Once a center of the American textile industry, Lawrence, Massachusetts, on land along the Merrimack River purchased from the Pennacooks Sagahew and Passaquo tribes, is suffering decline by the mid-1900s. With economic stress comes racial tension.

On August 7 in 1984, a group of white men throws a rock through the window of a Puerto Rican woman. On August 8, hundreds of people are in the streets, calling each other names and throwing rocks at each other. The next day, church leaders urge calm but violence escalates to brawling and molotov cocktails. The police call for reinforcements.

The government declares a curfew and shuts businesses, threatening steep penalties. The violence subsides.

In 2010, William Lantigua becomes the first Latino mayor of Lawrence and the first in state history.