The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 Essay

Though sparked by the Rodney King verdict, there were many other causes of the riots that erupted on the streets of Los Angeles on April 29, 1992. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 were devastating. The obvious issue portrayed through the media was black versus white. If you did not live in Los Angeles or California chances are you did not hear full coverage of the story, you heard a simple cut and dry portrayal of the events in South Central. If you heard one thing about the riots, it was that there was a man named Rodney King and he was a black male beaten with excessive force by four white Los Angeles police officers on Los Angeles concrete. The media portrayed the riots as black rage on the streets due to the

They were also arrested. (Auerbach 1688) That's all it took for this riot to come into play, a few people unhappy about the way the police handled the situation. The next thing you know its a few thousand unhappy people.

Throughout police history in the United States and around the world there have been numerous incidents of reported police brutality and other forms of corruption including taking bribes, theft, sexual deviance, and many more. In our present time corruption has decreased significantly from what it once was decades ago but still exists. One of the most publicized cases of police brutality, if not the most, was the beating of Rodney King. Most people have heard about the case and seen the video of the brutal beating that took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 2, 1991. The video shown to the public contained officers appearing to beat Mr. King while he is on the ground while

Have you ever said that you wanted to start a riot, and people have responded by saying that’s not funny? Well here’s why they say that. On May 31, 1921 a riot occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It all happened when Dick Rowland (an African American) was accused of raping a white woman named Sarah Page in an elevator, when Rowland had tripped and grabbed her arm by accident. A salesclerk overheard the scream and called the police. Rowland was arrested. There were angry whites that were outside the courtroom protesting for Rowland to be lynched. The violence started for some people on May 31, 1921 and went on until June 1, 1921. 1265 homes, dozens of office buildings, restaurants, churches and schools had been destroyed during this

Anti-Semitism has been prevalent throughout the world since the establishment of the Jewish religion and unfortunately, traces of it can still be found to this day in the United States. What exactly is anti-Semitism? It is the intense dislike for and prejudice against the Jews; it can range anywhere from simple opposition to the Jews to vicious hatred displayed through physical torment. Some examples of the more publicized cases of violence against the Jews include the attack of Irish workers and police on the funeral procession of Rabbi Jacob Joseph in New York City in 1902, the lynching of Leo Frank in 1915, the assassination of Alan Berg in 1984, as well as the Crown Heights riots of 1991. I have

African Americans in Los Angeles and throughout the United States have experienced racial oppression for centuries. (Background about racial oppression by the LAPD). Rodney King was an African American motorist who inspired positive police reforms after he had a brutal conflict and was beaten by four members of the LAPD. Rodney King’s encounter resulted in a social and legal compromise because the incident made people aware of police brutality, gave African Americans a voice against police abuse, and resulted in reforms to the way that the LAPD responds to communities of color.

The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943: What caused them, what happened, and what were the effects?

In the month of May 1992, Anna D Smith, who was an actress and playwright, started investigating the experiences, feelings and emotions of the Los Angeles peoples when the riots had happened. For her play; she wanted to perform an act of one woman on the stage and also published all those human experiences in her book. For her requirements she did interview more than 200 citizens of that country for getting the detailed information about Riots. However, through her play “Twilight” she wanted to explore the real picture of the people suffrages, police brutality, and exact problem behind the racisms, people feelings and thoughts about the brutality. Twilight describes all the pain and sufferings of the people who had lived during the riots period. Anna had presented clear visuals of riots including all human emotions, causes and their sufferings including all historical facts that were playing leading factors for it.

On April 29th the day of the verdict, there were reporters both inside and outside the court room. This would add to how wide spread the unrest would occur and how fast it would develop. The verdict had come out that all four police officers were found not guilty on all accounts except for one account on one officer in which it was ruled a mistrial on that account.4 With the large amount of media coverage and the anticipation of a guilty verdict by many of the local citizens, the disturbances and violence spread quickly .

The beginnings of the riots came on March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was stopped and brutally assaulted by police. King was stopped after a high speed chase police after police caught him intoxicated and was subsequently forced out of the car (History.com). From there, police began to unlawfully assault Rodney King, leaving him with a fractured skull, along with a broken cheekbone (History.com). A witness, George Holliday, filmed the officers beating Rodney King; a day after the tape was airing on CNN for the rest of the country to witness (Los Angeles Daily News). Four officers were later arrested and put to trial a year later, however all of them were not pleaded guilty. The verdict angered a massive amount of African

In July 23, 1967, the Detroit Police department busted a bar with a prominent number of African Americans. They arrested every person in the bar. More and more people started to gather on 12th street to watch the proceedings. That is when the rioting started. The crowd began to get more violent as more people joined.

In order to understand the topic that is to be discussed in this essay, one must first understand two seemingly unrelated topics. Those topics are feminism and punk rock. These two social movements spawned the love child that has come to be known as the riot grrrl movement. The history of the riot grrrl movement is deep and intensely intertwined with themes of monumental social change, musical evolution, and the previously unseen all-encompassing nature that is unique to third wave feminism.

In Simi Valley, of the 260 juror candidates, 12 were black, five of which refused to be jurors due to the fact that they believed themselves to be in “hostile territory”. The one black candidate to make it to the jury box was removed before the case began, The remaining jurors were 10 whites, one asian, and one Hispanic. Most of the jurors were very pro police department. Many of the jurors came from military backgrounds, and others were proud N.R.A. members. The case went from the expected conditions of a diverse, Los Angeles County court case, to conservative town with a 5 to 1 white to minority jury. Just like King George taking his officers overseas for their trials prior to the revolutionary war, the special treatment of these 4 officers would not stand. However, the fate of the officers was in the hands of those who believed that they did nothing wrong. Their ruling is what set Los Angeles

The riots began after Rodney King was in a high speed chase under the influence. He got pulled over and the cops gave him “56 blows and kicks and a number of shocks from a stun gun…” This is clearly police brutality. “King brought charges of brutality against four of the policemen. The officers, who claimed they acted in self-defense, were tried before a predominantly white jury in a white middle-class suburb of Los Angeles. On April 29, 1992, all four men were acquitted.” This shows that the decision of the jury was biased. The predominantly white jury did not rule fairly, they ruled based on skin color of the plaintiff and defendant. This is why the policemen didn’t receive punishment like they were supposed to. The trial for Rodney King is “…an example of how the system treats blacks with excessive criminal charges and unreasonable bail.” The outcomes of this case were unjust and lead to riots in Los Angeles.

As a result of a detestable court decision and the visceral televised imagery of the beaten Rodney King, police brutality became recognized as a ceaseless injustice oppressing black communities. These events managed to spur a conversation most relevant today but one that many continue to disregard. The LA Riots of 1992 still stands as one of if not the most critical event that tapped into the way we view systematic racism by sparking deep-rooted dialogue about the intermingling of race, economics and injustice in America for African Americans. When looking back at the riots 25 years later, society has often received the needless white perspective and the necessary African American voice. However, many forget how many Korean-Americans were affected by these events. At the time, black and Korean communities were at odds with one another without understanding each other’s shared struggles as a result of the gradual segregation between wealthy white communities and impoverished minority enclaves. With the winner of the 2017 Sundance audience NEXT Award “Gook,” director, writer and actor Justin Chon remembers the 1992 LA Riots with the rare Korean American perspective, one that reveals itself as a poignant picture of race and friendship.