This image was captured during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that took place in response to four police being acquitted after brutally beating a man by the name of Rodney King. In the incident between the police and Rodney King, the police used extreme force including that of punching, kicking, and hitting King with a baton. This was all caught on amateur film by a nearby man who was testing out his video camera. Soon after capturing the event the video spread internationally, causing an intense uproar in Los Angeles. People took to the streets, as shown in this image, in protest of the injustice.
Signs saying "it's a white mans world", "burn baby burn!", and "no justice! no peace!" are shown along with a woman banging on a pot. These signs, along with many others, were created as a way for the people of Los Angeles to express their feelings and disappointment regarding the treatment of Rodney King (as well as many others that weren't fortunate enough to have been caught on film) and the unfair verdict of the trial. The riots that preceded the trial lead to many fires being started in the Los Angeles area as well as the large amount of violence that took place, showing the anger and hurt felt by the people. My question is why were the minorities in Los Angeles depicted as being so ruthlessly violent when the real brutality was done on the part of the police?
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