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While I agree with what you've written, I'd suspect that 98% of the rioters were from the black community and it evolved into looting stores just because of the lawlessness in the Black community and not for a specific reason.
Not true.
My neighborhood (not "the hood") was affected and we had stores looted and burned down. By the second morning (a Thursday) it was no longer an all Black "event". That's when everyone knew it was no longer a racial protest against the LAPD. It was a free-for-all of lawlessness in the streets.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 04-30-2012 at 09:11 AM..
I never liked that Korean Guy in 'Falling Down', why didn't he just give Michael Douglas some change for the phone. I certainly won't be using his shop.
I might have agreed 2 years ago. People were saying that anyone would riot under the circumstances, but Japan proved all of that reasoning to be a bunch of nonsense.
No rioting in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. A few looters and they were dealt with locally. Only unrest in the black sections where folks did not wish to que in line for rations. That is when the NG had to fix bayonets to control the crowd. NG had no live ammo. I was there.
People can turn into animals but the more civilized you are the longer it takes. Some folk a lot closer to that moment of inertia.
My neighborhood (not "the hood") was affected and we had stores looted and burned down. By the second morning (a Thursday) it was no longer an all Black "event". That's when everyone knew it was no longer a racial protest against the LAPD. It was a free-for-all of lawlessness in the streets.
Your exactly right, my poor husband back then, had to work down town, in that cesspool. He said i remember it looked like a ghostown, with burned buildings everywhere, and things in the streets, froom looting. There were also other areas affected as well.
But all that really matters now, is that is behind us, and i beleive that the community, black and korean alike, are putting those riots behind them, in order to move forward and i believe so many have. Although i do know some korean businessess who never after that reopened their stores, they lost everything, and when i say everything, i mean everything. They were really sweet hard working people, yes i knew some.
I don't care what anyone thought about the koreans, they did not have to lose everything in their life they worked for, and infact 53 people died in those riots. At least they beleived in hard work ethics.
And no unlike what some say, not every korean business was opened again. I knew many who could not. And their life after the riots were completely shattered.
I was living in the Miracle Mile area during the Civil Unrest in Los Angeles.
I remember the curfews and the national guard and the plumes of smoke that could be seen from the rooftop pool terrace of my apartment building. Not only could I turn on CNN, I could view new fires being set all over town from my vantage point. My relatives back east were going nuts thinking I was in the middle of Armageddon.
I saw people of all different ethnicities looting stores, people driving around in brand new Benzes with boxes stuffed inside of their autos.
As the fires raged around the city it became less and less about unfair treatment of minorities by the police and the Rodney King verdict, and just disintegrated into a grab-all-you-can festival of thousands of people stealing whatever wasn't tied down, many of them had no idea who Rodney King was or what they were stealing for, they were just in it for the sport and because everyone else was doing it.
As we recall the events 20 years ago, let's also not forget the Korean shop owners who had people from the neighborhoods where they had stores (mostly black people, and some latinos) who stood SENTRY ON OVERNIGHT WATCHES NEXT TO THOSE SHOP OWNERS and PROTECTED THEIR BUILDINGS FROM BEING LOOTED AND BURNED.
Don't forget Edward James Olmos who went on local Los Angeles television and said, "That's ENOUGH, it's time to clean up this city". The city in the aftermath CAME TOGETHER to CLEAN UP THE MESS that was left behind. There were many individuals, who came from "the valley", and other parts of the city, church groups, community groups who CAME TO CLEAN UP AND PAINT OVER THE DESTRUCTION when all was over.
This city isn't the cesspool some of you want to make it out to be, it's not perfect here, but when things really seem the most difficult and insurmountable with regard to "so called race-relations" in Los Angeles, when it really counts, this city comes together and people help each other.
As the fires raged around the city it became less and less about unfair treatment of minorities by the police and the Rodney King verdict, and just disintegrated into a grab-all-you-can festival of thousands of people stealing whatever wasn't tied down, many of them had no idea who Rodney King was or what they were stealing for, they were just in it for the sport and because everyone else was doing it.
Exactly right.
God Bless Edward James Olmos for picking up a broom, saying "Enough!" and being the man who went out and started sweeping the glass out of the street.
We did the same thing.
Some of us will always credit him for stopping the insanity.
Interesting article. What stands out to me is the police confiscating the Korean businessmen's guns; scary. Could this happen again? Its a shame that present day politics rewards those who loot and burn and punishes those who produce. Seriously f-ed up stuff here, folks.
it goes to show that cops really are not looking out for anyone except themselves. it is high time to get rid of most police that are in fact more like the military than the law enforcement that they are supposed to be.
No excuses just observations and facts. I’m a black business owner and no first hand what the issues are when trying to get set up. Unlike you I have experience and knowledge with this subject and not just right wing brain washing propaganda Pamphlets What are your credentials on this topic?
Nice try but you’re wrong as usual. I’m not giving excuses for what happened just explaining the events that lead up to it. A spark ignited a power keg of bottled up rage and then things elevated when opportunist multiplied. I’ve lived in LA my whole life, I was there and know what happened and why. Were you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostrider275452
Please, blaming police and white people is no excuse for what happened. Maybe if Rodney wasn't drunk, on PCP and speeding in excess of 100 mph and Blacks realized what a piece of crap he was, there would have been no riots.
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What are your credentials on this topic? 
