History of Riots of Los Angeles

History of Riots of Los Angeles For years, Los Angeles, California has been the home of social mayhem. From gang rivalry and racial injustice to job discrimination and police brutality, L.A. has earned one of the most menacing reputations on the West Coast. As a result of racial injustices, poor education, and high unemployment rates, riots are not strangers of L.A. Two of the most well known riots of L.A. are the Watts Riot and the Rodney King Uprising. Both riots were immediate reactions to police brutality. Now, when I hear the word riot, I think of a duration of about two days, three at the most. These two riots, however, lasted five and six days, respectively. Lets take a trip back in time. First, to 1965, which was the year of the Watts Riot. Then, well travel forward in time to 1992, the year of the Rodney King Uprising. The following events are recounted from a nurse, Ms. Robbie Wroten, who provided medical care to residents during these events. It was around 7:15 pm on August 11, and Ms. Wroten was preparing dinner for her three children. On the stove was a pot of green beans, a pot of mashed potatoes, and a frying pan with hot grease, ready to fry chicken. Theres a frantic knock at the door. It was Eli, one of Ms. Wrotens neighbors, coming to tell her that Mark, Marquette Frye, had been arrested. And it wasnt just Mark. It was also Marks brother, Ron, and their mother. The isles that warmed the mashed potatoes and the green beans now provided no heat. The grease that was prepared for the chicken was quickly poured back into its container. In a house coat and worn out bedroom shoes, Ms. Wroten rushed down to the corner of the street, just in time to see a mother and her two sons put in police cars. Surrounding the many police cars were angry residents of Watts, who had no problem expressing their disapproval of the family arrests. Its only cuz they black, Ms. Wroten recalled hearing. They didnt do nothing wrong, another per son yelled. And then, it started. A young African-American male picked up the largest rock he could find and hauled it at one of the police cars driving away. As more and more onlookers began to throw objects, Ms. Wroten ran back to her home and locked her doors. Praying for an end to the actions outside, Ms. Wroten continued to cook her dinner. The next morning, Ms. Wroten woke up to advisories to stay indoors. She kept her children home from school. Later that day, Ms. Wroten had learned, from sources in the community, that what had happened the night before was only the beginning. News reports that night made residents of Watts aware that armed forces had been alerted and would be called into action immediately. Ms. Wroten called her younger sister to advise her to stay indoors. As she explained to her children what was going on, she prepared herself for what was about to happen. By the third day, August 13th, residents were rioting all over Watts. Stores were vandalized, buildings were burned, and citizens were injured. Ms. Wroten was called to provide medical attention to residents. As she immersed herself into the crowded chaos, she found it hard to move from one place to another without witnessing glass bottles with fire-burning paper inside thrown into store windows. She looked to the left of her, and she saw people stealing whatever they could get their hands on. To her right, policemen were struggling to sustain one of the looters caught trying to steal a radio from an appliance store. There were mostly privately owned businesses that were burned. The rioters sought out to aim at white business owners and those who they felt had personally discriminated against them. All around her, there was smoke from the burning buildings, soot from the fire extinguishers, and injured people lying on the ground. Equipped with a first aid kit from the hospital, Ms. Wroten began to help those that she could. She wrapped gauze around gushing wounds, applied sterile bandages to first degree burns, and applied antibiotics to surface cuts. Running back and forth between the hospital and the streets of Watts, she bought oxygen masks for those who were too weak to breathe and carried children to safe homes. Then, she went around from house to house, making sure that the women and children were doing fine. She recalled having to console one woman who thought that her son might have taken part in the rioting and the vandalism of one of the stores. Going to check on her own children, whom she had taken to her sisters house, Ms. Wroten witnessed residents fighting police, residents attacking white motorists, and residents who were preventing firefighters from putting out some of the fires. These, and similar, events continued throughout the day. At one point, Ms. Wroten recalls being unable to recognize herself when she looked in one of the few glass windows that had not been broken. Soot covered her entire body, from her hair to her shoes. She thought to herself, Its hard enough just trying to survive out here. How in the world could someone be concerned with stealing things from a store? As the night came, more and more armed forces appeared on the scene, attempting to control the rioters. Fire brigades were trying to put out fires, while guardsmen attempted to restore order in the streets. By the fourth day of the riots, officials were everywhere. The government had established a curfew to keep people from coming outside. Ms. Wroten recalls government officials standing in front of houses to ensure that no one disobeyed the rules of the curfew. It worked. By Sunday, August 15, the officials had finally gotten the riots under control. Fires, vandalism, and looting had all ceased. Millions of dollars worth of damage were left as a result. Five years after the Watts Riots, Ms. Wroten recalls that the neighborhood was still scarred from the events of 1965. Burned buildings that were once prosperous before the riots remained bleak. Lots remained empty, and hope of restoration subsided. Many people left Watts, either in search of better living conditions, or afraid of a reoccurrence. Ultimately it was identified that the arrest of the Frye family was not the solitary reason of the Watts Riots. Some underlying reasons were high unemployment, inferior living conditions, and poor schooling. Little efforts were made to change these attributes, and therefore, Watts still has many of these issues today. In 1992, Ms. Wroten witnessed another riot in South Central, L.A., the Rodney King Uprising. Rodney King, an African-American male, had been violently attacked by four white police officers shortly after he led police on a high speed chase. The beating had been caught on tape. Charged with assault and use of excessive force, a jury, which was predominantly white, acquitted the police officers. The riots began shortly after the verdict was passed. Ms. Wroten remembered being on her way to work when the riots began. She described the scene as a war zone. She noted that, contrary to reports and popular belief, African- Americans were not the only participants of the riots. She said that there were many Hispanics causing upheaval as an outcry of the discrimination they were subjected to. As is the case with the Watts Riots, there was not solitary reason for this uprising. The once all African-American community was threatened by the newly inhabitant Hispanic population. Residents were fu ll of anger and it was as if everyone felt discriminated against. Ms. Wroten also remembered the attack on Reginald Denny, which occurred about three hours after the riots began. In the words of Ms. Wroten, Reginald Denny was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was a truck driver who was making a delivery a few blocks away from where he was dragged out of his truck and attacked by a gang of residents. He was hit in the head with concrete and cinder block until he was unconscious. This attack happened as a result of the hatred toward the White population in Los Angeles. Though she did not witness the Fidel Lopez beating, she was told about it. Lopez was attacked minutes after Denny had been rescued. He was also pulled from his truck and attacked. He was robbed of a substantial amount of money. His head had been cracked open by a car stereo, and one of his ears was partially cut off. Then, the whole front side of his body was spray painted black, including his genitals. Ms. Wroten believes this attack was geared towards the Hispanic community. Similar to the Watts Riots, she witnessed looting, vandalism, and stores being set afire. She recalled the military coming into the community to restore order. They established curfews and prevented residents from travelling at will. For a while, no one could leave or enter South Central, Los Angeles, for fear that another riot would ensue. She comments that unlike the Watts Riots, the community rebounded quickly. Within about a day of military authority, the riots were over and the angered community began to return to a peaceful one. She and most of her family attended the peace rally that was held on that Saturday. She said she was very glad to see how many people were in attendance. She described it is a whole bunch of people. Though the riots were declared over by the sixth day, there were still a few random acts of violence and threatening incidents that occur a couple days after. For this reason, the National Guard remained present in South Central for another two weeks. Historically, Los Angeles, California has suffered from poor education, high unemployment, racial injustices, and police brutality. Even today, some of those conditions have not changed. Los Angeles is still attempting to recover from the tragedies that happened years ago. They say that history repeats itself, but this is one instance in which I really hope it doesnt. I hope that twenty years from now, when I assign my students this project, they will be able to report that Los Angeles has made a complete turnaround, and that the things of the past, stay in the past.

