In 1992 a tragedy happened which we call the Los Angeles riots. You might ask why did there become riots? Well, it all started with a male named Rodney King. He was severely beaten by four white officers by the name of Stacey C. Koon, Theodore J. Briseno, Timothy E. Wind and Officer Laurence Powell. Only two of the four were found guilty. Rodney had been pulled over for driving while intoxicated; he was then beaten by a baton as the officers tried to get him to comply with orders to lay down. Due to this series of events, the Los Angeles riots were created. Once the verdict was released for the officers, thousands of people began rioting over the course of six days. The majority of people who riot were African Americans and Hispanics. A total of …show more content…
One thing we don't often talk about is what they did to their city. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings in LA. Looting was also a part of the rioting. The rioters targeted Korean stores, which caused conflict between the African Americans and them. The total property damage was about $1 billion. There was also a bunch of assaults going on. The local police officers had a hard time controlling this craziness. Crowds threw rocks at the police headquarters, liquor stores were looted, and gas stations were set on fire. In total there was, protesting, looting, arson, shoot outs, and vandalism. Delving into the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, one realizes the enduring legacy of social upheaval and the resilience of the communities in the face of adversity. It took the California National Guard, the United States military, and several police departments to release more than 10,000 armed first responders to assist in the end of the violence and unrest. After the riot was over, ultimately it led to the end of the LAPD’s police chief, changes in how they trained police officers, and an addition of civilian oversight. The Los Angeles riots were a moment in our history that will never be
To accomplish this, the Kerner Commission visited riot cities, spoke with witnesses and sought out help from other professionals. According to this documentary, 126 cities were hit and broken by these major race riots. The two main cities were Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. 82% of the deaths and over half of the injuries occurred in these two cities. Towards the end, as the tension and conflict really thicken, the president even had to send in the army to put a halt to this violence that was corrupting our cities and nation. Yet, this riots were not your “typical” riots, they were described as unusual, unpredictable, irregular and complex. According to a study, most rioters were young black men, between the ages of 15-24 and about 74% were brought up from the south. In context to the documentary and the report, these riots were brought on by actions and responses of police force, local officials and the National Guard. This idea was brought about because some black people thought of the police as just a sign of white privilege and power. However, according to citizens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin they were “protests because of the loss of jobs.” But the youngest commission chair, who was featured in the documentary, Fred Harris, disagrees and says that they were not protests, there was no planning with a clear goal in
LGBTQIA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual. The LGBTQIA topic is still an issue in society. There are people who are still against it. Some people in society still see this topic as a negative thing. The Stonewall riots was an important event for the LGBTQIA community. Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started. The transgender community is an important part of the LGBTQIA community. Same sex marriage was an important event that happened and impacted people of the community. The LGBTQIA community has many influential people like Laverne cox and Caitlyn Jenner. The L and G stands for lesbian and gay which means you are attracted to the same sex. The B stands for bisexual which means you are
The beating of Rodney King from the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991 and the Los Angeles riots resulting from the verdict of the police officers on April 29 through May 5, 1992 are events that will never be forgotten. They both evolve around one incident, but there are two sides of ethical deviance: the LAPD and the citizens involved in the L.A. riots. The incident on March 3, 1991 is an event, which the public across the nation has never witnessed. If it weren’t for the random videotaping of the beating that night, society would never know what truly happened to Rodney King. What was even more disturbing is the mentality the LAPD displayed to the public and the details of how this mentality of policing led up to this particular incident. This type of ethical deviance is something the public has not seen since the civil rights era. Little did Chief Gates, the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, and the LAPD know what the consequences of their actions would lead to. Moving forward in time to the verdict of those police officers being acquitted of the charges, the public sentiment spiraled into an outrage. The disbelief and shock of the citizens of Los Angeles sparked a mammoth rioting that lasted for six days. The riots led to 53 deaths and the destruction of many building. This is a true but disturbing story uncovering the ethical deviance from the LAPD and the L.A. riots. The two perspectives are from the Rodney King incident are the LAPD and the L.A. riots.
The years of injustices at the LAPD came to a head-on August 29, 1970, during an anti-Vietnam war protest went from a peaceful assembly of the Latino community until a disturbance made the LAPD spring into action to “keep the peace” — through violent means, according to Edward J. Escobar by employing tactics to like “... [charging] the crowd, shooting tear gas, and beating fleeing demonstrators with nightsticks.” (Escobar Par 2), to make crowds disperse which — unsurprisingly — caused panic which induced chaos. Up until the police had overreacted to a peaceful demonstration of civil disobedience and gathering of Chicanos against the government’s actions in Vietnam, there was nothing illegal being done, the only offense the protestors had committed was going against the government. Once the dust settled, police had arrested over one hundred people, forty people injured, and three lay dead or dying. One of the dead was Ruben Salazar (Escobar Par 2). Salazar was journalist killed by a tear gas canister was made a martyr who died at the hands of the LAPD because of his history of giving voices to the more vocal critics of the police. His death was used by Mexican-American activists who referred to themselves as Chicanos. The Chicano movement was in its infancy but was quickly growing because the tension between the LAPD and the Latino community was no longer one sided, the Chicano side was now organizing to fight for their rights, but the LAPD being the authority still had the upper-hand. According to Edward Escobar the LAPD engaged in intimidation tactics, investigations, and smear tactics to undermine the movement, but is was to no avail (Escobar Par 5). There did not result in a single successful prosecution of a major Chicano movement figure (Escobar Par 27). The police not only suppressed the Chicano community by trying the bring down the full power of
Chicago Riots Have you ever felt as if your government is doing the wrong thing? During the Democratic National Convention in 1968, an estimate of 5-7K protesters were not happy with the results on what was happening in the government. So a group called Yippies started an organized protest. They started to have riots in places like Chicago, where soon after the police came in and started to relentlessly beat the protesters with billy clubs.
