Marquette Park I

A film by Tom Palazzolo and Mark Rance documenting neo-Nazi activity in the Marquette Park neighborhood of Chicago on August 21, 1976. The day marked one of many conflicts between black civil rights marchers and white supremacist neighborhood groups who were mobilizing to prevent black residents from moving into the neighborhood.

0:14Copy video clip URL A shot of a flag with a swastika pans down to a white woman expressing anti-black and anti-Semitic views from the passenger’s seat of a car. She expresses refusal to live near either group. Text reveals that Civil Rights protesters plan to march on an all-white area, with resistance from the National Socialist Party (led by Frank Collin). 

0:38Copy video clip URL Frank Collin is interviewed. Two white men wearing and displaying hateful white supremacist propaganda on their shirts are seen in the background. Collin stresses communality, that “this is our community, this is our neighborhood”, referring to the protesters as “jungle primitives.” The journalist refuses to print what has just been stated. Collin refers to his actions as a counter-demonstration. 

1:46Copy video clip URL A young child holds a pro-Collin leaflet to camera. He is joined by two other boys, also holding leaflets, who follow the camera in a circle. They begin exchanging racial slurs, between one another and to the camera man. 

2:14Copy video clip URL Frank Collin and other men wearing swastika armbands count and collect cash donations into a jar. 

2:56Copy video clip URL Three men are seen pouring over a series of posters and placards. They exit an interior space and move outside. They furtively move onto a crowded street, offering several white men, women, and young children signs and posters, briefly discussing whether the police could “do anything about it”.  

5:02Copy video clip URL Collin, seated at a table, jokes with associates over a historical account of Adolf Hitler’s anti-black tendencies. 

5:26Copy video clip URL Outside, the assembled protestors engage in anti-black rhetoric as they begin to form a condensed crowd along the street. Police remove bricks and large stones, evidently there to cause physical damage, from behind a bush, to much booing. 

6:00Copy video clip URL Collin relays, ruefully, that “the police are giving us a hard time”. 

6:35Copy video clip URL A policeman moves down the street amidst shouts of white supremacist slogans. Collins and associates gather by the door to their offices, watching the crowd outside. 

7:06Copy video clip URL A man speaks on the phone, estimating a crowd of about three hundred, and relaying their activities, “harassing” cars as they drive by (these harassments are heard over the phone conversation).

7:27Copy video clip URL A car is let into a largely black neighborhood, and is swarmed with policemen. A different crowd has assembled here, and a school age boy is seen jumping briefly into the view of the camera. Policemen and crossing guards discuss what to do with the traffic jams in this neighborhood. 

9:30Copy video clip URL A police barricade is formed. 

9:40Copy video clip URL A group of mixed race, anti-Nazi protesters gather with placards and begin to chant and protest loudly together. They are seen holding an American flag. One man attempts to announce that there have been threats to arrest anyone who crosses a certain street. He then organizes the crowd into a single file line. 

11:33Copy video clip URL A CBS portable video camera rig is visible, along with a Chicago Police officer using a Portapak video camera to document the event.

12:24Copy video clip URL The street begins to crowd with protesters, police, and daily traffic. Policemen are seen communicating about the flow of traffic, and directing the protestors. 

13:20Copy video clip URL A policeman directs his coworkers to “get up here and form your skirmish line”, as the protestors look on and then attempt to breach the skirmish line. One young man is physically dragged away and put into a police van, still clutching a beverage.  

14:32Copy video clip URL White protesters are repeatedly directed back to the sidewalk, and off the street itself. Several more young men are put into the police van, limply stating, “wait a minute man, this is freedom of speech, man.” A man is pictured wearing a McDonald’s t-shirt.

15:35Copy video clip URL Women photograph and observe the protest from the steps of a porch. 

15:38Copy video clip URL As further protestors are directed off the streets and and contained by the police, several pre-teenage boys and young men exclaim, “they suck!” and other hateful slurs. The protestors are seen aggravating and harassing passers-by in cars in front of a White Castle.

16:15Copy video clip URL A CTA bus passes by, more shots of the commotion in front of the White Castle.

16:38Copy video clip URL A black woman waves silently from the window of her car, and is met with screaming and further harassment. 

16:56Copy video clip URL Two men are interviewed from porch steps. They imply that they were let out of the police van and conclude that this is a good sign for their cause. They suggest that “the police should have stayed home today.”

17:30Copy video clip URL A man with a bandage over his nose unemotionally relays that “there were people passing out anti-white literature […] so we beat them up.”

17:46Copy video clip URL Collin is seen inside, emphasizing “that it was a bloodless victory,” such that the protest can be categorized as peaceful by the press, and the law. He takes the occasional cash donation. 

18:13Copy video clip URL A man displays both sides of his white supremacist captioned shirt for the camera, surrounded by several men and women. He animates the crowd into laughs and further slurs. 

18:41Copy video clip URL One of Collin’s subordinates prepares and folds similar shirts. 

18:46Copy video clip URL Collin fields more visits and donations from his desk. He stresses that the donors must also “vote for us too, this November”. He speaks with the visitors about police attempts to quell the protests, and assesses that ‘fanatical’ behavior will only breed more fervent support.

20:03Copy video clip URL The man with the bandaged nose discusses arrests from the protest, and projects that nothing will be too serious. 

20:27Copy video clip URL Collin engages in instigating dialogue with an older white man, and stresses the importance of so-called ‘peaceful’ protest. Another associate announces that over one hundred t shirts were sold that day. 

21:24Copy video clip URL Collin speaks in front of an enormous swastika, presumably to a large crowd. He calls the protest “a real white victory for our people”. He stresses community, the value of ‘active’ protest over ‘passive’ talk, and communal pride, as well as ‘ownership’ of neighborhoods, streets, and future generations. 

22:56Copy video clip URL Outdoor shot of a flag with several swastikas.

23:02Copy video clip URL Date and location are displayed via on-screen text. Occasional shouts of the protesters can be heard as the production credits fade in and out.