Mar 21, 2024 - Sale 2663

Sale 2663 - Lot 153

Price Realized: $ 938
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(CIVIL RIGHTS.) Black Response to (Camb.) Killings: Police Attacks! We Say No, Racist Cops Have Gotta Go. Poster, 22 x 17 inches; ¼-inch closed puncture, otherwise minimal wear. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Citizens' Action Group, circa September 1974
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This poster tells a frightening story of racial conflict in Cambridge, MA. The family of Black resident Hugh Price was continually harassed by a white street gang based across the street, with city police officers repeatedly refusing to intervene. On 15 August 1974, "as has happened on numerous occasions, Mr. and Mrs. Price and their six children were faced with the task of defending their home and each other from serious physical harm at the hands of a sizeable (15-20 person) gang of white youth armed with clubs, hockey sticks, baseball bats, broken bottles, golf clubs, etc. . . . Members of this white gang actually went on to the Price property, attacked Mrs. Price, knocked her to the ground, and proceeded to beat her." Mr. Price brought out a rifle to defend his family, and soon both his own son and a gang member were dead. Mr. Price was, of course, arrested.

The Boston Globe blandly described the incident as "an argument that started . . . when a pet dog ran and snapped at one of the victims" (16 August 1974).

In this poster, a local community group demands that Mr. Price be freed, calls for a citizen's investigative commission, and names nine police officers who should be fired.