Joseph E. Lowery at a Building Damaged in the Miami Riots, May 1980

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Joseph E. Lowery points to the spraypainted message "Payback!!!!" on the wall of a building that was destroyed during three days of rioting in Miami, Florida. Written on verso: Payback! ... The message is clear to Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who surveys the charred remains of a business in Miami's Liberty City where the acquittal of four white ex-police officers in the fatal beating of black businessman Arthur McDuffie sparked three days of rioting. Sixteen people were killed and $100 million in damage was done from fire-bombing, sniping and vandalism. Lowery was summoned to Miami to help ease racial tensions. While there he met with U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti who is spearheading a federal investigation into McDuffie's death.The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library acknowledges the generous support of the Joseph & Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights, the Joseph Echols Lowery Irrevocable Trust, and other donors in supporting the processing and digitization of Morehouse College's Joseph Echols and Evelyn Gibson Lowery Collection