Analyze The Effects Of The Los Angeles Riots Of 1992

The Los Angeles riots in 1992 were fueled by more than just a single incident, but by a series of actions and abuse over the course of several years that forced a community to make their anger and resentment known. The ruthless beating of Rodney King along with the acquittal of the four police involved may have been the boiling point that tipped the scales. What many are not aware of is that the community of South Central Los Angeles endured years of economic oppression creating tension and frustration. Along with years of police brutality and abuse of power that finally came to a head produced what is known today as the Los Angeles Riots. The riots finally showed the nation just how fed up people were with the social injustices they endured

Even today over 20 years later police brutality and rioting are still major concerns for our society. The Los Angeles riots were so significant because they showed enough is enough In early March of 1991 a black man by the name of Rodney King was driving in Los Angeles under the influence of alcohol to the store when a Los Angeles police officer attempted to pull him over for speeding. Mr. King was on parole for robbery and knew he would lose his freedom if pulled over or had any interaction with the police at that moment. Mr. King proceeded to lead the police on a high speed chase, which ended in him being relentlessly and excessively beaten by four LAPD officers while several others stood around and watched. The beating was caught on tape by a man who lived nearby who sent the footage to the local news station only after first

While the entire economy was struggling, black men were experiencing a disproportionally high unemployment rate of almost 25%. The loss of union jobs and the deindustrialization of the city created a hostile environment for the black man and families leaving them in dire straits, this forced a downward spiral of a community. During this time the Mayor of Los Angeles along with the police force had been executing Operation Hammer which began in late 1980. Operation Hammer was introduced to rid Los Angeles of violent street gangs; however it was used more as a tool of oppression to target black and Latino men and allowed for the militarization of the police department. It was also a show of force that selling drugs and gang involvement wouldn’t be tolerated. Entire neighborhoods were raided, people were beat and yet few charges were pressed or very few arrests would be made. This was an example of the racial profiling and police brutality going on in South Central Los Angeles. There were hundreds of undocumented cases of police brutality in the black community during this time frame and it seemed to fall on deaf ears. The Rodney King incident was so special because it was the first caught on tape proving what people had been saying for