The Cincinnati Riots of 2001

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Violence in American society from a conflict theory perspective The Cincinnati Riots Introduction Cincinnati riots of 2001 are some of the greatest reflections of racial discriminations resulting from ineffectiveness of security institutions sparking massive losses and stunted development. These riots pointed the great divide that undercut the American society. The case is a strong indication of unresolved personal feelings of superiority of whites over other people of color. This paper explores unresolved conflicts between blacks and whites using the conflict theory, conflicts for resources, ineffectiveness of institutions and how politics influenced the riots. In addition, the paper analyzes how the problem was resolved and the outcome of deliberations on the issue. It is the view of this paper that conflict from resources and the sense of threat to whites by blacks in the society was the underlying cause of the riots. The paper concludes by reiterating Martin Luther king Junior’s call for the coexistence of all people and their judgment to be based on their characters and not their skin color (Lan, 2009). Riots description Causes of the riots in Cincinnati Direct murder by police Cincinnati riots were precipitated by a wide range of events that saw massive discrimination of blacks in a manner that reflected flashbacks of slavery. Between 1995 and 2001, Lan (2009) report that about fifteen people were executed by police or lost their lives in the hands of the security agents. As a result, the black community became alarmed about being targeted by security agents and ultimately being executed or dying in their hands. With the fifteenth execution of Thomas Timothy taking place in the streets of Cincinnati, David (200... ... middle of paper ... ...lis. New York: Arcadia Publishing. Hewitt, R. (2005). White backwash and the politics of multiculturalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kim, Michelle and Tom Mieczkowski.2005. Violent police behavior: Past, present, and future research directions. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10 (5): 552-568. Lan, Shi. 2009. The limit of oversight of policing: Evidence from the 2001 Cincinnati riot. Journal of Public Economics, 93 (2)99-113. Levin, b (2002). From slavery to hate crime: the emergence of race and status based protection in American Criminal Law. Journal of social issues, 58, 227-245. Mc-Donald, H. (2001, summer). What Really happened in Cincinnati. City Journal, Summer 2001. Paolo, Giordani, Karl Schlag and Sanne Zwart, 2010. Decision makers facing uncertainty: Theory versus evidence. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31 (4)659- 675.

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