This speech is part of a presentation I gave to my World Civilization Class taken at Metropolitan Community College in Fall of 2003. The second componant, the Powerpoint presentation, can be found on the technology webpage. I recieved an A on this particular presentation.

The issue of race relations has long permeated our society. Ever since the unfortunate day that the Spaniards discovered that "one Negro can do the work of four Indians," our culture has dictated who was the more "superior race." And, even though the Black American won freedom with the ratification of the 14th amendment in 1868, they have continued to struggle with the various rights that are due to them.

Things seemed to be turning around with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This act, fought for by many black leaders such as Dr. King, Thurgood Marshall, and Roy Wilkins, seemed to answer many prayers. The Civil Rights Act barred the unequal application of voter registration requirements, outlawed discriminations in public places such as restaurants, hotels, and theaters, encouraged the desegregation of public schools, authorized withdraw of federal funds from programs still practicing discrimination, and outlawed employment discrimination in any business exceeding 25 people and set up the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. When President Johnson signed the bill into effect on July 2, 1964, he spoke these words:

"We believe that all men are created equal -- yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain inalienable rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty -- yet millions are being deprived of those blessings, not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skins.

The reasons are deeply embedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand without rancor or hatred how all this happens. But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I sign tonight forbids it.... "

However, the view of the president did not necessarily match the view of the states, and they acted quickly to circumvent the new federal law. California created Proposition 14, which moved to block the fair housing section of the act. This angered and frustrated those living in the inner cities, and created a strong feeling of injustice which couldn't be ignored.

August 11th, 1965 is remembered by those that experienced in it as one of the hottest nights of the summer in Los Angeles. It is also remembered as one of the most violent in the city's history.

That evening, a Los Angeles police officer had pulled over motorist Marquette Frye and his brother Ronald on a suspicion of drunken driving. As the officers questioned Marquette and his brother, a crowd of onlookers gathered. Shortly, the boys' mother, Rena Frye arrived on the scene. A struggle ensued. More police arrived and began to hit the brothers with their batons. The crowd grew and became angrier watching what had been taken place. When the police left with the Frye family in custody, the tension within the crowd had escalated to a fever pitch. What had started as a simple traffic stop ended in six days of unmitigated violence where more than 34 people died and 1000 wounded. There was an estimated $50-$100 million dollars in property damage. These six nights became known as the Watts Riots.

Governor Pat Brown called for a commission to study the riots, and named John McCone to head that commission. That commission issued a report that concluded that "the riots weren't the act of thugs, but rather symptomatic of much deeper problems: the high jobless rate in the inner city, poor housing, and bad schools." However, no effort was made to address these problems. In fact, there was no effort to rebuild what had been lost in the riots, and many lots that had once held prominent businesses stood vacant for years following the Watts Riots.

One would think that we would learn from our past and not repeat the same mistakes in the future. However, this is not always the case. On April 29th, 1992, only 11 short years ago, Los Angeles again was faced with erupting violence. The immediate cause this time was a jury finding four police officers innocent in the beating of a man named Rodney King.

Although mostly forgotten now by most Americans, if mentioned the debate still goes on. Whether or not the jury did not find enough evidence within the trial to deliver the guilty vote is not within the scope of this speech. However, what that innocent verdict did do was re-ignite the frustrations and injustices felt by a new generation. Within hours Los Angeles had again erupted into riots. In the end, 54 were dead, over 7,000 people had been arrested, and hundreds of millions of property had again been destroyed. Stan Chambers, native of Los Angeles and reporter for KTLA who had covered the original Watts riots in 1965 and was now on hand for this newest onset of rioting said about the fires, "So many new buildings had been built in the last few years, a hopeful sign that, at last, something was happening; a new shopping center here, a new mini mall there, an old building rehabilitated across the street with a new business opening up inside. All the progress since the fires of Watts lost in the heat of this night."

President Johnson made a powerful statement on the state of affairs following the Watts riots, and his words ring true for us even today. He began his statement by saying, "If there is one thing I think we have learned from the civil rights struggle, it is that the problem of bringing the Negro American into an equal role in our society is more complex, and is more urgent, and is much more critical than any of us have ever known." In it, he speaks of how the American conscience cries out against the hatred that had taken place in Watts, saying that "it bore no relation to the orderly struggle for civil rights" that had "ennobled the last decade."

Still quoting Johnson, he goes on to say that, "the bitter years that preceded the riots, the death of hope where hope existed, their sense of failure to change the conditions of life-these things no doubt led to these riots. But they did not justify them….we will never achieve a free and prosperous and hopeful society until we have suppressed the fires of hate and we have turned aside from violence-whether that violence comes from the nightriders of the Klan, or the snipers and the looters in the Watts district. Neither old wrongs nor new fears can ever justify arson or murder…With rights comes responsibilities."

"It is our duty- and our desire- to open our hearts to humanity's cry for help. It is our obligation to seek to understand what could lie beneath the flames that scarred that great city. So let us equip the poor and oppressed- let us equip them for the long march to dignity and to wellbeing. But let us never confuse the need for decent work and fair treatment with an excuse to destroy and to uproot." Let those words not be forgotten again.

Sources

Congress Link. Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. http://www.congresslink.org/civil/essay.html

Public Broadcasting System. A Huey P. Newton Story: Watts Riots. http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/times/times_watts.html

Famous American Trials. The Trials of the Los Angeles Police Officers Accused in the Rodney King Beating. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapd.html

Citivu: KTLA. Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots. http://www.citivu.com/ktla/sc-ch1.html

History Central.com. Johnson's Statement on the Watts Riots-1965.

http://www.multied.com/documents/LBJwatts.html

Email me at tammie_meloy@yahoo.com