It considers how Congress and the White House interpreted such events, how they have misperceived them, and how the character of their response changed over time. The author notes that the violence in Los Angeles following the first Rodney King verdict in 1992 was no isolated incident. It was only the most spectacular event in a long line of urban riots that have erupted periodically during this century. The worst succession of such outbursts was in the 1960s, which culminated in nationwide rioting after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. Since then, scattered incidents have flared in cities such as Miami and Washington. But even before the 1960s, there had been major riots in East St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Harlem, and several other cities. The central thesis of this book is that over a span of 30 years, the U.S. Government has grappled with urban mob violence by funding programs whose benefits are limited to poor neighborhoods. In doing so, Congress has accepted the premise that alleviating the many dimensions of poverty in these enclaves is the best prevention measure for urban unrest. The Nation, however, cannot alleviate either poverty or the penchant for mob violence through excessive reliance on programs such as Model Cities or Empowerment Zones-Enterprise Communities. The shifting problem context of social conditions and the vastly divergent political environment in which they are perceived today command new policy options. 225 references and a subject index