Rodney King Article-- Part 1 of your upcoming project we will talk about

Rodney King's March 3, 1991, traffic stop and beating turned LA into a riot zone; then changed it

By Tony Castro, Staff Writer POSTED: 03/01/11, 9:00 PM PST |

Twenty years ago, what should have been a routine traffic stop on a San Fernando Valley freeway escalated into an altercation that forever changed policing - and race relations - in Los Angeles.

Unaware they were being filmed by an amateur cameraman, four white LAPD officers beat an African-American motorist named Rodney King. The 12-minute video was aired that night by a local TV station, giving Angelenos and the rest of the world a glimpse of shocking behavior from those sworn to protect and serve.

"That day put in motion the forces that changed and dramatically transformed Los Angeles, the LAPD and many of our institutions," says Bernard Kinsey, who helped lead Rebuild Los Angeles, the economic redevelopment agency formed after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. | See photo gallery.

"The city would never be the same."

Those riots erupted April 29, 1992, hours after the four officers charged with the use of excessive force were acquitted by a predominantly white jury in Simi Valley.

"Ultimately, the (minority) community felt that it needed to get justice and sadly, people took it into their own hands," says Danny Bakewell Sr., a former civil rights activist who now is publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel.

"We don't condone that, but we certainly do understand that. You can only suppress and oppress a people for so long."

In three days of violence that spread from South Los Angeles to other parts of the city, 53 people were killed and nearly 2,400 were hurt. Looting, vandalism and arson resulted in an estimated $1 billion in damage.

In the midst of it, King made a public appearance and broadcast his now-famous plea: "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?"

Chase turns ugly

The incident began after King - who later admitted to driving drunk - refused to stop when California Highway Patrol officers tried to pull him over for erratic driving. The LAPD joined in the high-speed chase, which ended at Osborne Street and Foothill Boulevard in Lake View Terrace.

With a police helicopter hovering overhead, officers kicked, tasered and beat King, leaving him with crushed bones, shattered teeth, kidney damage and a fractured skull. The attack was captured by George Holliday, who lived nearby and grabbed his new video camera when he was awakened by police sirens.

"From the (minority) community perspective, the video validated years and years and years of complaints that this was the treatment that they were receiving and no one took action or believed that these things were going on," said City Councilman Bernard Parks, a deputy chief of police at the time of the beating and later police chief.

Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton, said the videotape gave then-Mayor Tom Bradley the power he needed to reform the Police Department.

"The LAPD was a political entity unto itself," said Sonenshein, who has written three books on Los Angeles politics and government.

"Bradley sort of fought them to a draw up until the Rodney King beating, and it was the Rodney King beating ... (that) gave him the political clout to finally win that battle."

In July 1991, in the wake of the beating, Bradley formed the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, headed by attorney Warren Christopher, who would later become U.S. secretary of state.

The blue-ribbon panel issued a blistering report that detailed a pattern of racism and excessive force within the LAPD.

The outgrowth of the Christopher Commission was Proposition F, passed by voters in 1992, which put the chief of police and the LAPD under civilian control.

The beating and its aftermath - the LAPD was later found to be woefully unprepared for the riots - forced the retirement of longtime Chief Daryl Gates, whose controversial tenure was marked by allegations of racism and arrogance.

"Police chiefs now are considered civilian leaders of the city ... having to maintain the support of the mayor," Sonenshein said. "Two consecutive chiefs lost their jobs because they didn't have the support of the mayor. That would have been unheard of."

No one appears to be more aware of those changes than the current chief, Charlie Beck, a career law enforcement officer named to the position by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in late 2009.

"I don't think there's any other incident in modern times that certainly changed the Police Department and changed the city to the extent that the King incident did," Beck said.

"We're still responding to things that were put in place by the Christopher Commission, their recommendations, the Inspector General, the role of the Police Commission, even to the way I act as chief trying to be a nonpolitical chief. All that traces its way back to Rodney King."

The changes wrought by the King beating have been substantive, not only in the upper echelons of the LAPD but in the police culture seen on the streets, according to San Fernando Valley anti-gang advocate William "Blinky" Rodriguez.

"It's a completely different type of relationship that communities now have with the police," Rodriguez said. "I think law enforcement realizes that the community has to play its role.

"Sometimes it's just co-existing because there's an open dialogue, and you have to say that the leadership of the LAPD has played a tremendous role in making this happen."

