Arguments Against LA Riots

The LA riots were justified due to the awareness it brought to the issues of police brutality, unfair racial discrimination and lack of social programs. Americans took to the street and rioting spiraled out of control for days, fueled by anger and the intention to prove that the beating of Rodney King would not be acceptable. On March 3, 1991, LAPD officers stop King, an African American man, after a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County. Police removed him from his car and struck King with batons more than 50 times, all while being filmed from a citizen on his apartment balcony. When it was all said and done King was left with 11 fractures and various other injuries (“Los Angeles Riots Fast Facts.”). It was later noted that there was

For years, there has been many instances of police officers going above their jurisdiction and applying excessive force when not necessary and most of the time it is when minorities are involved. It would be wrong to classify every police station as racist or violent because the real truth is many of these police officers are great people, but it is the rotten ones that always give them a bad reputation. In certain areas, based on research, it is seen that police brutality occurs in low income communities. Specifically, 95% of police killings in 2015 occurred in neighborhoods with incomes under $100,000 (Jilani). With that being said, some areas had it much worse than others, which makes it hard for some Americans who don't experience this sort of treatment based on their location, wealth or even skin color. Therefore, those who witnessed the LA riots considered these people participating as thugs, criminals and other derogatory terms but in reality, these men and women were tired of being mistreated, pushed around and even killed. Surprisingly, the LA riots are often remembered as African Americans being solely involved in the act of civil disobedience, but according to a Smithsonian documentary, only 36 percent were African Americans, while 51 percent of the arrested rioters were Latino Americans (Mock). Now for the reason the media decides to depict the rioters as African American can mean many things, but remains unknown to most besides the media themselves. One can infer that the media tried to stir up more racial tension between African Americans and police officers in hopes of more drama and views to their station, but if that is the case, it goes to show that there is still injustices in our system today from the media to the police. Therefore, the need to protest