Civil rights movement

=== Harlem riot of 1964 ===
{{Main|Harlem riot of 1964}}

When police shot an unarmed black teenager in Harlem in July 1964, tensions escalated out of control. Residents were frustrated with racial inequalities. Rioting broke out, and [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn|Bedford-Stuyvesant]], a major black neighborhood in Brooklyn, erupted next. That summer, [[1964 Philadelphia race riot|rioting also broke out in Philadelphia]], for similar reasons. The riots were on a much smaller scale than what would occur in 1965 and later.

Washington responded with a pilot program called [[Project Uplift]]. Thousands of young people in Harlem were given jobs during the summer of 1965. The project was inspired by a report generated by [[Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited|HARYOU]] called ''[[Youth in the Ghetto]]''.<ref>''Youth in the Ghetto: A Study of the Consequences of Powerlessness'', Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., 1964</ref> HARYOU was given a major role in organizing the project, together with the [[National Urban League]] and nearly 100 smaller community organizations.<ref>''Poverty and Politics in Harlem'', Alphnso Pinkney and Roger Woock, College & University Press Services, Inc., 1970</ref> Permanent jobs at living wages were still out of reach of many young black men.