Feminism in M. Butterfly Essay -- David Henry Hwang

Feminism in M. Butterfly In the 1989 drama M. Butterfly, the masterwork of contemporary American playwright David Henry Hwang, the topic of sexual politics underlies all other themes, and creates a tension between the genders that pervades throughout the text; moreover, Hwang subverts traditional thematic aspects of sexual politics by questioning the most fundamental unit of sex by considering the very nature of gender and what defines a male or a female. These elements unite and develop a penetrating examination of feminism, and an inspection of the role of females in both Western and Eastern societies as they relate to males, and an exposà © of the inequalities of gender which are present, perhaps fundamental, in both cultures. The tug-of-war for control, both sexual and intellectual, between male and female characters, especially Rene Gallimard and Song Liling, is ubiquitous throughout the text, and culminates in the final scene where Rene commits seppuku, or Japanese ritual suicide. In M. Butterfly, Hwang views feminism from a variety of unusual lenses by looking at both genders, and serving to draw attention to the traits and qualities of both using dialogue, character study, and clever dramatic techniques. Any discussion of feminism in M. Butterfly must be chronological, and show the development of the characters over time; this allows the reader and audience to mark the character study of the selves over duration of the drama. In the opening act the reader is introduced to a very feminine Song Liling, the character who first assumes the function of the female. Hwang acquaints the reader with Song dancing, and in female garb, in the stage directions of the first act; yet the audience can guess as early as two page... ...ruitless and impossible way to establish a productive, working relationship between men and women. From the three gossipers to Gallimard and Marc, from Gallimard and Renee to Gallimard and Song, Hwang inspects feminism using a new and unusual viewpoint throughout the play, which he asserts in various ways. Hwang states that only as equals can male and female coexist in harmony; revealing underlying sexism in both the cultures of East and West, Hwang shows there is much room for improvement, and that education of gender would be a valuable thing. M. Butterfly is a strong and creative drama driven by strong and creative ideas, but none are as clear or as forceful as the inequalities between men (the errant need to control) and women (submitting to these controls) and their sources (male insecurities, fear of vulnerability), which he discloses, and ultimately, condemns.

