Marquette Park rallies
[1] Some African Americans had jobs that enabled them to improve their housing, but were limited by discrimination by real estate agents and banks in getting loans, and related approvals.
[2] Western Avenue, the official border between Marquette Park and West Englewood, became the unofficial boundary line between black and white neighborhoods on Chicago's south side.
[3] In January 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and nonviolent protest, moved to a small apartment on Chicago's west side.
He intended to protest and bring attention to the poor living conditions for blacks in the city in an effort to promote fair housing, as related to real estate and bank practices.
[4] He also sought to bring attention to the racial discrimination that blacks faced when trying to buy homes in such blue-collar "white neighborhoods" as Marquette Park.
[6] The white residents threw bricks and bottles at the protestors and burnt cars, and the Chicago Police Department appeared to do little to protect the marchers.
[10] The violent reaction to King's efforts to demonstrate in Marquette Park attracted the attention of George Lincoln Rockwell, who traveled to Chicago to try to recruit members.
As Sean Maschmann wrote, "It took a full decade for Rockwell to gain something more than notoriety and a reputation for political titillation and buffoonery.
"[6] In 1970, Chicago native Frank Collin founded the National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) and purchased a two-story building in Marquette Park which he named "Rockwell Hall".
The NSPA had a core membership of a few dozen neighborhood youths, but enjoyed some support from other locals due to their strong opposition to residential integration.
[2] On June 6, 1976,[citation needed] around 200 NSPA members and local youths gathered at Marquette Park to confront a black group that had planned to protest inadequate housing.
[16] In 1977, the City of Chicago passed an ordinance requiring that people wishing to demonstrate at public parks have $250,000 in insurance in order to obtain a permit.
Epton used the slogan "before it's too late" in reference to Washington being a mayor; 81 percent of white residents in Chicago voted for the Republican candidate.
[20] Much of the surge in Republican support came from traditionally Democratic "white ethnic" neighborhoods on the southwest side, made up of descendants of European immigrants.
[22][23] On June 28, 1986, around 30 members of the Ku Klux Klan and the America First Committee attempted to hold a rally at Marquette Park.
The Klan truck sped away, and police intervened and clashed with the INCAR members; five officers were injured and several people were arrested.
Police convinced the INCAR protesters to flee along 71st street, where they were chased by whites who threw stones and bottles at them until they crossed Western Avenue.
[26] On August 24, a dozen black religious leaders and civil rights activists marched into Marquette Park and held a prayer for racial tolerance, while being guarded by 700 police officers.
Afterward, several groups of white youths attempted to march along Marquette Road into a black neighborhood, but were stopped by police.
He first became involved in social activism after being horrified by the anger, fear and violence he saw on the day of King's Chicago Freedom Movement march.
