Many black and Latino residents in Los Angeles faced significant discrimination by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during the 1950’s and 60’s. They received heavy criticism from members of the black community on the accounts of police brutality and unnecessary violence. Blacks did not feel safe in the vicinity of the police force, usually used to detain them, rather than protect them from violence. A quote from Malcolm X explains the situation well: "You’ve got some Gestapo tactics being practiced by the police department in this country against 20 million black people, second class citizens, day in and day out – not only down South but up North. Los Angeles isn’t down South. Los Angeles isn’t in Mississippi” This confirms that
Brent Staples’s essay is still relevant today because of the fear that lives inside people who don’t understand or accept others, which often leads to authorities abusing their power so that they can feel safe while others live their lives cautiously. This relates to how both African Americans and the police live their lives in fear and with caution. The police fear African Americans due to their own prejudice reasons which causes them to abuse their authority by acting more aggressive which helps themselves feel safer and stronger. This forces African Americans to live their lives with caution and patience because if they don’t, they put themselves at a higher risk of endangering themselves. Brent Staples wrote the article “Black Men in Public
Minorities in sitcoms were less portrayed in contrast to an accurate representation of the time period. Ironically, minorities in sitcoms were not always represented by minority actors and actresses. Sometimes makeup was used on a white actor so he could portray an African man. It was not until the 1950’s when African Americans were shown on television. African Americans were often portrayed as crooked people with poor English and less education.
For decades, racial tensions were hidden in the depths of the lower social classes as high government society discourages racial tension from being publicly displayed. The fear of admitting that the once bright America played a role in racial conflict, emitted a fear for politicians to emit caution when describing to the press what caused the Los Angeles Police Department failure to properly execute protocol top ensure the well-being of Los Angeles civilians. Many felt that not only did they fail to adhere to protocol, but that's the failure to react emitted from the evidentiary racial discrimination on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department towards the minorities present in the county. This belief was the particular incentive that motivated many African Americans and Korean Americans to publicly display their dissatisfaction with the final verdict on the Reginald King beating as it provided an excuse to retaliate against the lack of racial attention dedicated to the lower, social ethnicities of Los Angeles. The lack of action taken on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department stemmed from their desire to gain a greater amount of power to further dominate the racial tension present in Los
“During the war years, the LAPD routinely pulled over cars driven by Mexican-Americans to conduct ‘field interrogations.’ In 1942 they began making mass arrests, blockading streets in the barrios and detaining teenagers and young adults on vague charges, such as vagrancy or unlawful assembly.” (WOLCOTT). The police department in Los Angeles specifically targeted Mexican-Americans for years, blatantly showing their racism. Even the theme of unfair arrests had started a year before the actual riots.
Throughout the 1960s, a series of acts were passed in America to aid minorities in the areas of education, employment, public accommodation, and housing. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin in places of employment and public accommodation. Prior to this act, African Americans were banned or segregated in public areas such as restrooms, restaurants, theaters, and even schools. Segregation in schools had been a major problem since before Brown v. Board of Education in 1957 ruled that segregation was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. This remained an issue in universities around the country when they refused the attendance of African American students until the 1960s when
World War II was fought due to the persecution and execution of multiple minorities such as Jewish people. gypsies, the disabled, and homosexuals. However, the irony of this event is that while America was fighting for the rights of others overseas, there was an immense amount of discrimination happening right here in the United States. African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and other underrepresented minorities were all put at a large disadvantage in terms of economic and social opportunity. While the United States army needed more soldiers to fight in the war, African Americans who were fighting for their country in the military faced immense discrimination from Caucasian soldiers.
First of all, today, racial prejudice still exists, but it’s not what it was decades ago; Racism has since declined (Observer). Racism spikes concern to many Americans than it did decades ago (Agiesta, 2015). Researchers, John Dovidio and Samuel Gaertner, have researched today’s racism. From decades of surveying many White Americans, John Dovidio & Samuel Gaertner study found the following: When individuals associate themselves with interracial contact, their feelings about the African American community started to change (Observer). A good example of this notion is seen in young White Americans; the news article titled, Race and Reality in America: Five key findings mentions, mentions that “Younger whites are about as likely as older whites
Do people discriminate others to hurt them or they do not realize what their actions are doing? Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favorably than another person in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status. One of the biggest discrimination in this country is racial discrimination towards Latinos and people of color. Racial discrimination has become a part of everyday life in America. We have to stop this hatred in our country because this country is based on freedom, peace, and home of immigrants.
Throughout history, the legitimacy of police violence has long been associated with its effectiveness and credibility towards the public eye. While most may configure that crime must be dealt accordingly, the vast number of those affected have expressed otherwise. Known for its discrimination and excessive use of force, the LAPD has always developed a sense of backlash within its social barriers. African Americans, in particular, have often opposed its methods of convention through signifying their own lack of protection and safety. Moreover, the officer’s lack of judgment of when to react in certain scenarios often poses a risk to those who have not experienced such brutality.
According to “The Washington Post”, Last year 963 African Americans were shot and killed by police. Ever since the 1960s Africans has been fighting for equality; in the Eric Garner case and Michael Brown, it demonstrated how White police officers abuse and misuse their power towards African Americans. Since the increase of police brutality communities has had marches, rallies, and even the Black Lives Matters movements as a response to show that Polices’ abuse of power is unacceptable. The Black Lives Matter movement was created after radical discrimination it is a political movement to inform and protect Black Lives. (Wesley Lowery.
For more than four decades Los Angeles has seen an increase in crime, drugs, guns and gangs. It is one of the largest cities in the United States with its population made up of mostly Latinos and African Americans. In the 1980’s LA’s epidemic of crime was due to crack cocaine; therefore, LAPD was very heavy handed in regards to dealing with crime in the 80’s; however, in the 90’s police brutality became rampant due to the massive increase of gangs, guns, drugs and violence, which turned Los Angeles into the murder capital of America. The Rampart Scandal and the Rodney King riot was a very dark period for LAPD in 90’s; for this reason LAPD lost all confidence and trust with their community.
IT FOLLOWS THAT with education, this Court has made segregation and inequality equivalent concepts. They have equal rating, equal footing, and if segregation thus necessarily imports inequality, it makes no great difference whether we say that the Negro is wronged because he is segregated, or that he is wronged because he received unequal treatment... Chief legal council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Thurgood Marshall (1908-93) spoke these words on 8 December 1953. Mr. Marshall argued some of the most successful cases for segregation in America before he knew their impact. During the 1940s and 1950s civil rights movement many changes occurred.
Police Brutality in America and the 1990s The legal system in the United States has been broken since it’s inception, disproportionately attacking, and punishing anyone who is not white. As the country grew, improving, growing prosperous, the broken system continued its work. One result of this broken system is police brutality, and overstepping of police power. In fact, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, of the black people questioned, 70% said they felt they were unfairly treated when dealing with police.
Annotated Bibliography Books Dudley, William, et al., editors. Police Brutality. D.L. Bender, 1991. • Police Brutality gives information on how police brutality is a widespread issue in the United States and explains different controversies and cases that relate to police brutality. • The editors of this book include activists and nonfiction authors who provide reliable information on what happened during different incidences of police brutality and the viewpoints and controversies that come with it.
An occurrence observed by the population of Los Angeles, California conveys the existence of racism and police brutality. According to The Polls-Trends: Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward the Police, “…three quarters of blacks, but only 38 percent of whites, continued to view police brutality as a common occurrence” (Tuch and Weitzer