Compare miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth Essay

?Compare the presentation of Lady Macbeth and Miss Havisham. Explore how Shakespeare and Dickens present them as disturbed women. Disturbed is a definition of someone who has emotional or mental problems; both Lady Macbeth and Miss Havisham are presented as disturbed characters in one way or another. These two leading women both have characteristics that were not stereotypical of woman at the time periods that the play and the novel were set in; making them immediately appear strange to the audience or reader of that time. Shakespeare and Dickens both present their leading women in very different ways; however some aspects of their characters show similarities. The play Macbeth was set in Elizabethan times, where there was a patriarchal society in which men were superior to women. Women were known by their husbands’ names and were seen more as their husbands’ property than their partners. Elizabethan women were treated badly and disobedience on their behalf was a crime against religion as the society of that time believed that women were made to serve men. However, it was also believed that women were incapable of having evil thoughts or committing devilish crimes. The character of Lady Macbeth goes entirely against the typical Elizabethan woman as she is portrayed as strong and controlling over her husband Macbeth, and is the one to persuade him to commit an act of regicide. This would be shocking to an Elizabethan audience as regicide was known as the worst possible thing you could do, as they believed that their monarchs were sent from God. Miss Havisham is also the opposite of what women in her society were like; she was a spinster. This meant she was seen as a failure as in Victorian times, a woman’s proper purpose was to suitably marry; it was what they were born for. In most of Charles Dickens’ novels, the spinsters and old maids who appear are usually mad, desiccated, boring or secluded. Miss Havisham in Great Expectations is an example, a woman who fell in love and was jilted on the day of her wedding. She lived for the rest of life in her wedding dress, with one shoe on, a wedding cake uneaten on the table, and the clock stopped at the time she found out that her husband-to-be had deserted her. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is first introduced in Act 1 Scene 5. She is reading a letter from her husband, immediately the audience see her as a determined and power-hungry character. In her soliloquy she reveals that Macbeth ‘shalt be what thou art promised’ her ambition for her husband to be king and indeed perhaps for herself to be queen is evident here. Shakespeare’s use of the imperative ‘shalt’ displays her controlling nature, showing her strength and masculinity which would appear unusual to the audience of that time. Although at first Lady M/acbeth would seem to be a rather queer character, the audience would not immediately class her as disturbed. Miss Havisham, however, is portrayed as a disturbed character right from when we first meet her in Chapter 8. Dickens first describes Miss Havisham through Pips eyes as he first sets foot in Satis House. The way the house and the room in which Miss Havisham sits is described, ‘no glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it’ immediately lets the reader know that she is extremely disturbed’ the whole house is stopped, including the clocks at the exact time she turned into a spinster. The idea of showing Miss Havisham first through Pip, allows the reader to see what is wrong, however, not fully understand why this is. Miss Havisham appears to be a much weaker character when she is first introduced as Pip describes her as ‘a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress’. Dickens use of death imagery gives the reader an impression that Miss Havisham’s life is already over and she is just waiting to die. This makes the reader feel somewhat sorry for her at first and wonder why she is living in such a way. Although it is soon evident that Miss Havisham is not as weak as she first appears when she speaks to Pip for the first time; ‘â€Å"Come nearer; let me look at you. Come close. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Dickens also uses imperatives in Miss Havisham’s speech ‘come’ showing that although regarded by all in that era as a failure she still has power to make others do whatever she wants. Both Lady Macbeth and Miss Havisham are both portrayed as evil characters throughout the play and the novel. Some people may argue that Miss Havisham is less evil as she does not murder anyone, however, she does ruin the lives of others, using Estella to break the hearts of men the way hers was once broken. Lady Macbeth does come across as more wicked than Miss Havisham most of the time however she might not be as evil and sinister as we are lead to believe. We realise this when she says ‘stop up the access and passage to remorse’. This shows the audience that maybe she does have some conscience because she knows she will feel guilty. However, another way to look at it is that she just wants to stop this from happening so that she can live happily as queen without guilt pulsing through her. This makes the reader think of her as a selfish woman who is used to getting exactly what she wants without any of the bad consequences that come along side it. The use of the modal verb ‘stop’ is strong and commanding and it doesn’t give the person she is talking to an option to say no. The idea of not being able to say no is repeated at the end of Act 1 Scene 5 where she tells Macbeth to ‘Leave all the rest to me’. Lady Macbeth is saying that no matter what anyone says no one will persuade her to change her mind about the murder of King Duncan. The language shows that she feels like she has the upper hand over Macbeth. Lady Macbeth uses her power to manipulate Macbeth into committing an act of regicide. Miss Havisham also manipulates people into doing things that they do not wish to do. She brings Estella up to get revenge on mankind and at the same time makes it impossible for Estella to love. Miss Havisham uses Pip for Estella to practice on and is delighted when Pip falls in love with her. ‘Well you can break his heart’ she tells Estella when she does not want to play cards with a ‘common labouring boy’. Miss Havisham says this in such a calm way that it seems to the reader that breaking someone’s heart is not a big deal to her, which it isn’t since she just wants revenge on all men. Although both of these women are ‘horribly cruel’ towards the end of the play and the novel they do realise what they have done wrong and feel guilty about it. Although the way they react to the guilt differs hugely. Miss Havisham becomes more normal with guilt and tries to put her wrongs right. ‘†Oh† she cried despairingly. â€Å"What have I done? What have I done? †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ she becomes a weak, pitiable creature who begs Pip for forgiveness ‘on her knees and is desperate to do something ‘useful and good’ Her regret makes the reader feel sorry for her rather than blame her. Lady Macbeth becomes more and more disturbed with guilt, up until a point where she cannot take it anymore and commits suicide. Her grief must have been extremely bad for her to do this since she would know that she would be going to hell.

