Angered by racism and poverty, African American residents of the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland began to riot for six days.

Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against racial or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially-sanctioned privileges and rights that have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of citizenship, criminal procedure, education, immigration, land acquisition, and voting rights.

In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. Based on poverty measures used by the Census Bureau, America had 37 million people defined as living in poverty in 2023; this is 11 percent of the population. Some of the many causes include income, inequality, inflation, unemployment, debt traps and poor education. The majority of adults living in poverty are employed and have at least a high school education. Although the US is a relatively wealthy country by international standards, it has a persistently high poverty rate compared to other developed countries due in part to a less generous welfare system.

African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group who as defined by the United States census, consists of Americans who have ancestry from "any of the Black populations of Africa". African Americans constitute the second largest racial and ethnic group in the U.S. after White Americans. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Africans enslaved in the United States. According to annual estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2024, the Black population was estimated at 42,951,595, representing approximately 12.63% of the total U.S. population.

Hough is a neighborhood situated on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. Roughly two square miles, the neighborhood is bounded to Superior and Euclid Avenue between East 55th and East 105th streets. Placed between Downtown Cleveland and University Circle, Hough borders Fairfax and Cedar–Central to the South and Glenville and St. Clair–Superior to the North. The neighborhood became a target for revitalization during the mid-20th century, after the 1966 Hough Riots.