'Memories still there'

Now 45, King says he still has nightmares about the beating, according to an interview with CNN set to air Friday night.

"I wake up like tossing and turning and sometimes even hearing the voices that went on that night," he says in the interview. "You know, 'Hands behind your back. Lay down. Get down! Get down! Get down' ...

"I have to wake up. It's a nightmare, all right. I have to look outside. It's all green, blue. That time has passed on, but the nightmares and memories is still there."

Two of the four officers who were acquitted in Simi Valley, Sgt. Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, were convicted of federal civil rights violations and served 30 months in prison.

The other two officers, Theodore Briseno and rookie Timothy Wind, were acquitted in the federal civil rights trial.

The city of Los Angeles paid King $3.8 million to settle a civil suit.

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Stems List 30 Link

Here is the link for your next test. It is on January 28th. The 29th is our trip to the Peace Center.

Article to finish homework...

Why US Still Needs a Civil Rights Movement

By Becky Oskin, Staff Writer   |   August 29, 2013 12:53pm ET

African-Americans carrying signs for equal rights, integrated schools, decent housing and an end to bias during the 1963 March on Washington. Credit: Library of Congress

"Because they marched, America became more free and fair," President Barack Obama said yesterday (Aug. 28) as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

But 50 years after the March for Jobs and Freedom, when Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his stirring "I Have a Dream" speech, gaps between blacks and whites persist. Many of the issues remain the same as they did in 1963: Poverty, unemployment, voting rights and racial disparities in education. New burdens include the criminalization and mass imprisonment of blacks, both adults and children. [7 Reasons America Still Needs Civil Rights Movements]

Progress has stalled on civil rights, Obama said yesterday. He encouraged the tens of thousands of marchers at the memorial to continue fighting for civil rights. "America, I know the road will be long, but I know we can get there," Obama said.

Noliwe Rooks, a Cornell University professor and expert in racial inequality in education, agrees that America still needs a civil rights movement. "These inequities literally cost the country billions of dollars each year, and yet we do nothing as the problem gets worse," Rooks told LiveScience. "We simply have not had any federal legislation to substantively address racial segregation since the [1968 Fair Housing Act] and there doesn't seem to be the will to do so today," she said. (The act was meant to help end racial discrimination by homeowners and landlords.)

Talking about race

But Rooks thinks the current political and social climate makes it difficult to discuss race. "I absolutely think that we need a civil rights movement today, but I often joke that we could never have one focused on race and racial inequity, because everyone involved would be called a racist, or be accused of playing the race card," she said. "I think that is part of the reason we don't really seem to have noticed that in many places racial segregation has returned in full force and with it two distinctly different paths for many Americans based on race," Rooks said.

Surveys and polls show dwindling support among whites for civil rights. For example, a Pew Research Center poll found 70 percent of blacks think they are treated less fairly than whites in dealings with the police. Only 37 percent of whites said the same.

"There was broader popular support among whites in the 1960s for [changing] these kinds of inequalities," said Clarence Lusane, an expert in politics and race relations at American University in Washington, D.C. "That doesn't exist today." [Understanding the 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors]

Poverty and jobs

Today, though the black middle class has grown to about 10 percent of all black households, the unemployment rate remains twice that of whites (12.6 percent vs. 6.6 percent in 2012). Only 12 percent of white children live in areas of concentrated poverty, compared with 45 percent of black children, according to a 2012 report from the Economic Policy Institute.

The 1963 March on Washington was organized by A. Philip Randolph, who founded the first black labor union. Economic equality and jobs were as important to the marchers as freedom. "Yes, we want all public accommodations open to all citizens, but those accommodations will mean little to those who cannot afford to use them," Randolph said in his 1963 speech.

The poor are missing from modern discussions about civil rights, Lusane told LiveScience. "The language that comes from most policymakers is about saving the middle class, which is true, but there are also millions of middle class who are about to be much poorer," he said. The population of poor Americans in the suburbs, those living below the federal poverty line, grew by 64 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to the Brookings Institution.

But unlike the 1960s, there is no big push to fix the effects of poverty in America, Lusane said. "I would argue that we haven't seen that in decades."

Education

Schools are more segregated now than they were 30 years ago. Thirty percent of black students attend schools where classrooms are 90 to 100 percent black or Latino, according to a 2012 study by the Civil Rights Project. White children go to schools where only 32 percent of students lives in poverty, but black students attend schools where more than half of students are poor (59 percent.)

