Remembering the King Riots 20 years later

[psijac]

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/20 ... s-20120420" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Their patient hovered near death, his skull fractured in 91 places and pushed into his brain. His left eye was so badly dislocated that it was in danger of falling into his sinus cavity. The cheek was shattered — "like you'd dropped an egg on the floor and the shell had broken," Richardson said.

If Denny were to succumb, Richardson suspected that it would be he — the lone African-American on the surgical team — who would get "scrutinized severely." Indeed, it was he who was selected to be the team's public face during nightly press briefings on Denny's condition.

"There was no way in hell he was going to die on my watch," Richardson recalled.

[Kadelic]

And this is posited in a CHL Forum in Texas because...

[The Annoyed Man]

And this is posited in a CHL Forum in Texas because...

....because we may well face these things in the next few months or 12 when Zimmerman's trial shakes out. If he doesn't get the guilty verdict that some of our more threatening "citizens" have demanded, then there will be rioting. Texas, which has a significantly large African-American population, may well be affected by rioting if it spreads.....which it certainly may......and this may very well affect those of our members who are African-American even more severely than it might affect those of us who are of other races, particularly if they live in predominantly black neighborhoods. In Los Angeles, more black-owned homes and businesses were destroyed than white or hispanic or asian-owned businesses.......the famous footage of the north korean shop owner with an AR15 notwithstanding.

If/when that happens, CHL issues will certainly come to the forefront simply from a self-defense perspective, but it may also come to the front as a political attack on "stand your ground" laws—both at the Texas state and the national level—which some liberals have threatened. For those who practice preparedness in other areas of their lives besides CHL, it will affect the urgency with which they make those preparations. I lived in the Los Angeles area during the Rodney King riots. In fact, I lived in the same town as Rodney King—Altadena—during the time of the rioting. Trust me.....this is NOT something you want to ignore.

This stuff is VERY relevant to a CHL forum, particularly as it relates to the political issue of SYG, which is a gun-related political issue. This thread belongs here, IMHO.

[fickman]

The breakdown of civil order resulting in mob rule, chaos, and anarchy should concern all of us. It's happened several times in the last few decades, notably during the Rodney King riots, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and every single day in Chicago.

[EconDoc]

The breakdown of civil order resulting in mob rule, chaos, and anarchy should concern all of us. It's happened several times in the last few decades, notably during the Rodney King riots, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and every single day in Chicago.

I am old enough to remember the Civil Rights riots of the 1960's. Newark, Chicago (never stopped there for all practical purposes), LA, New York, Cleveland, and more cities than I can remember. One or two summers, there were riots simultaneously in many different cities. If it breaks out where I live, I might go on a little vacation to Possum Hollar.

[speedsix]

...knowing our history might help us not to repeat it...or it might just keep us from being caught with our head in the sand, and the opposing portion of the anatomy greatly exposed...

[gdanaher]

Pay attention to TAM.

[philip964]

I remember both the riots. The one in the '60's was personal, it was 10 miles from where I lived. I could see the smoke from my school windows. We were sent home early. Everyone was afraid, everyone hunkered down, not knowing what would happen.

The second riot occurred a few days after I left Los Angeles. I had been on a trip and I felt lucky to have missed it.

I will pay attention this time. It won't be like the OJ Simpson verdict. There was a party atmosphere at lunch, when the verdict was announced.

This will be much more serious.

So I can be home, I may decide to take the day off.

Nothing may happen. No one knows. But I will be prepared just in case.

[matriculated]

Pay attention to TAM.

Yea, that guy seems to know what he's talking about. Just don't annoy him. I hear he's easily annoyed.

[psijac]

Pay attention to TAM.

Yea, that guy seems to know what he's talking about. Just don't annoy him. I hear he's easily annoyed.

LOL

[gdanaher]

I lived in LA in 1965. I was finishing high school. My family had moved from Compton earlier but I had a goofy aunt who lived in a 1910 era quadraplex that you see in old movies. She ran out of food and called us to come and get her. That was some big time fun, and first actual combat that I saw outside of a movie theatre. A little bit like Keystone Kops though.

[speedsix]

...I did, too...S'port...the Commissioner of Public Safety met several busloads of folks led by Martin Luther King just outside of town on a "back" road...there was a short, pointed discussion, accented with a Stevens 311 double barrel...and there were no riots in S'port...money given those who lived in shotgun rent houses owned by grocery store moguls was spent partying...the rabble-rousers went back up north, and all was well...

[The Annoyed Man]

I lived in LA in 1965. I was finishing high school. My family had moved from Compton earlier but I had a goofy aunt who lived in a 1910 era quadraplex that you see in old movies. She ran out of food and called us to come and get her. That was some big time fun, and first actual combat that I saw outside of a movie theatre. A little bit like Keystone Kops though.

I was down at Dana Point in Orange County during August of 1965. We'd been surfing all summer long. So what was happening in Watts was of course all over TV, and we were aware of what was going on, but we were separated from it by some distance and so I don't remember feeling particularly threatened by it, although I remember my parents being pretty concerned.