was having a party to celebrate the return of Vietnam vets when a band of Detroit’s finest entered the unauthorized bar and arrested a number of people, using brutal force on the black patrons along the way. A fuming crowd gathered outside, disgusted by the barbarism of the purportedly racist white police officers and tired of the racial tension that had been tearing their city apart. The horde of African-Americans, blinded with rage due to the events that night stormed into local stores and homes, causing mischief and chaos wherever they went. Throughout that Sunday, stores in the area were looted, trash and stones were thrown at local policemen, and blazing fires crushed the area around 12th street. The events that transpired that Sunday was the beginning of what became known as the Detroit Race Riots of 1967, one of the most violent race riots in American history. On July 24th, the day after the riots began, Michigan State police and Wayne County officers were called into the area to assist the Detroit Policemen that were not enough to end the free-for-all. President Johnson also issued the deployment of federal troops on Tuesday the 25th. The bedlam was chronicled by photographer Lee Balterman, who took pictures of events that week. One photo depicts a black store owner posting a sign on their door reading “soul brother” so they don't get looted by rioters. The rioters were relentless, even after federal troops were deployed. The anger towards the policemen and their brutal force on the patrons of the blind pig, along with general irritation over the state of racial relations in the area propelled rioters to continue looting stores and burning property to the ground. Despite unrelenting resistance, the turmoil was contained and ended within forty-eight hours of the entry of the National Guard and Army. They used tanks and machine guns in order to contain the ruckus. “In the five days and nights of violence 33 blacks and 10 whites were killed, 1,189 were injured and over 7,200 people were arrested” (Wang). The Detroit community didn’t only lose lives, but an extreme amount of property. During the 1967 riots, “Property damage exceeded an estimated 50 million dollars, with 2,509 stores burned or looted and 388 families displaced by the fires” (Clemens). Most, if not all, of the buildings severely damaged in the uproar were abandoned. In the decades following the riots, the amount of abandoned buildings increased, and became abandoned blocks. “By 2000 Detroit's population had fallen below the million mark, half what it had been at its peak. Once-thriving neighborhoods were pockmarked by the charred remains of burned-out houses