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| www.abc.com |
A little reminder before I continue. This post is in relation to what is happening to the United States concerning police brutality and I'm giving you a warning. If you come in here with "all lives matter," "blue lives matter" black crime statistics and what about black on black crime posts, they will be deleted. I understand that you have freedom of speech and you can post whatever you want, I also have the freedom to delete your posts because I'm not in the mood to argue with those who are willfully ignorant. Also, if you come here to troll and post racist shit, your post will be deleted and you will be blocked! Thank you for understanding.
While living in Trinidad in the 80s and 90s, my family and I would often looked at CNN for international news and all things American. In those days if you're well off you can get cable or buy those huge satellite dishes to watch international t.v stations and CNN is a must. So imagine my surprise and dismay seeing a black man, Rodney King being brutally beaten by four LAPD cops who were eventually acquitted. Well that set off a shit storm in Los Angeles, from April 29th to May 3rd where protests and riots lasted for 6 days, including looting, arson and murder, costing the city $1 billion in property damages (Wikipedia).
Before this even took place, there were already racial tensions in the city particularly between African-Americans and Koreans who set up shop in these neighborhoods, creating a tense atmosphere between these two groups. African-Americans often complained about the horrible treatment from the Koreans and Korean shop-keepers were victims of armed robbery from African-Americans. Things got worst when a young black girl, Latasha Harlins was killed by a Korean shopkeeper Soon Ja Du on March 16, 1991. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The jury recommended the maximum sentence of 16 years but apparently the judge Joyce Carlin disregarded the sentencing and instead gave Du 400 hours of community service and $500 fine (Wikipedia). If this wasn't a miscarriage of justice, I don't know what to tell you. And then this heffa Carlin had the nerve to say, "This is not the time for revenge." Apparently the rioters didn't get the memo and burned down her store anyway and it never reopened. I always wondered why Asians opened their stores in black communities and treat them like shit in the process. Honestly, I tried to stay away from Chinese restaurants and especially the beauty supply stores owned by Koreans, mainly because of the mistreatment.
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| www.cnn.com |
Like a pressure cooker, racial tensions were about to bubble over concerning police brutality. On March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving on the Foothill Freeway when he was pursued by the California Highway Patrol and the LAPD. King's passengers were in the patrol car and he was surrounded by five white officers; Koon, Powell, Wind, Briseno and Solano. Let's just say they beaten him almost to a pulp and unknowingly, they were being filmed by George Holliday from his apartment. That video went worldwide to say the least and naturally, black people were outraged. The LA District Attorney charged the officers with assault and excessive use of force. However, it was the verdict that set off the firestorm in Los Angeles. The officers were acquitted and the riots began after. The riots lasted 6 days. Stores were burnt and looted and 68 people were killed in the riots. Even the Korean stores were not spared in the onslaught. It was so bad even Rodney King had to break his silence and said, "Can we all get along?"
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| LA Times |
Which brings me to the latest police brutality cases concerning victims Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor and now George Floyd. After seeing the murder of Floyd by a police officer, protests and riots began in Minneapolis and the rest of the country including NYC and LA. Citizens had enough and began destroying police buildings and vehicles. The police who really don't know how to de-escalate any situation, made things even worse! And world got the see the true brutal fashion of the police first hand. Why are they like this? Why can't they act like civilized human beings towards civilians? Some scholars believed that police at "war" and civilians are the "enemy" especially where the war on drugs is concerned. That would explain why some police departments have military-styled equipment, uniforms and vehicles. These jokers haven't seen real war yet. Maybe all of them should deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq and they'll get a real taste of war and maybe then they'll humble themselves.
Let's not forget the racist attitude these cops have towards so-called minorities especially black people. They treat white criminals with kiddie gloves but gave all that smoke to black people. This racist mentality was detrimental to the black community which often resulted in death. The sad thing is these cops are hardly held accountable for all the atrocities and they continued to live their best lives. Hell, some of them were even promoted in the force. I wondered how these police officers sleep at night doing these things. And the police supporters, now that you see police brutality live and direct, are you still going to support them? Will police brutality ever end? Honestly, I don't know. The police department and the United States at large failed to acknowledge their violent tendencies, at home and worldwide. I really don't think police brutality will end because they relish in violence. It's a high for them. I highly doubt there will be trust of the police, maybe the blue lives crew but for the rest of society, nada. The late Rodney King pleaded that we should all get along but honestly I don't know at this point and I'm tired.
