ONLY FOR PROF DAN

Let it Fall

John Ridley’s iconic documentary is riddled with acts of varying nature. Some are quite heroic and tug at the heartstrings of the viewer while others are quite reprehensible. What can be stated without a reasonable doubt is that Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 peels back the mask and prejudices and displays the Los Angeles riots as the climax on of an almost inevitable culmination of years of increasing racial tensions. Martin Luther King Jr was an advocate for equality while Kenji Yoshino poignantly pointed out that the treatment of African Americans was unfair and particularly harsh. Both of these aspects are portrayed in the film as Kenji and Dr. King’s perspectives are all sources of inspiration for the film.

This multiethnic oral history allows for politicians as well as the police plus survivors and victims alike who witnessed the traumatic events of April 29th and April 30th 1992, to fully reveal an accretion of official decisions that were quite continuous/relentless and evident resentment by the public. The uprising takes place late in the movie (It occurs well past an hour and a half into the movie) but nothing feel rushed or dragged on. Instead, some sections can be so powerfully elucidated by the commitment of the movie to nuance as well as context that even tragedies whose wounds are quite fresh and ever too-familiar such as the painful beating of Rodney King at the hands of four police officers as well as the assault of Reginald Denny arrive freighted with an insight that is new and fresh. Jung Hui Lee stated that this war was truly a war like no other. Mr. Lee was a Korean-American shopkeeper who lost his 18 year old son who was named Edward Jae Song Lee. Edward was mistaken for a looter and he was fatally shot at after he tried to protect another business. Edward’s death just like a large number of all the other deaths in the film was a true indicator for chaos and distress that defies any simple explanation. It simple cannot be rationalized in black and white terms. YOU CAN USE MLK HERE—INJUSTICE IS INTERRELATED AMONG THE COMMUNITIES

In the film, Mr. Ridley drew inspiration and direction from several visual sources. Over the course of the film, he follows the growth of gang activities in Los Angeles and the West Coast of America as well as drug use which was becoming quite popular after the advent of crack cocaine in the area. Moreover, he also vividly details the disturbing evolution of the favored tactic that police officers used during that era. This tactic was known as pain compliance and it is described as a rising series of actions which were made up or invented to subdue anybody (but in this case it is suspects who were the preferred target).

This film goes far enough to show that the media in 1992 had an opportunity to air to the upper middle class in America all the grave injustices that were occurring in Los Angeles at the time but instead, media outlets decided to further propagate the idea that this rebellion was simply just like any other and it was just an act of senseless violence. The media would continue to place the events in a frame that was quite ineffective as well as illogical instead of a perspective where they would be viewed as legitimate social protests.

Media outlets would continue to downplay and diminish such a protest and this made it lose its value due to the fact that the media have an important role to play when it comes to the shaping of people’s views on social matters or important matters in general. They chose to delegitimize this type of protest and this only led to further feeding into judgements of this rebellion being ridiculous as well as foolish or unintelligent. This is because that is what the contemporary media as well as upper middle-class America deemed the protest to be. The uprising which occurred in Los Angeles has continued to be fined by a large number of sources within the necessary fields as being a riot. Through the use of the word “riot “to describe the situation that occurred in 1992, there is some semblance of credit that is given to the people who deemed it a useless and senseless form of violence by a minority that is largely uneducated. JUST LIKE MLK WAS LABELLED AN EXTREMIST. PROTESTS = RIOTS, MLK AS NONVIOLENT = EXTREMIST

The word “riot “is used to evoke certain striking meaning. When such a word is thrown around in articles, in the media as well as in other sources, the viewer will tend to gravitate towards of mental image of irresponsible as well as senseless violence by an uneducated folk. The truth of the matter is, the Los Angeles rebellion of 1992 was caused by real grievances which included unfair treatment of minorities compounded with continued injustices as well as increasing hostility and brutality towards the black folk. The situations was getting progressively worse and things had reached a tipping point as evidenced by the events of the film. The Rodney King beating was basically the straw that broke the camel’s back. Thus, belittling these protests by only calling them riots only further looks down upon the real injustices that the African Americans in Los Angeles faced every day. People need to right the wrong stated above and use the right term when referencing these events. There is a lot of power and deep meaning behind words and it is the people’s responsibility to be very careful and selective when it comes to the words they choose to use. (Yoshino)

In addition to this, the Los Angeles Rebellion of 1992 was broadcasted throughout the entire nation and the world. At its core it has the goal of real change and developments for the African Americans who were residents of Los Angeles. The protestors had all carried a faint hope that this situation would be different and that things would improve with diminishing occurrences of racism as well as equality of races. It was quite disappointed then that after all the activities and hullabaloo, there still is little to no development in terms of the aired grievances during the Los Angeles. There is still a fixation of using African Americans as the scapegoat and the parties on the receiving end of blame for their oppressed state just as it was in 1992 and even before then. (Martin Luther)

African Americans are still facing police brutality as well as high rates of unemployment compounded with the poor quality of education received by their offspring. In addition to this, Kenji Yoshino is also a huge advocate for diversity, he believes that we can all peacefully coexist if the effort is made on both sides. This ties in with Dr King’s message with regards to leaving animosity behind in order to build towards a brighter future. He was severely mistreated by the white authorities for his campaign, but he stood firm and he did not allow his vision to be clouded by all the pain and suffering that he went through that was inflicted by his aggressors. He would have lost perspective and turned bitter but he still strove towards the achievement of his goal for equality and a brighter future that is not clouded by bitterness and animosity. (Yoshino)

References Martin Luther, Jr. King. Letter from the Birmingham Jail. Harpercollins, 1994. Yoshino, Kenji. The New CIvil RIghts. n.d.