The Forgotten Victim From Florence And Normandie Summary

Rodney King, a man of color, sparked the Los Angeles riots, which occurred because four white LAPD officers beat a black man. There has been a spotlight on Reginald Denny, a white man, from the Florence and Normandie riots, but not Fidel Lopez, also a man of color, who endured the same amount of pain and torture from the mob and was not mentioned in the media. In “The forgotten victim from Florence and Normandie” Steve Lopez sought to bring an example of the little importance of minorities and long-term effects on the man who was brutally beaten because of the lack of authoritative assistance. I agree with the message of racial inequality through this article due to the actions that could’ve been taken and the results from those poor decisions.
There was a car stereo thrown onto his head, numerous kicks to the ribs, and gasoline poured all over his body to be set a fire. When Fidel was brought to his house, his wife, Coralia, said she didn’t recognize him because of his bloody, swollen body. He was beaten so badly to the point where he was unrecognizable to his own family, but still no story on this man. Fidel acquired a brain injury; he couldn’t work for two years. Coralia later told Steve she cannot sleep close to her husband because he has dreams that “they’re chasing after him” (Lopez). To this day the Florence and Normandie riots haunt him. I didn’t find it surprising the non-minority, Reginald Denny, went through the same attack and got recognized for his incident. Denny had a near to death experience but Fidel did as well. He was almost lit on fire if it weren’t for the Rev. Bennie Newton. This is why we have law enforcement to enforce rules and protect the people from situations like