The maiming of Rodney King, a black man ferociously beaten by a group of white police officers who pulled his car over in Los Angeles, has focussed attention on the problem of racism and brutality among America's police.
This incident would probably never have seen the light of day had an eyewitness not videotaped the brutal beating. A general surge in police violence in the US has highlighted the presence of organised white supremacist groups among law enforcement personnel.
In Los Angeles, two black police officers have reported having Ku Klux Klan calling cards left for them while in the station. In San Bernardino, black officers received phone threats from the "Aryan Police Officer's Association", while in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department a deputy who was dismissed from the force for burning a cross with a makeshift blowtorch to intimidate black prisoners was reinstated by the elected sheriff. This deputy, on New Year's Eve, shot and killed a Mexican who was shooting a handgun in the air to celebrate the holiday.
Police have also been caught using racist images of black men for target practice. Another group, including the brother of the local Klan leader, circulated a letter lauding the killing of "Black bucks", while another was caught using the National Crime Information Computer for KKK business.
This racism is just a small part of a rash of increased incidents of brutality as the US shifts to the right in the wake of the Gulf War. Lee Rawls, an assistant attorney general, has said the administration expects the US victory in the Gulf to boost its efforts to expand the federal death penalty, limit appeals by convicts and allow evidence illegally seized by the police to be used in court.
In the King case a former Reagan aide said "Even though the cops went too far, they are our troops". With the governor of California and President Bush lining up against calls for the head of the LA Police Department to resign, this seems to be the prevalent attitude of officialdom.
[From An Phoblacht/Republican News, Dublin.]