New York Times’ Rodney King Coverage

The articles from the New York Times flow much like any long term interest news story would during Rodney King’s trial. In the first report chronicling the incident, race is not specifically mentioned until the last 2 paragraphs, as if it were an afterthought. King’s defense attorney is said to have not even brought up the issue of race during the trail. The whole cast seem to be oblivious to the magnitude of the future implications of the court proceedings.

When the verdict is reached by the Jurors, the tone of the articles change. The reader can sense a certain disbelief in the reporter’s words. In all their analysis and predictions about the case, this fit into none of them, and their words turn from half-interest to flabbergast. The change in tone is appropriate, of course, because the reporters are now reporting on a situation more akin to a popular uprising then a court story. As verbal arguments dissolve into burning storefronts, there is a palpable fear in the writing, “The City of Angels endured another siege of violence today with an acrid smell of smoke in its nostrils and a cold stone of fear heavy on its heart.” (NYT, May 1, 1992, RIOTS IN LOS ANGELES: The Scene; Smell of Fear in Los Angeles)

The psychology of 81 seconds of adrenaline fueled hatred seems to spread into a massive anarchic chaos, a dark circus crawling from the rift in society left by racism and socio-economic unbalance. In a flash, the accepted racial roles become comically reversed, and for a while those who are used to the security ensured by their social status now see it as a life threatening liability.

In contrast, the bedlam has a strange unifying effect for Rodney King supporters. What the New York Times describes as a frenzy of looting and a “Marathon of Stealing,” is dubbed by one participant as a statement of unity. “This is about the black community coming together.” (NYT, May 1, 1992, The Sacking of a Neighborhood: An Orgy of Looting, a Carnival of Chaos)

The universal violent outbreak that occurred after the verdict was clearly a deep seeded anger welling from years of institutionalized police harassment, but many similar injustices have occurred to the black community in the past without this widespread backlash. Perhaps it was the media’s viral captivation with the shocking viciousness portrayed in the amateur footage of the attack, and its quick saturation through modern mediums into households across LA.

It may have also been that King happened to have the unfortunate coincidence of a last name with the great civic leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Several references are made to him as the “second King,” yet Rodney displays no signs of wanting to lead social change in LA. He is quoted saying “And just, I love, I'm neutral, I love every, I love people of color. I'm not like they're picking me out to be.” (NYT, May 2, 1992, Rodney King Speaks Out: 'Can We All Get Along?') He is depicted as stuttering, easily confused, and gullible. He does not yield the power to inspire people to work peacefully together for social justice like the “other King” before him. This unfortunate weakness does not incite, but certainly precipitates, the violence of the riots.