Police Brutality: Illegal Treatment of Rodney King

Police brutality has been one of the most sought-after topics in recent years. But there has seem to be this thing to linger around the term “police brutality”. When we see police brutality on the news we tend to see African Americans name attached to it as well. Typically, when African Americans are killed by police, we tend to think racism had something to do with it. When police become front page news, it triggers an intense interaction between the media, the public and the police. Police brutality has gained special prominence in recent years due to the numerous killings of young and old black people that have been inflicted by police officers. Police brutality has gone so far that it has inspired different movements like the now controversial movement 'Black Lives Matter'. Some of the main criticisms of police forces in America has been that they are disproportionately discriminating against people of color while they are typically more lenient with white people. Ongoing campaigns for social equality, such as ' Black Lives Matter, ' are an echo of similar movements in American history. Malcolm X, for instance, is a figure renowned for his pursuit of racial equality and justice for African American people. In contrast, more nonviolent movements such as Martin Luther King's have remained deeply entrenched in the consciousness of many modern social activists. What is most telling about these campaigns, though, is that police brutality and social discrimination against black people have been an increasing problem that has not gone away, even after several reforms and societal changes. 

The harsh reality is that many African Americans now face the very same risk of racism and treatment at the hands of police officers that their previous generations did decades ago. The inability of the U.S. government to eliminate this deep-seated issue demonstrates that there may be significant psychological obstacles in the minds of many people that impede the advancement of their respective communities. Race plays a major role when it comes to contact with law enforcement for the simple facts the unjust and unlawful treatment of Rodney King, the black lives matter movement, and the right place wrong time scenario.

Rodney King was one of the first cases of police brutality captured on video, increasing society's interest in the case against the police officers. Without a viral video, the horrible actions of the police may have gone unnoticed or, more certainly than not, forgotten by society. In this situation, an innocent man who had been brutally beaten was left seeking recourse for cruel measures taken towards himself. Society responded with disgust and triggered a wave of disturbances, now known as the Rodney King riots. It indicates that society recognizes that this man's beating was cruel and that we agree that the level of force used was unnecessary. In the wake of the trial, it is apparent that society does not agree with the actions of the police officers but does not have the correct means of expressing such opinions. By 1991, police forces began to take action and would soon be the target of many people in society, bringing the issue of excessive force out in the open so that it could ultimately be complied with.