Civil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau La Riot

Civil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were burned, and about 10,000 people were arrested.(Khalifah 89) The 1992 riots in the City of Los Angeles were arguably the most devastating civil disturbance in the history of the United States. Anyone can say that a law is unfair and unjust.†¦show more content†¦He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but instead rely on himself.(____) He thought people should treat other people the way they wanted to be treated, and follow the natural laws of society. Martin Luther King Jr. believed there should be laws or it would be total anarchy. Thoreau believed that without the government, every one would naturally treat others as if that person was a neighbor.(____) Thoreau thought that individuals, who were too egotistic and were too easily corrupted, ruled the government. Also, their social thoughts were different as well. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to change unjust laws, not just for him, but also for his fellow brothers and sisters. He cared about what his people were going through. He had compassion about their suffering and hardship and would not tolerate it any longer. It seems that contrary to Martin Luther Kings motives, Thoreau was selfish. He simply did not want to follow a law because it affected him in an adverse way. He was somewhat of a loner, and thought everyone should be independent, instead of acting like parasites, feeding off one another. Both of these mens work was considered to be Civil Disobedience. However, their peers judge them differently due to their different circumstances. First of all, Martin Luther King was black and Thoreau was white. Since theyShow MoreRelated Civil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau LA riot Essay examples1119 Words   |  5 Pages Civil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the quot;not guiltyquot; verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, â€Å"estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures