Works Cited

Baldassare, Mark. The Los Angeles Riots: Lessons for the Urban Future. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. Print.

Cannon, Lou. Official Negligence. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.

Gray, Madison. “The L.A. Riots: 15 years after Rodney King.” Time Online. 12 Feb, 2010. Web. 18 April 2010.

Myers, Matthew. “The Siege of L.A.” Newsweek. 5 Nov. 1992. Academic Search Complete. EBSCOhost. Web. 18 April 2010.

“Rare Rodney King Interview.”Youtube. 7 March. 2009. Web. 18 April 2010.

The book, Official Negligence, will serve as one of my research papers predominate secondary sources. The book takes a comprehensive and thorough look into the events surrounding the Rodney King beating and the ensuing chaos that plagued the city of Los Angeles. It does an excellent job illuminating the havoc that all demographics experienced during the traumatic 1992 event. What I will most likely take away from this source is not merely the background for my primary source, but a look into how other people were affected by the Rodney King event. For example, the unwarranted brutality against Rodney King spurred a jarringly similar event involving Reginald Denny. Denny, a 33-year-old concrete truck driver had inadvertently taken a short cut through a region of Los Angeles that harbored some of the most vengeful rioters. It was not long before he was forcefully removed from his vehicle and beaten to within inches of his life. The beatings culminated with a massive blow to the head, which nearly killed the innocent bystander. These types of corollary incidents are immensely important as they symbolize a struggle towards equality by any means necessary. These actions are indicative of a people who felt as though all democratic pleas had been exhausted, and had now turned to inimitable violence to satiate their desire for equality. This source perfectly assesses the severe repercussions of the Rodney King beating and evaluates it’s effects in regards to the societal revolution it incited.

Another secondary source, composed of valuable information pertaining to the Rodney King video is entitled “The L.A. Rio ts: 15 Years after Rodney King.” This Time article is focused primarily on assessing the long-term effects the events of 1992 have had on its chief constituents. The article spotlights specific individuals who had noteworthy roles in both the King beating and the infamous LA riots. Some of these figures include: Rodney King, Reginald Denny, Darryl Gates (Los Angeles’ former Police Chief) and Stacey Koon (one of the arresting officers of King). The article will assist in elevating my paper’s credibility when attempting to assess the effects these incidents had on individual members of society. Its advantages lie in the ability to explicitly determine, years after, how key figures have adapted to life in the post-riot era. My hopes are that by interviewing these people 15 years later, any remnants of the incident’s effect will be highlighted and will establish how truly life-altering these occurrences were. In addition, the article is composed of interviews from people who witnessed and regrettably partook in the devastating events of ’92. Inherently, utilizing information extracted from these articles will generate a level of reliability with my readers that would be unmatched by simply utilizing historical renderings of the incident.