History of Race Riots in the U.S.
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Tracing the history of race riots in the U.S. during the 20th century reveals many similarities between the sources of the problems, but also many differences in the riot patterns and the variety of races involved. Most of the early riots in the fifties sprang from the Civil Rights Movement headed by prominent figures such as Martin Luther King and inspired by the common heroic acts of Rosa Parks. The African-Americans communities protested against segregation and the economic oppression of the African-American people who were discriminated by the white people when they attempted to acquire jobs and decent housing. Even though the Civil Rights Movement advocated non-violent means of protest, these protests often aroused the wrath of racist whites who inflicted violence on the African-American protesters, thus sparking the chaotic situation of riots. Furthermore, during the sixties, riots were also started by African-Americans, as in the case of the Watts district of Los Angeles in 1965, followed by Newark and Detroit in 1967. These riots were ignited because of the prejudiced treatment of African-Americans by police. Similarly, the 1992 riot in Los Angeles was also triggered by the brutal beating of Rodney King by the police. This riot not only tapped into the anger of the African-American communities over police brutality, but also the continued socio-economic deprivations of many African-American families. However, in this instance, the riot pattern differed significantly f
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towards the African-Americans and whites (Rackham 1). Tragically, the riots are the only way they have to capture the attention of the world community in expressing their frustrations over the uncontrolled police brutality occurring within their communities (Bugliosi 72).
In the case of the Miami riot that occurred in 1980, other factors contributed to the riot. In a scenario that was similar to the cause of the Los Angeles riot, the acquittal of four Dade County policemen charged with the fatal beating of an African-American motorcyclist resulted in 3 days of riots in Miami. In the end, there were 15 dead and almost $200 million lost in property damage (Bugliosi 68). Although the purported cause of the riot was the death of the African-American motorcyclist, many African-Americans were also protesting against the economic competition they had to face since the arrival of Cuban and Haitian refugees in the early 1960s and 1970s. The African- American workers were losing out to the refugees who were willing to work for less money. With intense competition for limited jobs, tensions had grown between the African-American communities and the new ethnic communities (Cain 114). The emergence of the melting pot societies in the major
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Approximate Word count = 2758
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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