The Los Angeles Riots of 1992

The Los Angeles Riots of 1992

The Los Angeles riots were a release of pressure that had build up from the innocent charging of Officer Laurence M. Powell and other Police officers that "Used excessive force" on Rodney King on March 3, 1991, but that was not the only reason.(8) In the words of a singer singing about the riots "They said it was for the black man, they said it was for the Mexican, but not for the white man, but if you look at the streets it wasn't about Rodney King, It's bout this f****d up situation and the f****n' police."(9) Did the riots even have anything to do with King? Was King a minor reason for this to happen, or did King put the level of pressure right over the top? Whatever way you see it, the fact is that on April 29, 1992, anarchy was set free in Los Angeles and before the papers could write about the happenings in this city of angels, the writing on the walls could tell it all.

Reginald Denny, a truck driver that was driving through the area of hate, stopped his truck and was pulled from his seat only to be beaten by a group of African Americans, was smiled at for his stupidity. Did Reginald Denny deserve to be beaten as much as King did? Many people that participated in the riot believed so, even though those were the same people that felt that that King was wrongly treated. Was this feeling of revenge produced by racism or fair 'take a hit, leave a hit' that would be forgotten once the pain was the same for everyone? Unfortunately, revenge never finds its own way to normal, humankind always wants to be 'one up' on the competition. The system of LA seemed to be falling apart at the thought of "Blacks" getting unfair treatment under the same conditions. The fact that "Blacks" were the ones tha...

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... of black doctors helped save life of LA riot victim Reginald Denny. Jet, 51, v82 n6

O'Brien, Maureen, (1992, May 11) Bookstores, libraries destroyed in LA riot. Publishers Weekly, 9, v239 n22

Marlow, Michel, (1992, May 5) LA aftermath WWD, p21, v163 n88

Wojcik, Joanne, (1992, May 4) LA riot damage costliest in history: losses to top $200 million; most damage in likely insured. Business Insurance, 1, v26 n18

Shoemaker, A., James, C., King, L., Hardin, E., Ordog G. (1993, Dec 15) Urban violence in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the riots: a perspective from health care professionals, with implications for social reconstruction. JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2833, v270 n23

National Review Magazine, (1993, Nov 15) Crime without punishment. National Review, 14, v45 n22

"April 29, 1992," Sublime, Sublime MCA Records, 1995