1969 York race riot

The 1969 York race riot refers to a period of racial unrest in York, Pennsylvania in July 1969. On July 17, 1969, with racial tensions at the boiling point, a black youth who burned himself playing with lighter fluid blamed a local white gang known as the Girarders. That would later be revealed as a lie, but not before the pent-up resentments of the black community turned violent.