Rodney King: Song Analysis

Improved Essays
Some examples are people from the past like Rodney King who was born on April 2, 1965. Rodney King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while a nearby cameraman George Holliday caught it all on videotape. The police were acquitted by a predominantly white jury (Maurantonio, N. 2014). Then there’s people in the present like Walter Scott, a black man who was shot on April 4, 2015, in North Charleston, South Carolina for a non-functioning brake light. Walter Scott was shot by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer. Slager was charged with murder after a video surfaced contradicting his police report. The video showed him shooting …show more content…
When a white person’s bond is less than a black person’s bond for the same crime something is seriously wrong. There is a huge increase in racism, intolerance, and hate. I agree with Bruce Springsteen and his song. I am glad someone finally is speaking up about what is going on and is not afraid to stand up for what is right. We need more people in the world like that and maybe one or two voices won’t make a difference but maybe a few million will. The song 's lyrics directly reference the Diallo case in which four New York City police officers shot an unarmed man: "Is it a gun, is it a knife/Is it a wallet, this is your life/It ain 't no secret/It ain 't no secret/No secret my friend/You can get killed just for living/In your American skin." But Bruce Springsteen dedicated the song to Trayvon Martin. Imagine something like this that happened in 1999 with Diallo who was shot unarmed and a child shot the same way unarmed whom they speculated had a gun and they were shooting in self-defense. Nothing has changed since then and probably won’t change now in the present or the future. Did it take 41 shots or 12 shots? This goes back to when Springsteen talks about police overreaction back in 1999. On the other had some people believe that there are some good cops out there and this is true as well. Although there are a lot of good cops there are a lot of bad cops that makes the good cops look bad as well. Present cops have created the slogan “Blue Lives Matter” while the African American society has created ‘Black Lives Matter” slogan. There is so much hate and discrimination going on in the world today against both the men and women in blue and the women and men of color. What’s so hard about just getting alone and doing right and trying to be in the right place at the right

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Police departments all over the United States have seen a spike in aggression and negativity from the civilens. The recent spike is due in part to the Shootings of innocent African Americans. When Michael Brown was shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, it awakened a movement that began with the previous killing of another black teenager, Trayvon Martin, who was shot in 2012 by neighborhood watch volulnteer George Zimmerman. Before that though there was Dontre Hamilton, 31, was fatally shot 14 times by a police officer in a Milwaukee park, Eric Garner, 43, was killed after he was put in an illegal chokehold for 15 seconds by a white police officer. John Crawford, 22, was shot and killed by a police officer…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    On February 26th, 2012, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot on the streets of Sanford, Florida, because he was perceived as threatening by local vigilante, George Zimmerman. Following Martin’s death, the nation was both shocked and outraged. How could something of racist nature occur here, in America? Yet this wasn’t the first incident, it was the first time the populace found out. In the United States, African Americans are two and a half times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts, though they may not even be committing a crime.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    How would you feel if you were walking on an open street amongst many people, being the innocent individual you are, but the whole time you get funny faces, people starts to pick up their pace, and starts to judge you simply because of your skin color? Brent Staples is an African-American male in the United States of America. Because of his race, he is often accused for being a “mugger”, “rapist”, or a “criminal”. In his essay, “Black Men and Public Space”, he describes various events where he encounters people of the opposite sex, or opposite race that are afraid of him simply because of his skin color. His purpose is to inform the audience of his experiences and point of view.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    To Pip A Bird Analysis

    • 1992 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Lamar continues his tirade in the song “The Blacker The Berry” when he talks about how police brutality is no different than gang violence. Lamar says, “So why I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? \ When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? \ Hypocrite!”…

