Tuttle's "Bound to Explode" discusses the causes, events, and aftermath of the infamous 1967 Newark race riots. It begins on July 13, 1967 one day after the arrest of taxi driver John Smith on heavily disputed charges. Racial prejudice in the North was lighter than in the South, but the calmer culture was better fortified against non-violent protesting than more vicious Southern attitude. Police brutality and lack of accountability were long-standing problems that hit the tipping point, leading to a massive uprising of normally law-abiding blacks. Newark's police were so ill-equipped to deal with it that Mayor Addionzo and Governor Hughes had to order in the National Guard, which turned Newark into a war zone for the next three days. When the violence subsided, both sides pointed fingers at one another; today it stands as a warning to the consequences of trying to bury racial tensions and hope the problem goes away.
Compared to the Washington March and Woodstock Music Festival, the Newark Riots were far more volatile. Woodstock was chaotic, but it was a controlled and non-violent chaos; the Riots saw looting, mass arrests, and a war-like period of a few days. Nevertheless, they were somewhat organized as rioters primarily targeted white-owned businesses. Police presence greatly exceeded the other two events combined and saw the presence of a National Guard. There are similarities behind the motives of the March and the Riots, but the solutions were worlds apart. In addition, the rioters were almost entirely black, compared to the integrated March and Woodstock's mostly white participants