This incident would have produced nothing more than another report for resisting arrest had a bystander, George Holliday, not videotaped the altercation. Holliday then released the footage to the media. LAPD Officers Lawrence Powell, Stacey Koon, Timothy Wind and Theodore Brisino were indicted and charged with assaulting King. Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg ordered a change of venue to suburban Simi Valley, which is a predominantly white suburb of Los Angeles. All officers were subsequently acquitted by a jury comprised of 10 whites, one Hispanic and one Asian, and the African American community responded in a manner far worse than the Watts Riots of 1965. ?While the King beating was tragic, it was just the trigger that released the rage of a community in economic strife and a police department in serious dec...
April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy. First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, and then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire. Next stop we hit it was the music shop, it only took one brick to make that window drop. Finally we got our own p.a. where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today?
“April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you!? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy,” these are the lyrics Sublime uses in their song ‘April 26, 1992’ to describe what happened during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. “First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire,” people ,running through the streets, had no pity when demolishing small businesses and taking what ever they may want from them. The streets, neighborhoods, businesses were destroyed by angry protesters. Their reasons were clear, all they wanted was some justice. A video tape of four L.A.P.D police officers brutally beating a male (Rodney King) without any sympathy was made public, which started the bomb track. “Let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna wanna let it burn,” says the song when describing the riots. Throughout these days there was an estimate of more than 50 killed, over 4 thousand injured, and 12,000 people arrested. The damage caused in the city was about one billion dollars, damage that is believed was never fully repaired. The riots and destruction that went on for about a week that showed the people’s rage and that they were not going to tolerate the injustices committed by the authorities.
...s. In both cases people in poverty didn’t have many opportunities coming their way. Although the riots were twenty seven years apart they both shared the same problems. People living in both communities did not have many resources available to them. In those twenty seven years, buildings in those areas were still rundown and many jobs weren’t available. Schools were still not on the same level as those in advantaged areas. What if African Americans were given better jobs and education? If they had received both the riots would not have started. They would have not felt oppressed and let anger just grow inside. Once the resentment started growing, it was only a matter of time before a riot broke out. In both riots you can see how the LAPD’s heavy hand was involved. African Americans were not receiving the same justice as the Caucasian residents of Los Angeles.
In addressing the Los Angeles riot, Dr. West, wrote, “The riot of April 1992 was, neither a race riot, nor a class rebellion, rather, this monumental upheaval was a multiracial, trans-class, and largely male display of justified social rage.” These events were unfortunate, and attempts were made by ‘the powers that be’ to blame them on “the black underclass, the action of criminal hoodlums, or the political revolt of the oppressed urban masses miss the mark.” Instead, Dr. West attributed the cause to: economic decline, cultural decay, and political lethargy in American life. He stated, “Race was the visible catalyst, not the underlying cause.”
On the morning of March 3rd, 1991 an African-American man led police on a high-speed chase through the city of Los Angeles. Approximately eight miles later police swarmed around the car and confronted the driver, who went by the name Rodney King. During the confrontation, officers tortured King until the point he was forced to seek medical care. A case was opened and the police officers were acquitted. This angered many people, specifically Blacks and led to the historical “L.A. Riots’’ , where they felt race had something to do with the case.
At the start of the story Romeo has a crush on Rosaline who does not
While the L.A. riots were far larger, and the effects are still being felt, I still feel that the Watts riots had more of an impact. I had known about the riots previously, as I had been interested and looked into it on my own, but I had not looked into the economic at the time. Seeing that there were not any real economic effects from the riot, and in-fact some things may have gotten even worse, changes how I think of riots reported on in the media. Although there has been little in empirical studies done on the impact of the Watts riots, which is odd due to their importance in recent American history, especially now, it is clear that the riots started a trend of misguided racial tension that continues to this day, one that has prolonged the suffering and disenfranchisement of Blacks in the United States. While I do not believe another riot is the answer, researching this riot has shown me that while the riots can be considered important, the reality is that their effects on society are quite minimal, and only the political discussion of the riots is what has lasted to today. The failure of any real reform since then of the treatment of Blacks in general, let alone in the criminal justice world, shows to me a real lack of justice in the United
Imagine being born in a place where people don't mix with one another and keep to their own kind. Imagine not being able to walk into a store because it is white owned. How would it feel if you were black, lived in a city that was run by a white government, where poverty, unemployment and lack of education were all problems of everyday life? If everyone were treated equally, then it would not be a problem. But for inner city African Americans that isn't the case. As humans, there is only so much we can take when it comes to segregation before we act out. There is only so much hate a person can take before letting it be known, once a person is pushed over that threshold there is no holding back. Overwhelming hate and anger with revenge takes hold and all thoughts of consequences rushes out of a person's body. The only thought remaining is violence, which is where rioting comes into play. All it takes are a few people to start protesting and yelling then the next thing you know you have a group of people then a mob. People are like sheep. When a person sees another person doing it, then they are more inclined to join in. Someone then throws a rock, then a bottle, and then all of a sudden here comes an array of Molctov Cocktails and guns. You then have a mob of people with built up tension and anger, ready to crush and destroy whatever stands in their way of their demonstration.
There were several causes which led to this riot and the immediate cause was racial tension. Racism tends to persist most readily when there are obvious physical differences among groups e.g. “Black” and “white” differences. This no doubt results in attempts to limit economic opportunities, to preserve status, to deny equal protection under law and to maintain cheap labor. Discrimination was represented ...