How the Uprising of 1969 changed civil rights
'It introduces a new way to understand the city,' UNLV Associate Professor Tyler Parry said of the Westside of Las Vegas. 'And its heritage and its culture.'
The Historic Westside is known as a part of Las Vegas many have seen but few truly know. It tells countless stories, mainly of its predominantly Black population.
'What we still see is the Westside as an area,' Parry said. 'One of the more disenfranchised areas of the city.'
Parry, associate professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at UNLV, spoke with 8 News Now about that disenfranchisement and the tensions that boiled over as part of the uprising of 1969.
'It was a protest largely against poverty and police brutality,' Parry explained of the uprising. 'That continued to plague the area.'
It was all part of Parry's historical presentation at Clark County Museum on Thursday.
In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, members of the Black community were confined to 40 blocks in Las Vegas, bordered by Carey Avenue, Bonanza Road, I-15, and Rancho Drive.
For decades, hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip did not allow Black patrons.
Due to stringent segregation, people of color could not be seen or heard in most establishments, which led them to mainly live and work within the confines of the Historic Westside, an area which, at the time, lacked plumbing, electricity, or paved streets.
'It was a place that represented the stark segregation that existed in Las Vegas,' Parry explained. 'To where the Black community could really only live in one area of town.'
Even after desegregation lifted legal restrictions in 1960, Black people were still marginalized.
Soon, however, the tides would turn on October 5, 1969, when two Black men were arrested under what many called false pretenses.
The moment, fueled by decades of community anger and frustration, was the catalyst for true change.
'At that point,' Parry said. 'Young people in the community rose up against the police state.'
Protests that soon became riots broke out for several days, as people living within the Historic Westside demanded change and attention from their local leaders.
200 people were arrested, two others were killed, and hundreds more were hurt during the demonstrations.
'If people want to think about the civil rights movement in Vegas,' Parry said. 'You can't do that unless you actually focus on the Westside.'
Today, Parry pointed out that these stories aren't just rich in culture, but pivotal to understanding the neighborhood's current complications.
'What we still see is the Westside as an area,' Parry said. 'One of the more disenfranchised areas of the city that still represents that original problem in Las Vegas.'
He said it's a problem he hopes to bring to the forefront through continued education.
The Moulin Rouge Hotel & Casino was also a pivotal part of the Historic Westside's change as the first desegregated property to open its doors in the 1950s.
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