Still not getting along.

• Author: Slade, Stephanie
• Position: Follow-Up - Police violence againsts blacks

On April 29, 1992, a California jury acquitted four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers of the brutal beating of black motorist Rodney King, causing dismay among minority residents of the city. As the dismay turned to anger and the anger turned to violence, five days of rioting ensued; more than 55 people died, and CNN reported economic damage of over $1 billion.

Rick Henderson anticipated that frustration in "L.A., Lawless" (May 1991). Reflecting on the record of policing in Los Angeles, Henderson called the King beating "only slightly more disturbing than the official response of the law enforcement community." He noted that the LAPD had a history of targeting and "roughing up" blacks, including several famous athletes, and that Police Chief Daryl Gates remained in power despite overseeing not just King's abuse but a string of police acts that had cost the city $8 million in payouts the year before. "Suspected criminals, even 'ex-cons,' don't lose their due-process rights the instant police officers apprehend them," Henderson wrote.

Twenty-two years on, many of the same themes have driven residents of Ferguson, Missouri; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and other cities around the country back into the streets. Frustration over disparate...