But even when schools are racially mixed, students of color still faceracial stereotypes, as they are shunted into special education more frequently than whites, and get less access to gifted programs and advanced placement classes. Government policies have also shifted the burden of paying for college onto students, creating a student debt crisis that limits access to higher education.

"What we have is an apartheid schooling system where your skin color and your ZIP code really decide where you have an opportunity to learn and follow your dreams," said Travis Gosa, a Cornell University professor whose research focuses on African-American youth and education.

Prison

Thanks to the War on Drugs, there are more blacks in the correctional system today — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than in slavery in 1850, according to research by Michelle Alexander, a professor at Ohio State University. Blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report. Enforcing marijuana laws costs about $3.6 billion a year, the report said.

But even without arrests for drugs, blacks are put in prison at rates six times higher than whites, the NAACP finds. Controversial stop-and-frisk practices target people with black or brown skin color. In New York City, where a federal judge recently found the policy violates minorities' civil rights, only 10 percent of encounters result in arrests or tickets. "The humiliation an individual has to live with from day to day, it almost causes you to sour on the system," said Robert Harris, a Cornell University expert in African-American history.

Voting rights

Criminal records deny voting rights and lead to job, education and housing discrimination. Across the country, 13 percent of black men have lost the right to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The disenfranchisement, combined with new efforts by states to curtailvoting rights, remind Harris of the post-Reconstruction period immediately following the Civil War.

"We live in an era where the old Jim Crow segregation has become Mr. James Crow, Esq.," Harris told LiveScience. "It used be raw, blatant, 'You're not allowed here,' and 'You can't vote,'" he said. "Now they say everyone is able to vote, but then there are laws passed reminiscent of the old understanding clauses during the post-Reconstruction era, which were used to disenfranchise African-Americans," he said. The understanding clauses were "literacy" tests used to exclude black voters. [Busted: 6 Civil War Myths]

The golden anniversary of the March on Washington is a reminder, Harris said: "African-Americans have to be more conscious of defending our rights. We can't let our guard down."

Email Becky Oskin or follow her @beckyoskin. Follow us @livescience,Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

Questions for HW

Step Two: Lyrics and facts

1. Background research of the event or issue. Fill up the lines below with an explanation of the problem (racism) presented in the music video and from sources you look up that explain how racism was discussed and portrayed in this song. You must include textual evidence—meaning you must cite the information from the sources you found that explains the problem showcased.  What was going on in the world that would have warranted Michael Jackson to write and perform this song?

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2. Look up the lyrics to the song. Look for 5 connections between the words and the truth of the event. For example, if the song refers to a person’s name or date, explain what they are talking about. (hint, for this portion of the activity you might want to play the video over again and look for allusions—references to famous people, places, or well-known landmarks and events). Explain how they are relevant to the human rights topic at hand.

   Lyric 1: _________________________________________________________________________________

   Connection to the world/event: _______________________________________________________________

   Lyric 2: _________________________________________________________________________________

                

   Connection to the world/event: _______________________________________________________________

               

   Lyric 3: _________________________________________________________________________________

   Connection to the world/event: _______________________________________________________________

               

   Lyric 4: _________________________________________________________________________________

   Connection to the world/event: _______________________________________________________________

               

   Lyric 5: _________________________________________________________________________________

   Connection to the world/event: _______________________________________________________________

               

      

Step Three: Human Rights Issue and Violations: Why Should WE Care?

Answer the questions below in complete sentences.

1. Why should racism be considered a Human Rights violation or issue? Make an argument! What is the artist trying to show us? ________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How far have we come? What changes have been made since the song was written? Is this human rights issue still an issue in today’s world? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What is being done? Find one national or international organization that helps raise money or awareness about your topic. Provide below the name of the organization, explanation of what they do, and how we can support them. (provide their web address or address below as well). _______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step Four: Presentation of Information

You are going to create a visual representation of the issue. You must do this on another piece of paper. You must include the following:

-      Name of the song and artist

-      Human Rights Issue (racism, violence, equality, etc.)

-      Slogan: One line or phrase that best shows what it’s about

-      Visual of the topic. You must create this as a drawing.

Prove that music can be a statement for citizens to take human rights issues seriously and that music can make a difference in our world.