OPINION
May 6,1992
Feelings of disgust from verdict
Flashbacks of the Civil Rights Movement
Government
should
stop
neglecting inner-city residents
by Melissa Freels
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Flashbacks of the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s have sur
faced all across America as Los
Angeles recently turned into a war
zone.
Following the verdict in the
Rodney King trial on April 29 (the
four officers on trial for beating
King were acquitted), violent riots
began in South Central L.A. The
riots, like those in the. 60s, ad
dressed equal rights-or so some
say.
Believing that the officers were
acquitted because they are white
and because King is black, South
Central L.A residents-mainly con
sisting of minorities—took to the
streets. They expressed their an
ger and resentment by looting L.A
stores, by killing people, by beat
ing people and by burning down
buildings.
By Monday, May 4, nearly 50
people had been killed, nearly 2,000
were injured and more than 3,000
were arrested. Damage to the city
was estimated at $200 million.
When asked why, many of the
rioters refer to the King trial, but
there is much more to it. The ver
dict in the trial was simply “the last
straw.” '
Residents of the inner-city are
rioting and protesting after years
and years of unhappiness. The
city of L.A is home to more than 3
million people, a number that is
growing all of the time. Conse
quently, the tension in the city
grows each time the population
grows. No one—not even the gov-
emment-has tried to fix the prob
lems that have surfaced in the
crowded city.
On Friday, President Bush
spoke to the nation about the situ
ation in L.A. The violence was
“not about civil rights,” he said.
“It’s not about the great cause of
equality that all Americans must
uphold. It’s not a message of pro
test. It’s been the brutality of a
mob, pure and simple.”
That mob, however, is a mob
created by American society and
government America’s apathetic
views toward residents of the in
ner-city have created the violence
inL.A.
In South Central L.A, resi
dents feel as though they have al
ready hit the bottom—they can ’ t go
any lower. So what’s the harm in
rioting? What do they have to lose?
The sad thing, however, is that
they have lost something. The ri
oters have killed their very own
Page 5
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT
neighborhoods and even some of
their own neighbors. Now, many of
them are forced to start over.
“What hurts the most is that
they are destroying our neighbor
hood . . . How can we make our
future if today is gone?” one woman
in L.A told a reporter for The Ore
gonian.
Now is the time for government
officials to do things right Instead
of neglecting the residents of the
inner-city, the government needs to
become actively involved in rebuild
ing the city.
Cleaning up the city and telling
the rioters to “go home” won’t solve
the problems. The roots of the prob-
lems grow very deep. Cleaning up
the surface will not help. It will take
a lot of effort to help South Central
L.A. The government needs to take
an active role in improving educa
tion for inner-city youth. The gov
ernment needs to improve the living
conditions of the inner-city. The
government needs to get involved.
Neglecting the residents and hoping
that they will keep to themselves
obviously has not worked.
Instead of investing in foreign
countries, and providing aid for other
countries, the American government
must invest in America and Amer
ica’s future.
by Edwin R. Murphy
StaffWriter
All across this nation people
of conscience are gathering and
marching to express their feel
ings of disgust, betrayal and out
rage. Did this stem from the
single incident of the Rodney
King verdict? I think not!
The wide span of this collec
tive civil disobedience is a state
ment to those in power, both
corporate and government, that
the greed, corruption and mis
guide national priorities must stop.
Officially, the propaganda
hammered into our social fabric
sates that our problems, in this .
country, starts with you and I.
This is a petty diversionary tactic
which hides the real problem,
that being the looting of Amer
ica.
To people who find this chaos
and violence a surprise, I can
only say,... Hello? If this is
news to you, it is only because
you have clenched your mental
input orifice shut The writing
has not only been on the wall in
neon, all your life, it has been in
this paper, in your classrooms, in
this city’s media and most bla
tantly of all, in your own mind,
however deep you have buried it.
“It is not only the right of'
the citizenry to civilly disobey
the laws which are not in the best
interest of the people, it is their
duty!” Thomas Jefferson in speak
ing of the U.S. Constitution, “It
is this power that this country has
been founded on and it will be this
power that will prevent abuses by
the duly elected of this new gov
ernment”
This country was established
on ideals of freedom and respect
that were developed during a time
of repression, misrepresentation and
unfair taxation.
