Who is suppose to protect the black man from white supremacy? According to the Constitution, “the fourth amendment guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons or houses against unreasonable searches and seizures and shall not be violated.” However, in a country discovered by white men who have created laws to maintain black inferiority, peace and non-violence haven’t successfully achieved the black man all of his basic human rights. Muslim brother Johnson Hinton was attacked in the streets of Harlem by police in 1959, Rodney King was beaten by police in Los Angeles in 1991, and Mike Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer in 2014. Over 50 years later, if Malcolm X could rewrite a portion of his autobiography, …show more content…
Rodney King who reached a speed of 115 miles per hour, according to police, feared that his probation for a robbery offense would be revoked because of the traffic violation. With a troubled past involving drug use and petty crimes and a current profession as a taxi driver that offered no chance of economic advancement, King was condemned to a life of oppression similar to that of Malcolm X before he began believing in Allah. When clarifying his stance of racism in America in speeches Malcolm said, “the white man can lynch and burn and beat Negroes-that’s all right” but when a black man attempts to physically defend himself against the white man he is told “to have patience and things are getting better” (p.484). When an unarmed black man is getting brutalized by police and intends to defend himself; America causes it resistance. The victim is ridiculed and the perpetrators are commended for a job well done. When the four officers charged with assault with a deadly weapon were acquitted, there was an uproar of riots that led to more than 50 people being killed. In Malcolm’s perspective, “when the white man came into this country, he certainly wasn’t demonstrating any non-violence. He yells for peaceful coexistence. But what have been the deeds of the white man”? (p.485) He accuses the black man of revolting in a society he is merely trying to exist in. With racial supremacy existing in the hierarchy of law-making and law enforcing, the legal system disadvantages people of color, particularly young black men. “Almost everyone in Harlem needed some kind of hustle to survive and needed to stay high in some way to forget what they had to do to survive.” (p.178) Like Malcolm on the streets of Harlem before escaping death twice in the same day, Rodney King was just trying to survive in the white man’s
On February 11th 1965 Malcolm X gave a speech at the London school of economics. In Malcolm’s speech Malcolm discussed the racism that plagued the United States during the 1960s. During this speech Malcolm brought up police brutality and the riots that it caused, saying that the riots were nothing more than a reaction by the African community because of police brutality. Since Malcolm x’s time many things have been accomplished for the equality of Africans in America; however In today’s society America still feels the anguish of riots based on police brutality. Malcom X’s view on racism was a “whatever it takes” type of theology, justifying violence to end racism. During Malcolm X’s speech on February 11th 1965 Malcolm sheds light on many of
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 and other injuries.
The beating of Rodney King from the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991 and the Los Angeles riots resulting from the verdict of the police officers on April 29 through May 5, 1992 are events that will never be forgotten. They both evolve around one incident, but there are two sides of ethical deviance: the LAPD and the citizens involved in the L.A. riots. The incident on March 3, 1991 is an event, which the public across the nation has never witnessed. If it weren’t for the random videotaping of the beating that night, society would never know what truly happened to Rodney King. What was even more disturbing is the mentality the LAPD displayed to the public and the details of how this mentality of policing led up to this particular incident. This type of ethical deviance is something the public has not seen since the civil rights era. Little did Chief Gates, the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, and the LAPD know what the consequences of their actions would lead to. Moving forward in time to the verdict of those police officers being acquitted of the charges, the public sentiment spiraled into an outrage. The disbelief and shock of the citizens of Los Angeles sparked a mammoth rioting that lasted for six days. The riots led to 53 deaths and the destruction of many building. This is a true but disturbing story uncovering the ethical deviance from the LAPD and the L.A. riots. The two perspectives are from the Rodney King incident are the LAPD and the L.A. riots.
Earl G. Graves said, “Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King expressed his dream that African Americans would someday be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character, the line between the suspect is a black male and black males are suspect remains dangerously thin.” Our nation needs to follow the five-step plan outlined by ACLU to allow our members of society safety and equal rights for one another.
On August 28, 1963 Dr. King made his way to Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to commit his speech to his fellow Americans. Dr. King commands his speech during an ironic period time of America history. African-Americans were frowned upon by the Caucasian. Not only the African-American had a difficult time fitting in, also Asians and Hispanics were discriminated and surrogated from the Caucasian population. The heartless Caucasian police officers would verbally command their racists’ hounds on the desperate but yet innocent African-American young adults and children. The inhuman Caucasian fire department used their almighty water hose on the nonviolent protesters, only because the protesters’ skins were darker than theirs.
In Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from the Birmingham City Jail, King speaks about the society he and all other African Americans are living in. He starts to discuss just and unjust laws and states the difference between the two: “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Most people, at the time, thought that if a law is in place, it is for the better of society. The idea held by mostly white America that the brutality the police officers are inflicting on civilians who fight against systemic racism as a way to keep order adds to Kings problems with the current state of society. He is fighting against the ‘white moderate’, who is the white
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...
It all begun one year before (March 3, 1991) when Rodney King and two friends were detected to be speeding in the 210 freeway in Los Angeles. He was driving under the influence of alcohol. King, scared because he was already in probation, went on a high speed chase. Eventually King was surrounded by police cars and had no ch...
