The Watts Riots Essay -- American History Race Riots

Imagine being born in a place where people don't mix with one another and keep to their own kind. Imagine not being able to walk into a store because it is white owned. How would it feel if you were black, lived in a city that was run by a white government, where poverty, unemployment and lack of education were all problems of everyday life? If everyone were treated equally, then it would not be a problem. But for inner city African Americans that isn't the case. As humans, there is only so much we can take when it comes to segregation before we act out. There is only so much hate a person can take before letting it be known, once a person is pushed over that threshold there is no holding back. Overwhelming hate and anger with revenge takes hold and all thoughts of consequences rushes out of a person's body. The only thought remaining is violence, which is where rioting comes into play. All it takes are a few people to start protesting and yelling then the next thing you kn ow you have a group of people then a mob. People are like sheep. When a person sees another person doing it, then they are more inclined to join in. Someone then throws a rock, then a bottle, and then all of a sudden here comes an array of Molctov Cocktails and guns. You then have a mob of people with built up tension and anger, ready to crush and destroy whatever stands in their way of their demonstration. Central Los Angeles, California was blown away by one of those demonstrations. "It was the worst urban riot since the 1943 disturbance in Detroit" (Bradley 896). According to reports, the Los Angeles riot all started on the evening of August 11, 1965: Two white California Highway Patrol Officers pursued a weaving automobile for six bl... ...nt Bush sent one thousand lawmen and four thousand soldiers to Southern California to try and contain the problem. Astonishingly, the most heartfelt call for peace and calm came from Rodney King himself: "Can we all get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? Rioting is just not right. It's not going to change anything. We'll all get our justice (Duffy 23). Works Cited Daniel, Clifton. Chronicle of the Twentieth Century. Mount Kisco, N.Y: Chronicle, 1987. Dodson, Angela. "Twenty Five Years After Kerner." The Quill April 1993:pg.16-21. Duffy, Brain. "Days of Rage." U.S New and World Report May 11, 1992:pg.20-27. Magill, Frank. Great Events From History. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1975. "Watts Riots." Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. 1998ed. "Watts Riots." Encyclopedia of Multiculturism. 1994ed.