growth into a republic essays

growth into a republic essays How and under what social and economic conditions did the colonists of the new world evolve into a uniquely American Nation by the eve of the American Revolution? I feel that it is the very conflicts that plagued and on multiple occasions threatened to kill the Colonists dreams of a new free nation that enabled them to develop this uniquely American Nation and in effect win their freedom. The great trials that this new society faced molded the colonists into a group of people that above all other desires had a passion for freedom. From its earliest beginnings exploration of the Americas proved to be a dangerous and daunting task. The complete and utter failure of the settlement on Roanoke Island showed that trying to settle in the Americas would certainly be no walk in the park. It took a group of people who were completely consumed with their conquest of freedom to produce the first permanent colony in the Americas, Jamestown. The Pilgrims who settled Jamestown were essentially a desperate crowd who felt that they had no choice but to pursue a new life on a new continent. The political and religious climate in England prior to 1600 left this group of reformists in the cold so to speak in relation to their religious freedom at home. Despite Henry the Eighths defiance of the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500s the tide in England again began to shift back toward its roots in Catholicism nearing the end of the century. Along with Queen Marys accession to power came the reuniting of formal ties between the government and Catholicism which left the Pilgrims with no other choice in their minds but to find a new home. The first settlement at Jamestown was plagued with all sorts of trouble, among these poor housing and inadequate food. To make matters worse, the settlement was located in a marshy area where salt water mixed with the coloni...

