Reading Reginald Denny: The Politics of Whiteness in the Late Twentieth Century
1995; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2713292
ISSN1080-6490
Autores Tópico(s)Race, History, and American Society
ResumoON APRIL 30, 1992, AMERICANS ACROSS THE NATION SAT TRANSFIXED BY a television event that grew to symbolize the plight of white Americans in late twentieth-century urban America. At the beginning of the Los Angeles riots, truck driver Reginald Denny was viciously beaten at the comer of Florence and Normandie by a group of young black men. As it happened a television helicopter overhead simultaneously broadcast the incident, enabling viewers all over the world to witness the violence. The dramatic image of the fallen Denny, a white victim of black rage, signified for many the mayhem of the worst modem in U.S. history. The power of this representation is especially revealing because Denny was one of only two white people attacked at that intersection. Over thirty other people were assaulted, and their sufferings were duly videotaped. However, the rest of the victims were Asian or Latino. Most commentators linked the 1992 uprisings to the Watts riots of 1965. Few sought a broader context than a previous race riot to interpret the civil disturbances. Thankfully, George Lipsitz's insightful essay corrects this oversight. Among other things, he shows us how one unfortunate truck driver could come to represent all of white America to angry African Americans outraged by the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King.
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