Pros And Cons Of The Civil Rights Movement

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Who has ever been stopped by the police? Where they were instilled with that gut-wrenching feeling of not knowing what will happen next? Ever since the civilization of man, defiance against authority and instances of persecution from those who instill order have been in discord, with both factions gathering more victims as time goes on. However modern instances of such fatalities are often met with escalating public outcry, and is subsequently apart of the perpetual cycle of distrust between the two parties. Nonetheless, some of the main contributing elements that lead to such tensions is that of the embers of the civil rights movement, of which is further fueled by an intimidating array of weapons and equipment that are a product of the modern …show more content…

Instances such as the Freedom Summer, and the Freedom Riders protests were met with deadly consequences as local police alongside with the likes of the Ku Klux Klan carried out false arrests, fatal beatings, instances of arson, and even murder. Naturally as a response to such atrocities, activists sought out differing methods of resolution; many followed the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., whilst others preferred more violent and radical measures such as that of the Black Panthers organization, of which alongside that of police resistance delayed the advent of the Civil Rights Act as the two parties and other similar counterparts would conflict with the idea of harmony or equality and instead would perpetuate the cycle of civil unrest between law enforcement and that of the general public for generations to come. Since that of the Civil Rights Movement, society as a whole changed. Diversity upon the United States flourished as citizens from various nationalities were now prohibited from being discriminated upon solely on the color of their skin. However like that of society, so did law enforcement change, and with the arms industry following suite, thusly setting …show more content…

The latter of which advocated for an increase of both police officer protection and offensive capabilities; during the shootout local L.A.P.D. officers and their firearms which consisted mostly of handguns and shotguns were proven inadequate against the two lone gunmen whom were outfitted with body armor and wielded illegal fully automatic rifles, as a result the on-site officers had to use larger caliber firearms from a neighboring gun store in an attempt to subdue the suspects, however it was until the arrival of the L.A.P.D. S.W.A.T. team that resulted in the death and end of the two gunmen. Because of incidents such as this, police departments issue body armor to officers as apart of their uniform along with patrol rifles housed in police cars in order to match any threat should they arise - in essence the purpose of issuing rifles to officers is to match if not outperform criminals in life or death situations, as a result of which then creates the conflict of police militarization i.e. the issue of police modeling themselves after military tenets along with using militaristic equipment. However most of the stigma surrounding that of police militarization mostly stems from the issue of gun control, especially with the likes of the recent mass shootings. Because of these shootings the general public often associate firearms namely