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I read that as “the Rodney King story” being the story in the traditional news or later documentary format. Without the social media explosion, the situation mi
by dspillett 3y ago
I read that as “the Rodney King story” being the story in the traditional news or later documentary format. Without the social media explosion, the situation might not have got the attention it needed meaning the story fizzled out (or, more cynically, the police would have been able to control the narrative long enough for the general public not to pay attention because something else was happened elsewhere to take over the news coverage).
- lapcat 3y agoI don't understand this comment either, because the Rodney King beating was in 1991, long before "the social media explosion".
- dspillett 3y agoTo be honest, I was completely mixing up the timeline of police attrocities against minorities and other communities/individuals. I'm not sure if that says more about the number of those matters making the is a lot to remember, or about my own privilege of being so far removed from most of it that I don't need to keep track in any detail.
- telotortium 3y agoRodney King was before my time, but the main Rodney King riots happened after the cops involved were acquitted, right? The main difference does have a little to do with social media, in that the George Floyd death video could be reshared in real time. The main reasons BLM took off in 2020 is that it had already taken off in 2014 and, importantly, most people were in COVID lockdown for 2 months by that point and had become a little stir-crazy.