Stop Protesting!

At 1230 am on March 3, 1991, Rodney King was caught driving inebriated, speeding down the road by California Highway Patrol. The police pursued King which created a high speed chase on the freeway reaching 117 miles per hour. King REFUSED to pull over because a DUI would violate his parole for his robbery conviction in 1989. Several police cars and a helicopter joined in the pursuit through a residential area which finally ended with police cornering King’s car. When ordered to get out of the vehicle, King REFUSED. Because of his incompetence due to his high level of alcohol, King resisted the polices’ arrest attempts. After being tasered twice and countless orders to lie down, King rose to his feet and either appeared to flee or attack an officer. In defense, the officers swarmed King with batons. All of this was caught on video. The results of the subsequent Rodney King Trial ensued in one of Los Angeles’s most frightening events in modern, American history. Protests, rallies, riots, and hatred flared until what seems like justice was served.

On January 1, 2009, a young man named Oscar Grant was detained by police after being allegedly involved in a train station skirmish. Police officers are shown on video beating Mr. Grant and then shooting him while he is face down and in handcuffs. His murderer, Officer Johannes Mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

In both of these cases the men were REPEATING OFFENDERS. Both of these men knew fully well what they were doing and did it anyway. Yet Black people did not acknowledge the hoodlum past of these two or the CRIMES they had broken upon being detained. Now the way the story has been told is that Black people were victimized, which is up to the court records to prove. What is a fact is that when these two Black men were detained, they had caused a ruckus for someone to have to come and restrain them. This being said, it is evident they brought harm unto themselves for if the acts that they endured happened without probable cause to harass them then those officers who stepped in should have been found 100% guilty of racism and assault.

“Grant served two state prison terms for various felonies including a conviction for drug dealing. In 2007, San Leandro police stunned him with a Taser to subdue him after a traffic stop, in which he threw the pistol into the air and ran. He was sentenced to 16 months in state prison.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant

‘In November 1989, King robbed a store in Monterey Park, California using an iron bar to threaten and hit the store owner. He was convicted and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment.”

“In July 1995, he was arrested by Alhambra police, who alleged that he hit his wife with his car, knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run. On August 27, 2003, King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his vehicle into a house, breaking his pelvis.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

In both of these cases Black people rose up and joined hands in the name of justice. BUT NOTHING SIGNIFICANT HAS BEEN DONE OR CHANGED SINCE. Just because people rally does not mean anything is going to change. To make change, you must oust the powers that be or persuade them to alleviate their strain; either way those in power do not concur with the solution.

“White Americans (including Hispanics and non-Hispanics) were arrested more than any other race for these white-collar crimes in 2008, making up 67% of all arrests.”

“White Americans were identified as having committed the most racially motivated hate crimes in 2007, making up nearly 46% of all reported offenders… African Americans reported being victimized by racially motivated hate crime more frequently than any other race, making up 69% of all victims.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States

"You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."
— Former Education Secretary and Drug Czar William Bennett
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/are-blacks-a-criminal-rac_b_8398.html

Rodney King in 1992 was a convicted criminal. At this present time he is a recovering alcoholic and has BEEN IN PRISON 3 TIMES. Oscar Grant was a convicted criminal and repeating offender before his death. These men should have been in a college classroom instead of the state prison. Their events sparked outrage and chaos in the state of California. Yet all the riots and protests did was MAKE BLACK PEOPLE LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF BUFFOONS.

Now if any Black person wanted to make a difference during these dire times they would have done something more simple and impactful; ENROLL INTO COLLEGE. With a college education that person would be able to position themselves into a field where they can rise to a high position or establish their own business and begin to single out those who are acting out in prejudice. If you are not putting yourself in position to do away with those who are corrupting society than do not expect the corruption to go away. Years of suppression has been laid on ethnic communities around the world because they were apathetic to acquiring the right tools to fight back. The ultimate tool to fight any tyrant, kleptocracy, or plutocracy is education and entrepreneurship.

If the Black community had tens of hundreds of people applying city for council jobs, top-tier government jobs, and board of director chairs than more action towards justice could begin to punch through the miasma of racism that has oppressed them over the centuries. Without that action being done expect those in power to continue to elect officials who want the same executions they do. Protesting only lets people know that there are people who are fed up with the way standards are and want change, but change comes from ACTUALLY going out and acquiring the skills and tools necessary to fight the battle.

“LARGEST DISPARITIES FOUND IN DRUG ARRESTS, IMPRISONMENT.
Some of the greatest disparities in the juvenile justice system's response to youth of color involve the number of youth arrested, and prosecuted for drug offenses. While African American youth comprise 17% of the youth population, African American youth represent 27% of all drug violation arrests, and comprise 48% of the youth detained for a drug offense.

African American Youth Are Treated Differently By the Juvenile Justice System

• Drugs. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was 11.1 % among whites, and 9.3% among African Americans. In a previous year, the same survey found that white youth aged 12 to17 are more than a third more likely to have sold drugs than African American youth. The Monitoring the Future Survey of high school seniors shows that white students annually use cocaine at 4.6 times the rate of African Americans students, use crack cocaine at 1.5 times the rate of African Americans students, and use heroin at the same rate of African Americans students, and that white youth report annual use of marijuana at a rate 46% higher than African American youth. However African American youth are arrested for drug offenses at about twice the rate (African American 314 per 100,000, white 175 per 100,000) times that of whites, and African American youth represent nearly half (48%) of all the youth incarcerated for a drug offense in the juvenile justice system.

• Weapons. According to the Center on Disease Control's annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, in 2001 whites and African Americans reported similar rates of carrying a weapon (whites 17.9%, African Americans 15.2%), and similar rates of carrying a gun (whites 5.5%, and African Americans, 6.5%). African American youth represent 32% of all weapons arrests, and were arrested for weapons offenses at a rate twice that of whites (69 per 100,000, versus 30 per 100,000).

• Assault. According to the Center on Disease Control's annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, African Americans report being in a physical fight at a similar rate (36.5%, versus 32.5% for whites), but were arrested for aggravated assault at a rate nearly three times that of whites (137 per 100,000, versus 48 per 100,000).”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/are-blacks-a-criminal-rac_b_8398.html

If someone breaks into your home and escapes, what do you do? You call the police and then take preemptive actions so that no one ever breaks into your home again. Well that same idea works for everyone that has been “violated.” If someone does you wrong you do not go hunt them down and hurt them. You read books on the law and discover what your rights are and what methods you can use to receive restitution. Black people around the world must equip themselves with the knowledge to take power positions and bring justice to many systems that let criminals go and victims suffer. THE LOS ANGELES 1992 RIOTS SHOULD HAVE NEVER COMMENCED. Instead a RENAISSANCE OF BLACK EDUCATION should have began and today’s statistics of African American and Caucasian college enrollment should be the total obverse; Blacks should be leading and Whites following because of the suppression laden upon the Black community since the dawn of the Americas.