Los Angeles Riots Research Paper

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Reflections on the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 The city of Los Angeles has a long history of racial discrimination by its police force, as well as police brutality and harassment of African American and Mexican American youth. Tensions were building in the city, especially between Korean Americans and African Americans, and with the LAPD. On March 1, 1992, Rodney King was pulled over for speeding after an eight-mile chase. When the officers’ initial efforts to bring a noncompliant King to the ground failed, they clubbed him with their batons dozens of times, tasered him, and beat him to the ground. This brutal assault was recorded by George Holliday from an apartment across the street. The tape and the beating soon became a large focus of media …show more content…

As a result of these 6 days of very violent rioting, more than 50 people were killed, more than 2,300 were injured, and thousands were arrested. About 1,100 buildings were damaged. Total property damage from the arson and looting of the riots was about $1 billion, which made the riots one of the most devastating civil disruptions in American history. The 1992 Los Angeles riots highlighted the systemic racial injustice and police brutality still present in America even after the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the frustration and anger felt by many facing this. The officers’ acquittal showed how America’s legal system still allows white people to get away with committing violent crimes against African Americans, even if these white people are supposed to be enforcing laws stopping these crimes. As well, it sent a clear message that police brutality against African Americans would be tolerated and even condoned. One could compare the incident of Rodney King to the murder of Emmit Till, which was a big spark of the Civil Rights …show more content…

The riots brought to the forefront the need for change. It led to much more focus on police brutality, certainly having an effect on the reactions to police brutality still seen today. As well, it led to a larger modern movement as a resurgence of the Civil Rights Movement, when the riots demonstrated that the Civil Rights Movement did not accomplish everything it hoped to. To resolve these issues of police brutality and a biased legal system, we must confront the systemic racial inequality still present in our society today and attack it at its source. Police reform measures, as well as measures to counteract an expansive history of redlining and socioeconomic inequality among minority groups, are very necessary. Civil rights legislation must be enforced, and we must ensure that the legal system is as just as it can be. The Black Lives Matter movement has sparked some of the change necessary to combat systemic inequality, but we must continue to fight to reform the system that led to the riots. While progress has certainly been made in America, the riots serve as a reminder of how far we still have to go. The struggle for justice and equality for all is still

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