Free Essays on Delegation Paper

Delegation Paper The managers in my organization delegate responsibilities as part of their job requirements to ensure that orders are being met and that the quality in those products continues to be within standards for the customer. My operations manager sends vital information on to shift supervisors about our customer order situation so they can plan ahead of time when and what action to take on the manufacturing floor. All of this leads to delegation of orders down the chain of command, for example if we have a short lead-time for a product for a more important customer or higher profiting product, they then relay to their shift leaders what to look ahead for in production. The shift supervisors make sure that we have the correct amount of personnel to cover the orders and that there is adequate tools to perform the task at hand. The shift leads then performs the wishes of the supervisors by relaying pertinent information to those employee who have the specific tasks to make the adjustments in their area, the leads also fill in at weak points in production to maintain a continuous flow in the production lines. Delegation is a skill of which we have to use at one point or another, but which few understand. It can be used either as an excuse for dumping failure onto the shoulders of subordinates, or as a dynamic tool for motivating and training our team to realize their full potential. One important step in becoming more productive is to not have everything done by one person. The shift supervisors cant be everywhere at once so he has the shift leads help in the delegation of work to be performed. Delegation allows them to achieve more through the proper selection, assignment, and coordination of tasks and resources. Delegation gives the supervisors and leads an opportunity to handle aspects of the job that no one else can do. These activities might include project planning and project team involvement, coaching and monitori... Free Essays on Delegation Paper Free Essays on Delegation Paper Delegation Paper The managers in my organization delegate responsibilities as part of their job requirements to ensure that orders are being met and that the quality in those products continues to be within standards for the customer. My operations manager sends vital information on to shift supervisors about our customer order situation so they can plan ahead of time when and what action to take on the manufacturing floor. All of this leads to delegation of orders down the chain of command, for example if we have a short lead-time for a product for a more important customer or higher profiting product, they then relay to their shift leaders what to look ahead for in production. The shift supervisors make sure that we have the correct amount of personnel to cover the orders and that there is adequate tools to perform the task at hand. The shift leads then performs the wishes of the supervisors by relaying pertinent information to those employee who have the specific tasks to make the adjustments in their area, the leads also fill in at weak points in production to maintain a continuous flow in the production lines. Delegation is a skill of which we have to use at one point or another, but which few understand. It can be used either as an excuse for dumping failure onto the shoulders of subordinates, or as a dynamic tool for motivating and training our team to realize their full potential. One important step in becoming more productive is to not have everything done by one person. The shift supervisors cant be everywhere at once so he has the shift leads help in the delegation of work to be performed. Delegation allows them to achieve more through the proper selection, assignment, and coordination of tasks and resources. Delegation gives the supervisors and leads an opportunity to handle aspects of the job that no one else can do. These activities might include project planning and project team involvement, coaching and monitori...

NoTopic Needed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NoTopic Needed - Essay Example The first factor is culture. Culture has been termed as a people’s way of life comprising of people’s beliefs, values and norms. Culture affects consumption habits, people’s lifestyles and even access to information. Obesity educators in order to solve this barrier have to understand a community culture before they can propose any strategy to deal with obesity. A cultural assessment must be done to elicit beliefs, values, norms and language in order to design effective obesity education programs (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). The second barrier is the content of the programs such that these provide too much detail on the pathophysiology and too little regarding the daily management of the illness. To solve this, educators must engage with the community in focus groups before initiating programs to address those areas of greatest concern (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). Third is learning styles such that different communities and people require different learning styles. Some cultures have a strong oral tradition and therefore patient education should be centered on metaphors, storytelling etc. to convey health messages (Tripp-Reimer, Skemp, Choi, & Enslein, 2001). Obesity can be prevented with through the use of effective strategies. The best approach or strategies that can be used in the prevention of obesity are the primary prevention strategies. These aim at addressing the root cause of the problem, reducing the likelihood of development of a disease or disorder. Disease prevention aims at reducing the likelihood that a disease will affect a community or individual, interrupting or slowing its progress or the reduction of disability (Dehghan, Akhtar-Danesh, & Merchant, 2005). The first of such strategies is the activity. Physical activity has been found to be one of the best strategies to prevent obesity. Running, jogging and walking, engaging in sporting activities all help in burning access calories

The Prophecy of the Witches and the Plot to murder a King Essay

The Prophecy of the Witches and the Plot to murder a King - Essay Example The groundlings, who have paid a penny each, a day's wage for some of them, to stand at the pit under the open portion of the Globe, are totally thrilled. The middle class who can afford to pay a penny more to sit in the galleries jostle with each other taking care not to crush their best clothes. Having paid a penny more than them to sit on a cushion in the gallery, at a separate door, I settle down to watch the play. The rich and the titled sit at the Lords' rooms and Ladies rooms in the covered galleries, having paid as much as half a crown each and enjoying the privilege of being spotted by their peers at the theatre. The groundlings are largely from the working class and you can see butchers and tanners, millers and iron workers, seamen and servants, glovers and shopkeepers, bakers and wig-makers- in short tradesmen of every description along with their families. So boisterous is their conduct that you anticipate their throaty shouting, smiling and winking in scenes that cater to their taste. The shoving and fighting amongst them even as the play is staged form another interesting sight from the higher level at which I sit, having paid twice as much as they have done. The hissing and mewing noise from the groundlings at totally unpredictable moments of the play add colour to the atmosphere.