PLATFORM : The Trial Will Tell
It is ridiculous to think that the showing of George Holliday’s graphic video of the Rodney King beating in “Malcolm X” will revive racial tensions to the point of riotous behavior. The showing of the video is not what caused the rebellion in the first place. If that were the case, the rebellion would have occurred soon after viewers first saw the video.
The immediate cause of last spring’s uprising was the verdict in Simi Valley, which I contend was the most gross miscarriage of justice in recent memory. However, the root causes of the rebellion were economic disparities and an unjust judicial system that disproportionately places more African-American males in prison than their white counterparts. Even though African-American males make up 6% of the American population, they constitute 50% of the U.S. prison population.
The use of Holliday’s video in “Malcolm X” is not the issue. The issue is whether the four white LAPD officers are acquitted again when they face federal charges. The outcomes of these trials have far more potential for racial unrest than the video.
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