On the night of March 2, 1991, Rodney King, who is black, was savagely beaten by the LAPD after a high speed chase.
On April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted three of the officers, who are white.
The acquittals are considered to have triggered the Los Angeles riots of 1992. By the time the police, the U.S. Army, Marines and National Guard restored order, the riots had caused 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. Smaller riots occurred in other cities such as San Francisco, Las Vegas in neighboring Nevada and as far east as Atlanta, Georgia. A minor riot erupted on Yonge St., in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as a result of the acquittals.
The only good thing came of these was a deepening soul search about race relationship, and social policy changes needed to heal the wounds. No one, to the vey best of my knowledge concluded that the roits were caused by hooligans, or that blacks were of a inferior race.
In my memory, the only times when some people felt ashamed for being American were when George W. Bush was (re-)elected President (the 1st time by the Supreme Court, I might add).
