Burglars, Beaters, and Burners 1992

Burglars, Beaters, and Burners 1992

Roger Brown

American (1941-1997), oil on Canvas

     I would place Burglars, Beaters, and Burners (BBB92) in an exhibit chronologically chronicling the African-American experience. BBB92 is a visual representation of the tumultuous 1992 Los Angeles race riots. The 1992 Los Angeles riots were triggered four white Los Angeles police officers were acquitted after being seen on videotape beating a black man (Rodney King). While this painting is aesthetic—the dark shadow, the all black human representations, and the blazing fire on the rooftop, the sheer simplicity of the painting—this art is symbolic of a very fragile time-period in American race relations. The plight of the African-American began with slavery in the 17^th century, the Jim Crow Era in the late 19^th century—which was triggered by the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments—culminating with the Civil Rights Movement, resulting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. BBB92 is symbolic of deterioration of race relations, and the African-American community realizing that some White Americans still viewed them as inferior—as hominids, as opposed to the advanced human species.