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Opponents of police brutality in the African American communities
Opponents of police brutality in the African American communities
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These lyrics are saying that the police believe they have the authority because they are Caucasian. They believe they have the power to put away the minorities which are the African-Americans. This Rap group wants to give African-Americans a voice. They wrote in the same song F**k the police “with a badge and a gun to be beaten on, and thrown in jail We could go toe to toe in the middle of a cell”. (N.W.A Bibliography) These lyrics mean because being African-American and by their color they would be beat and put in jail, but when they say “fight toe to toe with the officer in the middle of the cell”.(N.W.A Bibliography) meaning fighting for their rights. N.W.A is telling other African-Americans that they should stand up for themselves and fight the police for their rights which lead into the LA riots. …show more content…
gave the message that caused African-Americans to take a stand against officers. The N.W.A gave a message to African-Americans through their lyrics, especially with the song F**k tha police. Then, the beating of an African-American man Rodney King, was the moment that gave African-Americans a stand against the police. In this article from the History Channel “Rodney King a motorcyclist in Los Angeles was riding on his motorcycle for no reason the police chased him down”. (History Channel) Rodney King stopped his motorcycle and began to get off it. Then, “the four police Officers Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officer Powell, Wind and Briseno”. (History Channel) These four officers grabbed Rodney King and began to beat him with their batons and kicking him the officer lied that he had a
The theme of lines 1-5 in, ¨Untitled 1¨ by Tupac Shakur is that African Americans have been oppressed, over many generations. He describes the world, ¨as a ghetto, that they cannot leave,¨ referring to ghettos such as
... song entitled “Formation”. The filming took place in Los Angeles, but features references to Hurricane Katrina, with Beyoncé on top of a police car in a flooded street and later cuts to a man holding a newspaper with Martin Luther King Jr.’s face on it with the title “The Truth”. Later a young hooded boy dances in front of a line of police officers with their hands up before the video cuts to a graffitied wall with the words “stop shooting us “ tagged on it, at the end of the video the police car sunk with her on top. Not only did this song, bring awareness to the 10th anniversary of hurricane Katrina it also brought awareness to police brutality, racism, and the “black lives matter movement”. I stand with Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, the people of New Orleans and the countless others who are pushing for a change in the way minorities and the lower class citizen are treated.
The Los Angeles riots kicked off on the twenty-ninth day of April 1992 following the acquitting of four officers who had beaten and injured a motorist in the previous year. In the year 1991, California Highway Patrol officers detected Rodney King speeding as he drove in Los Angeles. King then led the officers on a high speed chase for the fear that the court would revoke his probation for a robbery offense he had committed (Gray, 2014). He was caught and ordered out of his car surrounded by several L.A.P.D cars and this led to a struggle between him and the police officers with some of them thinking that he was resisting arrest. One sergeant, Stacey Koon, used a Taser gun to fire at him before they beat him with their buttons mercilessly. He was struck with police batons more than fifty times and suffered eleven fractures besides other injuries. George Holiday, who was a nearby resident, videotaped the ordeal and delivered it to a local television station the following day (CNN Library, 2014). The tape sparked tension between the black Americans and the whites. The blacks saw the beating as racial discrimination against their community. However, no violence was recorded from the blacks du...
The piece goes on to say that “gang members, drug dealers, two-bit criminals, wannabes, etc. are taking a vacation and taking advantage of the police not wanting to be in the area because police are the targets for all these gang members and drug dealers.” The video continues on stating that this is all occurring as arrest numbers have dropped 32%; a concerning result of police officers being targeted, fearing for their lives, feel alienated and concerned about doing their jobs. The guest also states “this is exactly what the city government gets…The police department doesn’t feel the police commissioner has stood by it, and the mayor threw them under the bus by inviting the DOJ to come and investigate an alleged presence of racism…{So they} are making no proactive stops; not stopping people and shaking them down, not searching people or looking for guns or drugs, basically just answering the calls to service…taking care of the good citizens who are in trouble…and taking care of their fellow officers because they now have to worry about making a mistake and getting charged with false arrest, false imprisonment, and the loss of their freedom.” The guest also predicts that many of the police officers will leave to find places that will respect them and support them when they make lawful arrests and do their job, leaving only those who would do nothing and mindlessly agree with the
During the 80s a controversial group of rappers came together and changed the game of Hip Hop for generations to come. Niggas with Attitude, otherwise known as N.W.A, was comprised of the rappers; Ice Cube, MC Ren, Easy E, Yella, and Dr. Dre. Theses rappers spoke the truth about life in the streets; the hustling, the trapping, the sexual encounters, the gang life, and the most important, the racism. They shined a light on these issues in a violent, sexually explicit, yet intelligent and revolutionary way. The Facebook page, *N.W.A* creates an environment that connects people of all races, backgrounds, and ages; with the goal of immortalizing, and spreading the original message of the group.
