Current Events > Was the Rodney King beating one of the biggest events of the 20st century?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was watching a documentary on the most important historical events of the 20th century with some friends at the New Year.

Some things came up like the Moon Landing, Holocaust, Hindenburg, Margaret Thatcher, Berlin Wall, Apartheid, Little Red Book etc.

And one of the events documented was the beating of Rodney King by a bunch of asshole cops.

Which led to a debate about whether or not that should be on the list which had mixed results so I'm interested in CE's take.

Guess I'm giving my opinion away early by the nature of making the topic. I'm not making any excuses for the cops or downplaying what happened at all but when I think of groundbreaking events of historical importance in the 20th century I have to admit that doesn't spring to mind.

I mean within the US black equal rights movement bubble alone isn't Martin Luther King Jr's assasination more important?

For those who don't know the event in question, Rodney King was a black man who was chased by police after speeding and refusing to pull over. Once they cornered him; a gang of officers absolutely brutalized him and beat the fuck out of him for absolutely no reason.

This was caught on film and in 1991, pre Youtube and social media, the public was outraged and shocked to see it. It's considered one of the worst cases of police injustice in the US and inspired a generation of anti-cop movements.

A big controversial event sure but compared to the Berlin Wall? Russian Revolution? I just don't see it.
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I think WWII was a smidge more important.

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20st

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sktgamer_13dude posted...

20st

Considering who the TC is, that was totally intentional.
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Kitt posted...

Considering who the TC is, that was totally intentional.

It was actually auto correct

But congrats on exposing your paranoia.
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UnfairRepresent posted...

It was actually auto correct

So it auto-corrected 21st to 20st? lolkay.
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When compared to an entire century of history, it's really not. Maybe for its decade it was huge but there were so many significant events of the 1900s it's pretty minor by comparison.

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20st...I read what you wrote, and there is indeed an interesting debate here, but I can't stop thinking about 20st. How do you pronounce that? Twenty STEH or twenty Ssteh, with a silent T?

Now that that's out of the way, I think it could be comparable to the 2016 election. Whether you consider it good or bad, it was a shocking incident that sparked multiple activist movements and discussions, and kinda pushed people towards learning about topics that they might not have been interested in, and the resulting chaos really changed how people view the electoral system, impeachment, and the mainstream media. Neither of the events really shocked the world, mostly just the U.S, and that's my main criteria when considering the biggest events of the century. It has to be something that was big enough to send out a resounding sense of surprise, across the globe.

Don't get me wrong, it was a big thing, but in light of everything that's happened throughout the century, I really wouldn't consider it one of the biggest events, but a runner-up or an honorable mention.


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deupd_u posted...

I think WWII was a smidge more important.

More important than the moon landing?

People seem to forget the 1980 Miami riots.

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UnfairRepresent posted...

It was actually auto correct

Auto-incorrect.

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Move Bombing and WACO Texas. If it was any other Nation the UN would have invaded and overthrown the President for killing his own people