NIGHTMARE IN DETROIT

As long as the ghetto inhabitants continue to do a slow burn all year, waiting for the long hot summer, we will probably continue to get post-war reports such as this. It's a deceptively simple format: the authors have merely checked out the life story of each of the 43 victims of last summer's Detroit riot and describe how they got theirs. But it becomes appallingly obvious that the vast majority were the proverbial innocent bystanders, caught up in insanity. From the little immigrant shoe repair shop owner who defended his doorway with a sabre to victims numbers 33, 34 and 35 who appear to have been shot down by the police in what many viewed as an unprovoked massacre, to the fireman, electrocuted during a rescue attempt to families caught in cross fires between snipers and the police. The authors attack the Michigan National Guard for bumbling incompetence which often proved fatal. They also criticize to an extent Romney's initial handling of the situation. But the book is posed primarily as a warning... the have-not minority is becoming increasingly more militant and H. Rap Brown and Co.. are gaining sympathy and support. A prelude to further nightmares?