Outrage Over King Verdict

My city is burning. The TV news reports veer between estimates of the number of fires now burning, and the umpteenth replay of the stomach-churning and senseless beating of a motorist (by civilians this time) at a South-Central intersection. Squeezed in there was a brief report about one of the jurors who made the decision that sparked off this violence.

She said she was amazed at the response, astonished at the violence of the reaction. Doesn’t that just say it all? This juror was capable of looking at the awful violence of the LAPD beating of King, and somehow justify it as being a reasonable use of force, not excessive. How could such a person, from the safety of the white-flight enclave of Simi Valley, begin to comprehend the depth of the outrage her decision provoked?

The message that jury sent was loud and clear: Our outrage at violence is reserved for civilians only, not the white uniformed representatives of law and order who beat the living hell out of a black man. The fires that burn in my city are fueled by the attitudes and decision of that uncomprehending, out-of-touch jury.

BOBBI MURRAY

Los Angeles