What makes out current situ
ation so different?
These urgent messages of con -
cerned awareness by many com
munities all across America seem
to indicate a core identification
with this obvious case of injustice.
We are sick and tired, we are boil
ing silently or subconsciously, we
are simply unified on one level or
another, fed up with the bureau
cratic perpetuation of self-interest
sell-out.
The solution to this problem is
not violence.
The lessons of 1776 have not
been lost on the devious powers
who right now threaten our very
dignity as planetary citizens by the
endless terrorism of powerful in
difference to the needs of all life
forms.
Any war we start, they will
end,... except a war of knowledge
and awareness.
My advice, think, feel and
emancipate your mind.
“Those who would sacrifice a
little freedom, fra* a little security,
deserve neither,” Benjamin Fran
klin.
Looting, burning and destroying takes away from credibility
by David VanKeuren
Photo Editor
Rage, despair, destruction,
violence. Sounds like something
from a bad movie? I wish it was.
Instead I (and probably you also)
saw all this camage broadcast live
from Los Angeles via your local
news station. I’m sure that I’m not
the only person disgusted by what I
saw.
So what caused all this tur
moil? Well, the excuse is outrage
over the acquittal of four police
officers in L.A. who were accused
in unjustly and excessively beating
Rodney King. The rioters claimed
that they were victims of yet an
other racial injustice.
That’s pretty interesting con
sidering that in the last week rioters
have caused more damage and in
jury to themselves and their com
munities than an innocent verdict
for the officers ever could have.
It is really a shame. The poorer
communities in Los Angeles had
tried so hard to attract businesses to
their area not only to make life
more convenient, but to also create
jobs and stimulate the local econ
omy. Many businesses thought that
opening in that section of L.A. was
a losing proposition. Many of those
companies were pleasantly surprised
to find that they were actually doing
quite well, better in fact, than in
other parts of L. A..
Now those businesses are gone.
Destroyed. They were robbed and
looted and burned to the ground.
Businesses that supported the black
community. Businesses that had noth
ing to do with the Rodney King
case. These were businesses that
were the source of incomes for many
families in the area devastated by ri
oting. Whats left? These places of
work are not going to want to return
to areas that they were in. They
originally thought that it was too
risky, a losing proposition to estab
lish business in those neighborhoods.
Last week, they were proved to be
correct.
Tensions between whites,
blacks, Koreans, and Hispanics
have reached a new plateau be
cause of the rioting. Race rela
tions have been set back years due
to the random attacks on people
just because of their color. People
who had nothing to do with the
Rodney King case at all. Rioters
have taken a good reason to pro
test and twisted it to suit their own
greed and hatred.
The acquittal of the four po
lice officers accused of beating
Rodney King may have been a bad
move, but that is for the courts to
decide. Peaceful protests are a good
Compiled by Tracy Hobbs
way to let the government know
what public opinion is. To just loot
and bum and destroy every building
and person that you see is not. It
takes away from any credibility the
riots may have had when people
actually are getting in line to rob a
store or beat up a person. What does
it prove? Nothing. What does it ac
complish? Continued distrust be
tween races in an age where people
should realize that all of us are equal
and we should unite as brothers and
sisters, not as people of different
tribes and colors. The beating of
Rodney King affects all of us, and
we should all come together to settle
problems in a peaceful marner.
Photos by Vivian Johnson
Do you feel that the riots emerging from the Rodney King trial were justified?
Brooks Phillips
Danielle Davis
"I think that the riots are
justified because police officers need
to realize that there is a need for
human rights."
"Innocent people got killed be
cause they were in wrong place in
the wrong time.’
Shelia Isaacson
"No, I don't think the riots are
justified. They didn’t gain anything.
It was really worthless and sense
less."
— -
Ruth Rippey
"The manner they are
going about
to get their point
across is not solving anything.
Tam wrongs don’t make a right."
Debbie Fullard
"I think they have the right to ex
press their opinion, but I don't think
that violence is the answer."