The Los Angeles Riots of 1992
The Los Angeles riots were a release of pressure that had build up from the innocent charging of Officer Laurence M. Powell and other Police officers that "Used excessive force" on Rodney King on March 3, 1991, but that was not the only reason.(8) In the words of a singer singing about the riots "They said it was for the black man, they said it was for the Mexican, but not for the white man, but if you look at the streets it wasn't about Rodney King, It's bout this f****d up situation and the f****n' police."(9) Did the riots even have anything to do with King? Was King a minor reason for this to happen, or did King put the level of pressure right over the top? Whatever way you see it, the fact is that on April 29, 1992, anarchy was set free in Los Angeles and before the papers could write about the happenings in this city of angels, the writing on the walls could tell it all.
Reginald Denny, a truck driver that was driving through the area of hate, stopped his truck and was pulled from his seat only to be beaten by a group of African Americans, was smiled at for his stupidity. Did Reginald Denny deserve to be beaten as much as King did? Many people that participated in the riot believed so, even though those were the same people that felt that that King was wrongly treated. Was this feeling of revenge produced by racism or fair 'take a hit, leave a hit' that would be forgotten once the pain was the same for everyone? Unfortunately, revenge never finds its own way to normal, humankind always wants to be 'one up' on the competition. The system of LA seemed to be falling apart at the thought of "Blacks" getting unfair treatment under the same conditions. The fact that "Blacks" were the ones that put him into the hospital did not make Physicians Madison Richardson and Lawrence Goodwin slow on their efforts to reconstruct Denny's skull, face bone fractures and eye injuries.(3)
The Nike store in West Hollywood lost around 25,000 from being closed and for being a target for looters, but this was nothing compared to the $1.2 billion in damage claims of the Oakland Hills fire. Worst hit LA areas include Hollywood, Koreatown, and the Crenshaw District, but San Francisco and Atlanta were also hurt from mass rioting, maybe caused by the same reason, or maybe caused because everyone had a reason.(6) Should anyone be held responsible for what happened? Of course not, a city can't charge so many people of such a thing, but no one that was economically hurt will forget.
The rioters were responsible for destroying two bookstores and a library. The Aquarian Bookshop was possibly the oldest black-owned bookshop in the U.S.. At the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and S. Western Ave. the Pathfinder Press's building was burnt down to the ground. Specializing in black studies and known for its publishing's of the famous Malcolm X, Che Guevara and even Nelson Mandela, its being well known was the reason for thousands of dollars in donations and people from the nearby area volunteered their backs to get the new storefront up and running. Ironically in the nearby area were the same people that burnt it down.(4)
The Broadway in Crenshaw Plaza was unable to open until Wednesday due to being one of the ones hardest hit by looters. This same Broadway began setting up a system to distribute food and clothing to those that became victims. Other stores in the same plaza demanded the Los Angeles Police Department and the National Guard when they opened on Monday. "People still have shopping to do, especially as we head into Mother's Day next Sunday," General Manager Larry Beermann said, knowing that the people of the city didn't shop during the weekend.(5)
Many of the businesses that were damaged in the chaos did not have insurance. This was because of the high rates that would squeeze if not empty the pockets of businesses that didn't have a "good year." Of the uninsured 44% blamed premium cost, 17% said it was not "Obtainable," and 4% said agents wouldn't quote rates for the area, add these numbers up and you will find that 61% of the businesses that were damaged were uninsured.(1) Unlike Car insurance, businesses have the choice to insure their hard work or run their luck and save some money with the possibility of what did happen.
Many African Americans bare a deep hate towards 'whites' for the fact that generations of their ancestors were held slaves on plantations even though them, nor their parents were ever enslaved, but the story's were still passed down, and still will be. All 'whites' were not to blame for this, only the plantation owning and slave shipping 'whites' are, if any. So next time you hear someone use 'whites' as a tags for a plantation owner, correct them, some 'whites' family trees have no one that came over to the United States until the mid or late 1900's.
The well-trained LAPD feared having to come in and try to stop something more powerful than they could handle, so the National Guard was called to stop the three days of unrest.(7) Armed with riot controlling equipment such as gas bullets and full body armor, obviously, the US President and the governor of California knew how powerful their hand of power was, it is only tragic that they had to make that choice. Perhaps in the future such a choice, even one that will help, will never be needed.
Bibliography
- Haggerty, A G., (1993, July 5) LA riot survey finds cover dear or unavailable. National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, 3, n27
- Kirkland, Richard I., (1992, Oct) The LA riot and the economy: classes and jobs. Current, 21, n346
- Jet Magazine, (1992, June 1) Skill of black doctors helped save life of LA riot victim Reginald Denny. Jet, 51, v82 n6
- O'Brien, Maureen, (1992, May 11) Bookstores, libraries destroyed in LA riot. Publishers Weekly, 9, v239 n22
- Marlow, Michel, (1992, May 5) LA aftermath WWD, p21, v163 n88
- Wojcik, Joanne, (1992, May 4) LA riot damage costliest in history: losses to top $200 million; most damage in likely insured. Business Insurance, 1, v26 n18
- Shoemaker, A., James, C., King, L., Hardin, E., Ordog G. (1993, Dec 15) Urban violence in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the riots: a perspective from health care professionals, with implications for social reconstruction. JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2833, v270 n23
- National Review Magazine, (1993, Nov 15) Crime without punishment. National Review, 14, v45 n22
- "April 29, 1992," Sublime, Sublime MCA Records, 1995
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