Fuck Tha Police an Analysis of the Role of Hip-Hop in the...

Plan of Investigation It is through Gangsta Rap subgenre of Hip-Hop, that the question: â€Å"What were the underlying cultural reasons for the Los Angeles Riots of 1992?† can be answered. This paper will examine rap lyrics from prominent Los Angeles Hip-Hop acts in order to investigate the deteriorating rapport between the city’s oft-biased police department and the city’s increasingly restless black urban youth, from the perspective of the latter group. These lyrics will be juxtaposed with statements various accounts of events involving racially motivated police actions, in order to assess their validity. In doing so, it is shown that hip-hop reveals the problematic culture of aggression that led to the riots-- the militant mindset of both†¦show more content†¦Angry citizens took to the streets, and from April 29,1992 to May 4, 1992, the city of Los Angeles fell victim to the most violent riots of the 20th century in the United States. During these tumultuous six days, $ 735,000,000 worth of property was damaged , 53 people died , and 248 people were critically injured14. Word Count (591) Evaluation of Sources Source: Video of Rodney King Beating, Taken by George Holliday This source is a video of Rodney King getting brutally abused by members of the LAPD. It was taken using a personal video camera by on-looker George Holliday, who sent the tape to local news stations. The purpose of the video was to capture the extreme violence that the LAPD used to subdue King, and to show this evidence to the public. The value of the video is that it played a major role in the start of the riots. The video circulated extremely rapidly, stirring up racial tensions, and increasing animosity towards the LAPD. The source is also valuable because it provides a direct look into the beating that led to the riots, allowing the viewer to make his or her own judgments of the events without the influence of any outside opinion. The video is limited because of its low resolution, which makes some of the action difficult to decipher, and also by its