Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often stood up for something that is not popular, but an issue that is morally right. Some of his ideas included moderation and extremity. He practiced non-violence and peaceful protest. In his letter from a Birmingham jail he states, "In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps. The first is to determine whether there are injustices alive. The second is negotiation between the two-arguing parties. The third and fourth step is self-purification and direct action."# I believe in the saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." I do not believe that Dr. King would disagree with me, but his approach to a situation would be different from mine. I have used nonviolence to solve problems, but sometimes that always does not work. Sometimes one has to use alternative measures to get a point across.

Many people remember the case of Rodney King. Rodney King became a reluctant symbol of police brutality a decade ago when amateur photographer George Holliday provided evidence that was hard to ignore. The videotape Holliday shot showed several white Los Angeles police officers using their batons to beat King, who had led them

Rodney King is not an innocent person. By innocent I mean he has had other problems in his life. At the time of the beating, King was a one-time Dodgers Stadium usher who had been convicted of robbery and was on probation. His life since has been marked by run-ins with the law and squabbles with attorneys over the $3.8 million settlement in his lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. Two months after the beating, King was arrested on suspicion of trying to run down an officer after police in Hollywood allegedly saw him pick up a transvestite prostitute. No charges were filed. He has been pulled over by police and convicted of drunk driving. He was convicted of hit-and-run driving for an incident involving his wife and later pleaded guilty to spousal abuse in a separate incident. He is on probation until 2003.

These incidents cover the issue of police brutality and racism. I have argued many issues, but this one I have a strong view of. I stand by the police officers in these cases. I stand by police officers because my father has been a police officer for thirty-four years, with the Chicago Police Department. These men and women are not out there to cause trouble. At all costs the members of the police department want to avoid conflict with criminals. I stand by the police officers involved in the Rodney King case. They must have had a reason to use force.

I have argued my

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