In class on Tuesday we talked about civil unrest and the violent riots and events that occurred because of the frustration. One of the events on the list dealt with Rodney King. King was a black male who was viciously beaten by police...and it was all caught on camera. This act of violence and racism did not result in the severe punishment that should have been handed down to the police officers involved. Instead, the officers basically got away with it. The decision in the case led to the LA Riots. The LA Riots was mass mayhem in the streets of LA with buildings being burnt, stores robbed, people killed, and cars destroyed randomly. Right now in America we have a major case underway involving race. The case of Trayvon Martin has been all over the news for the past couple weeks. Martin was a 17-year-old African American who was shot and killed by 28-year-old Hispanic George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the community watch coordinator for his neighborhood at the time. Martin was unarmed. While the events of that fatal evening are still under investigation, the reaction of the country has been strong and there could be unrest if Zimmerman gets let off as easy as the LA police officers. Cases such as that of Casey Anthony get a lot of attention and reaction but it seems that any high publicity case involving race, especially when the murder was on an unarmed teenager, invoke strong unrest from the general public.
Another area of interest in 2012 that could cause unrest is the economy of the government's handling of the situation. Regardless of party affiliation, we can all agree that prices like those on gas are way too high. The Occupy Wall Street was a small glimpse at what people might do. However, according to Info Wars, the public may react much stronger this year. Glimpsing at the article posted by Info Wars will tell you just how close some analysts think we are to have major civil unrest. If things continue to go downhill and all countries around us struggle as well will we see a breaking point this year?
-Mark H.
its amazing the difference between what people today protest about and what people protested years ago, however some of the underlying problems may be one in the same
ReplyDelete-Kristyn Sawyer
I'v noticed that the Trayvon Martin case, and even the Casey Anthony trial, started a sort of civil unrest in social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. People are turning to different methods, rather than rioting and violence, to express their views to the world.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Hensberger
While researching riots in urban areas for my own blog, I uncovered some common reasons for civil unrest that may lead to rioting. Some reasons include discrepancies between ethnic groups, government, oppression, and poor living or working conditions. As you pointed out in your post, I definitely think an economic depression could generate conflicts within these reasons, creating riots. Hopefully the government can take enough preventative measures to deter any outbreaks that may occur.
ReplyDeleteIn non-aggressive riots it can be hard at times to fully assess its effectiveness towards the common goal the group had and its impact on the citizens; those contributing and otherwise. As you stated, there is also concern over the outcome of many riots. Sometimes, they tend to magnify an issue which was previously one to be tackled completely. This closely relates to a recent lecture, which talked about how these incidents may affect a cities image and future economic, societal, and cultural standings.
ReplyDeleteMatt Davis - Group 8
I think that this nation has started moving to entrenched stance on equality in the racial arena and would therefore not expect him to get off easier. I also think that the Zimmerman case will be a political platform for gun increasing restrictions as opposed to racial equality.
ReplyDeleteNeal Moriconi group 22
I just want to mention there was another one of the worst riots happened in India. I think some of the reasons of riots are racial and religions. The one happened in India as a result of demolition of the mosque, which caused 900 people were killed.
ReplyDeleteChuhan Yuan
Actually, I would argue that the Casey Anthony trial had received just as much attention as the Zimmerman/Martin case. Race is one of the usual reasons for riots because unlike many other crimes, a race issue is going to be something that a mass of people are going to relate to and be emotional about. The Casey Anthony trial, though, received just as much attention because an innocent toddler was brutally killed and disposed of due to a young mother's neglect. Many people had actually rallied together and tried to start a riot and it was reported that Anthony received a hug amount of threats that she could never return to her neighborhood. I believe any type of civil matter which is going to cause the general public to have an emotional attachment is going to cause wide-spread outrage and potential rioting.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Broderick
I do not think that riot is a possibility for the United States. We are overall too civil of a society and we have plenty of formal methods of communicating our problems with the federal and state governments.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Berkowitz
Riots in the US, while not very likely, are definitely still a possibility. I wouldn't expect something like the results of a trial to cause unrest like with the officers who beat Rodney King, but if the government continues to test the boundaries of the constitution, I can see things turning violent. This will probably happen when the "formal methods of communicating our problems with the federal and state governments" are no longer effective.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Barnes
I can see there being Rodney King-esque riots if George Zimmerman is found innocent. And now not only can riots and movements be caused by Twitter and other social media but we can actually follow them in real time as you can see here with the link below. This link is by an NBC affiliate and allows you to follow the events as they unfolded 20 years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/04/26/twitter-account-follows-l-a-riots-in-real-time.html
Ameen Mustafa
According to what we talked about in the class, the most important reason that start a riot is racism. Although people advocate peace, right, and equal, there are still race discrimination between different races. We should have actual actions not just speaking it, so we can solve the problem.
ReplyDelete--Shuwei Deng
Throughout history most violent riots have been due to race. This has changed up as of late, at least in my hometown. Lately it seems like most riots have been due to various legislation from our state and federal governments. Also, sports, as of late, have caused many riots in their respective cities
ReplyDelete-Connor Buzzeo
I think we will see a breaking point eventually, in case Americans get off their asses and start to care a bit more. There seems to still be a disconnect from what matters and what doesn't. I somehow can't find the importance of The Real Housewives or Jersey Shore. I think this next presidential election could be a breaking point for most Americans, unsure of what may come. - Marielle Barnes
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