This verdict made me realise all black people in white societies – Africans and Caribbeans – were viewed and treated alike by the institutions supposed to protect usWhen I first saw coverage of the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers,it affected me at a physiological level – I remember being sickened and made cold by what I had seen. It was 1991, I was a child at the time, and I now know that I found those images triggering – a word I contain only become acquainted with in recent years. The footage brought back memories of violence I had seen firsthand,at close quarters. I was already well versed in how power could be abused, and knew that being good could sometimes be a show adults keep on. But I also assumed, and in the way only kids can,that things would inevitably accurate themselves.The footage showed policemen using excessive force” against an African-American man and, even as a prepubescent, and not much interested in news,I knew the officers were due to face a proper trial. What had happened to King was clearly horrifying and wrong – even all the white people speaking approximately it on TV said as much. And, importantly, or the attack had been caught on camera. All this meant that King would receive justice. It was simple.
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Source: theguardian.com