I lived in Rochester at that time. Had just finished my junior year in highschool, and looking forward to my senior year. I was Co-Captain of the Varsity Cheer Squad at Madison, having run for the Captaincy, and lost to a fellow squad member who was black. My school had a large black population, but we all got along. We were supposed to have a car wash the weekend the riots broke out. Anita called me that Saturday morning and told me they were cancelling the car wash because it looked like rain. When I told my mother, she said: Rain my ass, they cancelled because they’re rioting in the city.
Yep. I also lived in Rochester - actually the suburban Eden called Henrietta.
Had been out of the city for 2 years, but still spent time going in to visit my grandmother and uncle. My uncle almost ran down a bunch of the rioters as they stopped rocking the car ahead of us and turned their attention on us - he gunned it and I felt at leat one bounce off the fender as they scattered. Funny how those who had been friends for years suddenly developed a deep hatred of us Whites - almost like they all took the same drug.