Little Scarlet Riots

Apreala Tari

The novel "Little Scarlet" written by Walter Mosley. According to P16, riots is one symptom of disease that infected the city, a virus that made people unafraid of consequences of standing up for themselves , a week of fight with bottles and rocks. Riot was one way that change the city and made the people temerity. The theme of my essay is how riot brought courage to the black people and vicissitude the society . Firstly, a police traffic stop in the watts area of Los Angeles, a largely black populated area, provided the spark that ignited rioting which lasted for six days, leaving thirty four dead, more than one thousand injured, almost four thousand arrested, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed. The riots was an explosion of raw anger against racism and brutality of the police, and the continued denial of basic civil rights to black people,. The embers of the watts riots are still burning.
Secondly, riot has being the only way for the black people to show their venturesomeness.
For example, in the novel, during the first riot, a white man was dragged from his car at the height of the hassle and escaped into a nearby apartment building. Soon afterwards, a young woman, little scarlet was found dead in the same building. The fleeing white man is the obvious suspect and the police was afraid if the riot will start all over again. The police also knew that they are not welcomed in the area and their presence will cause further riots, so they asked Easy to investigate the incident. As he investigates the murder, Easy finds that the city is changing as it emerges from the ashes. The riot has been a catalyst for that change, jolting people from their complacency and forcing some white people to acknowledge and want to change racism and injustice that were the everyday experience of black people at that
time. Furthermore, riots had broken down the barriers between the black people and the white people. For exemplar, when the policeman detailed to work with Easy, he offered him a hand shake, Easy was shocked and surprised. Also, when a young receptionist from Memphis offers to help Easy, he remarks that where she came from, a white woman do not address a black man directly, then he knew how the riots broke the boundary and are more confident, more willing to stand up to the authorities. Also made both the white and black people related to each other in a friendly way. In addition, Easy Rawlins has not taken part in their rioting but his sympathies are with those who has. He has suffered the same indignities and racism throughout his life as they have and recognizes that something had to give. In the opening, he describes himself as "holding myself in check while south Los Angeles went up in the flames of a race riot". Even when thinks the anger of the rioters is misdirected, against the school. Easy sometimes works at or against some of the storeowners, he understands why it happened. He knows the racism fear that have been bottled up to exploding point and explains, almost every black man, woman and child you meet feels that anger. But they never let on, so you've never known. This riot was saying it out loud for the first time. Now it is said and nothing will ever be the same again. In conclusion, riots was used to change how the black and white people relates and making the blacks courageous to stand up for themselves in any situation. Also, due to my opinion, riot is a way where people come together to get something they want although they can be punished or get beaten up but still it helps them and change the mind of the people. The black people made the white people respect them through the riots they did so far.