Kid cudi trying to argue about how difficult things are growing up with being Oppressed and growing up being black. Songs are one way of expressing feelings and emotion, many artist do this constantly in their music. To some it is why they make music. There are endless signs and verses that hint at many things such as problems, politics, living in racist era’s also places. I chose to focus on one main rapper and his music only.
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...
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.
The day of March 3rd, Rodney King sped away from the police officers while intoxicated. The day of March 3rd, Rodney King was roughly taken from his vehicle.The day of March 3rd, Rodney King was brutally bashed and beaten close to sixty times by Los Angeles, California police officers (Boyd 1). The Rodney King Legacy Lives states, “The sickening tape, shot by a neighborhood resident, clearly shows the man on the ground offering no resistance as the cops pummeled him reportedly fifty-six times in the body and face,” (Carter 2). From the tape, the member’s of the jury had the opportunity to see, for themselves, the acts of brutality that took place. Some of the damages caused “skull fractures, nerve damage, a crushed cheekbone, a broken ankle and possible brain damage” (Brady 1).With this information, the members ...
Police brutality has been an apparent mark on the struggles, trials, and tribulations of people of minorities for years, primarily Black people. From the times of slavery to the present unlawful targeting and murders of black citizens with no justification, police brutality has been an enema in Black American culture for hundreds of years. Seen both in James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man” and in the current happenings of the United States. The hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter” has been a focal point in the current struggle for equality of the races. The current outpouring of support for black lives and
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality. Instead of spreading love we 're spreading animosity. Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity.” Here, they are questioning the actions of human beings by asking what happened to people’s values. In the same line, the Black Eye Peas tie back to their central question “where is the love” by asking where is people’s humanity. They then go on and question society’s fairness and equality tying back to discrimination and racism they talked about earlier in the song. By restating this problem, the Black Eye Peas are revealing to their audience that people today are choosing to set themselves apart from other people in their community, thus creating absolute separation. In addition, by using the word “animosity,” the idea of being in absolute separation and choosing to be strongly hostile leads to spreading more violence and cruelty into
Rodney King a black man who lived in Las Vegas was severely beating by four white police officers. The officers were brought into court and tried on charges of assault. The officers were acquitted of the assault charges. Immediately protestors took to the streets, to express their angry over the judge’s decision. Protestors found the ruling to be unfair and was fed up with the ill-treatment. The violent protest turned into a riot. A lot of damage occurred; over 50 people were killed, over 2,300 people injured, 8,000 arrest and estimated over $1 billion in property damage. The riots exposed the police abuse, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity. If it was not for the violent protestors no light would have been shed on the the way black were being
Police brutality and racial profiling dates back to the 1700’s in the United States(Rushing). Unfortunately, such treatment by police continues today when police are expected to hold the civic duty to protect and serve. Mistreatment by police is just the start in most cases, when citizens fight back it becomes “brutal”. Police brutality by definition means “The use of any force exceeding that reasonably to accomplish a lawful police purpose.” Police brutality can occur in many different ways with the most common being physical harm. Although that is a big problem, there are other cases of Police brutality that involve acts of false arrest, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, intimidation, etc. An act that can be seen as police brutality could be a criminal running from the cops and an officer shoots a victim with a taser. Many cases of physical harm are police using excessive force to contain and arrest any individual. Since many accounts of police brutality have been directed towards minorities, these cases turn into acts of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. Let 's say for example Trayvon Martin, a simple 17 year old black male walking home from a gas station was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch member. This being one of the many
This song implies that individual’s are violating the norms and values of society. They start the song with a verse that expresses this concern. “What’s wrong with the world, mama/ People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas…” (lines 1-2). This makes one aware of the disobedience of values that are held in the family. Values are “standard[s] of judgment by which people decide on desirable goals and outcomes.” (Newman, 32) Another verse in this song that illustrates how society is defying norms and values is when they sing: “People killin', people dyin'/ Children hurt and you hear them cryin/ Can you practice what you preach/ And would you turn the other cheek…” (lines 50-53). These lines utter that society has failed to act in a sane and coherent way that society once viewed as correct. The actions affirm that individuals are not living up to society’s norms. Norms are similar to “rules of conduct” and suggest how an individual “should” act. (Newman, 34) In the song they question the acts that would be taken that violate certain norms. Another example of the infringement of society’s norms and values is expressed when the s...
Diversity, we define this term today as one of our nation’s most dynamic characteristics in American history. The United States thrives through the means of diversity. However, diversity has not always been a positive component in America; in fact, it took many years for our nation to become accustomed to this broad variety of mixed cultures and social groups. One of the leading groups that were most commonly affected by this, were African American citizens, who were victimized because of their color and race. It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s during the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place yet, it is the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools. Integration in white schools played a major role in the battle for Civil Rights in the South, upon the coming of independence for all African American people in the United States after a series of tribulations and loss of hope.