1950’s
In the 1950’s racial tensions increased between white people and African Americans. The increased hatred turns deadly when a young black boy visits Mississippi and is accused of catcalling a white woman. Emmett Till’s murder became the case of the century after his mutilated body was plastered all over the media. It was the first time America saw the racial hatred that lived in the South. Till’s body was found dumped in the Tallahassee River.
1960’s
Broiling anger among African Americans being mistreated in their communities heightens. There are the horrific deaths of the
1970’s
Riots ensue across the states. There’s riot outbreaks as a result to the disregard for African American life. In Watts, Los Angeles (Watts Riots of 1965) and in Selma, Alabama (Bloody Sunday 1965). The rise of pro Black organizations and coalitions emerged because of this. The Black Panther party reigns from 1968 into the early 1970s. The Black Panther Movement’s mission was to patrol and protect their neighborhoods from acts of police brutality. because of the growing distrust held in the police system and lack of humane treatment by officers with suspects of color.
1980’s
Exposed mistreatment of African American men at the hands of police officers to the public stirs an outbreak of riots. In the south, there is the Miami Riot of 1980. Following in 1992, there’s the Los Angeles Riots which happened during the Rodney King injustice scandal. Four LAPD officers brutally beat a man on video and set free. Perpetrators of crimes against Black people being acquitted and pronounced innocent, are no surprise — even in the eighties. The trend of police being the abusers in impoverished communities of colors is also becoming.
1990’s
The rise of electronics and video recorders captures a new age racism rooted in police brutality against predominantly black people in America. Rodney King, a black man who was beaten by police, shocks the country again; and this time it is on footage. White Americans continue to excuse this behavior; however, their misjudgment does not go unnoticed. Retaliation amongst black communities grows stronger than it's ever been, leaving neighborhoods demolished.
2000’s
Police brutality and negative race relations are increasing and are ignored at the same time. The assumption is made that since the civil rights movement is about forty years prior to the 2000’s, racism is gone. This is completely false and proved to be untrue by numerous deaths of black people by white police officers.The tensions from the 1990’s carried over to the 2000’s and created a hostile environment for black people to live in.
2010’s
As America is on the cusp of the first black presidency, the hidden hatred of black people is exposed. There is a significant increase in police brutality that seems to take us back in time. Black men and women of all ages are shot and killed and their murderers, the police, are all acquitted in trial. The change in presidency even more solidified the racial discrimination and tension between white people and black people.