The Los Angeles riots were a release of pressure that had build up from the innocent charging of Officer Laurence M. Powell and other Police officers that "Used excessive force" on Rodney King on March 3, 1991, but that was not the only reason.(8) In the words of a singer singing about the riots "They said it was for the black man, they said it was for the Mexican, but not for the white man, but if you look at the streets it wasn't about Rodney King, It's bout this f****d up situation and the f****n' police."(9) Did the riots even have anything to do with King? Was King a minor reason for this to happen, or did King put the level of pressure right over the top? Whatever way you see it, the fact is that on April 29, 1992, anarchy was set free in Los Angeles and before the papers could write about the happenings in this city of angels, the writing on the walls could tell it all.
In 2014, Dr. Wallace Best wrote a candid article for the Huffington Post discussing what he deemed as the irrational fear of black bodies. The context surrounding this critique stemmed from the surge of black men dying by white police officers. In the article, Dr. Best provided historical insight into this deeply rooted, unwarranted anxiety that white Americans have used as probable cause to commit violent acts against blacks, as well as systemic control over black men as a means of protection to maintain societal order. With this assertion, Dr. Best offered a critical analysis in understanding the fanatical need to preserve ownership over black movement due to this ubiquitous threat of black skin and the African American male. However, what
On the night of March 2, 1991, Rodney King and two of his friends decided to go "cruising around looking for some girls." After a few drinks, the three men began cruising around the streets of Los Angeles. At about midnight, King was driving at speeds of up to 115 miles an hour on the freeway. Two California Highway Patrol officers clocked King's car, and began to pursue him. This, however, was not going to stop King. After a 7.8-mile pursuit on freeways and city streets, King was forced to pull over because another vehicle was blocking the street.
Until the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his life’s work was dedicated to the nonviolent actions of blacks to gain the freedoms they were promised in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 by Abraham Lincoln. He believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King, 1963). These injustices had become so burdensome to blacks that they were “plunged into an abyss of despair” (King, 1963). The nonviolent actions of the sit-ins, boycotts, and marches were so the “individual could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths…to help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism” and ultimately lead to “inevitably opening the door to negotiation” (King, 1963). Not only was King’s approach effective with the older black generation, it was also successful with white people. They did not feel threatened when approached by King. White people gained a sense of empathy towards the plight of black freedom as King’s promise of nonviolence did not threaten their livelihood. Malcolm X viewed the world similarly to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., however; his beliefs to changing the status quo were slightly different from his political counterpart. Malcolm X realized that “anger could blind human vision” (X, 1965). In realizing this, X knew that in order to achieve racial freedom blacks had to “forget hypocritical politics and propaganda” (X, 1965). While Malcolm X was more so an advocate for violent forces against white people than King, X merely used force when it became necessary for defense. According to X, “I don’t go for non-violence if it also means a delayed solution. I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to American black man’s problem” (X, 1965). However, this le...
The Fourth Amendment states “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Despite this right, multiple minorities across the country suffer at the hands of police officers through racial profiling; the singling out of a person or persons as the main suspect of a crime based on their race. Many people have also suffered the loss of a loved one because police believed the suspect to be a threat based on their races therefore the officers use their authority to take out the “threat”. Although racial profiling may make sense to police officers in the line of duty, through the eyes of the public and those affected by police actions, it is a form a racism that is not being confronted and is allowing unjust convictions and deaths.
Dr. King exemplifies his credibility to advocate the ending of segregation laws. He gives an example of how society should realize that there is no need for violence by comparing both Socrates’ and his techniques. Dr. King uses Socrates’s philosophy to justify how much help the African American community needs to abolish the injustice of racism because the community itself cannot fight for freedom alone, the more individuals support them, the more likely the community can overcome segregation. Using psychological tension to help individuals rise from the myths, Dr. King uses an example of Socrates’ philosophy to help society become united. Dr. King states, “Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths” (497). Dr. King uses Socrates because he is a historical figure; individuals saw Socrates as a threat to society, but he later became an inspiration to others. In addition, the white community saw Dr. King as a threat to society because he wants to change the segregation laws, but he became a hero to all the communities. Dr. King uses the words “rise from the bondage of myths” to compare how Socrates helped individuals overcome certain myths, just as Dr. King is helping African Americans prevail over the injustice of segregation. T...
Malcolm raised awareness for the mistreatment and oppression of the African Americans in the USA ghettos and influenced the New York Race riots or Harlem riots in 1964 as well as the Watts riots that raged for six days in 1965. In a street meeting in Harlem, Malcolm responded to criticism in a speech for not adopting nonviolence, instead offering militancy, “If we react to white racism with a violent reaction, to me that’s not Black racism. If you come to put a rope around my neck, and I hang you for it, to me that’s not racism. Yours is racism….My reaction is the reaction of a human being reacting to defend and protect himself.” He then confronts the public with the reality that, “They want you to be nonviolent here, but they want you to be very violent in South Vietnam.” Malcolm’s speeches played a vital role in the Civil Rights Movement for it effectively brought attention to the mistreatment of African Americans, encouraging them to stand up for freedom and human rights. He revealed and demonstrated that African Americans were just as worthy and equal, even superior to the Anglo-Saxons. This influence inspired African Americans to be more courageous and fight back, assisting them in achieving civil