    • 1992 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This attitude towards blacks has seen hundreds of innocent boys ganged down by rogue police officers. The Black Lives Matter movement is the testament to the dire need for reforms in the police force especially when it comes to racial profiling of…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After centuries of slavery, oppression, and human rights violations, Africans Americans still endure racial prejudice, racial profiling, and police brutality. Even though there are people that make a living by arguing the contrary, being black is not easy in a majority white America. During a time of racial tensions and divisions, it is noteworthy understand the similarities between Citizen and The Mexican Flyboy that illustrate the adversity that African Americans face in their lives in order to demonstrate the ongoing prejudice and racism in America. According to both texts, a black individual is more like to be stopped by the police, perceived to be a criminal, charged for a crime that a white person would not be in a similar situation,…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Black Lives Matter” Movement & Police Brutality As much as the subjects of “Black Lives Matter” and police brutality are getting stale and cliché, unfortunately it is still an issue that will not be corrected by hushed complaints and sweeping under the rug. However, this problem is not brand new; it has only escalated. Racial discrimination began in the times of slavery and has been an issue since—well forever. The discrimination has been toughest on minorities—like the African-American community. Along with the racial discrimination from society itself, some police and law enforcement figures have often abused their power and taken advantage of their place in the majority race.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Race Essay

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It takes a lot to fathom the events happening between police and people of color. As the author of article stated, “to fully understand the people and the events we must use science and develop a sociological imagination.” Looking at the pieces of social and historical evidence all is required to fully understand the whole picture of why this event was an effect of a much deeper cause. The most important to me is the expanding U.S. inequality and the war on drugs. Palmer described the expanding U.S. inequality as started after the economic boom after WWII.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Protection Of Whiteness

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    White people are automatically protected and given the benefit of the doubt when confronted by the police by having white privilege. White privilege works in our world in many ways; it provides white people with many advantages and immunity to challenges people of color face. The protection of whiteness shapes the world we live in and is not easily deconstructed in any system. For example, a person of color, especially a black person, is not guaranteed the same treatment by cops that are given to white people. In Philando Castile’s case, he did everything the officer asked of him.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial Profiling Is Not Acceptable Racial profiling is not acceptable in America because individual 's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. It can be considered racist. People are accused of things they did not commit. For example, Henry Louis Gates Jr, who was arrested after forcing his way into his house.…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Not all cops are bad Police Officers: Courageous, strong, brave, amazing people, but to some they are all brutal, evil, horrible people. Not since the 1960s have police been subjected to so much criticism, disaffection, and public abuse (Moore). Yet, not all cops are bad people like people tend to think. A good majority of police are honest, caring, loving people that love their job, protecting us and their city from harm.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The concept of racial profiling has its wide range of definitions. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling refer to “the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” In other words, racial profiling has its assumptions that particular individuals are more likely to be involved in transgression or unlawful activity based on individual’s race or background. Racial profiling doesn’t just exist today; it thrives and mostly propels a brutalizing message to citizens of the United States where they are pre-judged by the color of their skin. Unfortunately, it is used by law enforcement on a daily…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1.Ethical Problems in law enforcement Us versus Them Let’s understand what are ethics, ethical problem could be a circumstance in which the police officer is unsure of the proper or right action to take, or the action is right however the police officer found it difficult to do. A circumstance where you have taken the wrong action because in was enticing. There are several ethical problems the police officer faces in the community, here we will be discussing ’us verse them”. It appears that through the media many police officers have that “Us versus them” attitude while the communities are more and more fearful their actions, and thus this us versus them attitude is currently widespread in most African American neighborhoods. When law enforcement…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though during this, Terrance Williams once stated, “Do black lives really matter? On the news you always hear about how bad cops or how another black person was killed by a Caucasian man. But in reality, it’s not their fault. If black lives matter, then why don’t you hear about the little kid that got murdered by gang activity in the back ally, or about the violence on streets from rival drug lords. It happens, but when someone gets confronted by the police about it, its hush hush.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The songs itself brings a sense of hope to many African-Americans while the music video informs people of the police brutality that has been occurring so often over the last couple years. The use of the quote, “Alls my life I has to fight,” emphasizes the idea that African-Americans have to fight everyday whether it be fighting for equality or even fighting for their lives due to the racism that is targeted at them. The message Kendrick conveys is powerful and therefore that is why it has become an anthem throughout the Black Lives Matter movement. Although times may be hard, Kendrick reminds us that if God’s got us, then we will be…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays