Monday is the 10th Anniversary of the
LA Uprising, aka the LA Riots. Ten years ago, LAPD police officers were on trial for violently beating Rodney King. Caught on video tape, the incident appeared to be open and shut: the popular consensus was "excessive force." So was the first judgment.
The case was appealed and sent to a jury in
Simi Valley, a bedroom community renowned for being the home of many police officers. There, the officers were acquitted.
Los Angeles, then other cities, broke out in violence, and people began looting stores, many Korean owned. The Los Angeles Uprising would become the pivotal event of the 1990's, and still resonates today. In the Korean community, the event is called "Sa-I-Gu" (April 29) and was the community's definitive experience, both in the national consciousness, and within itself. For African Americans, it was a media nightmare, of negative imagery, of a recapitulation of the old homilies about race relations. In fact, the sites of conflict were, as always, in demographic flux.
Today, perhaps even more than in 1992, racial profiling is being exposed as a tool of social oppression that stands in the way of justice. Whether the issue is "driving while black/brown" or being a Muslim person from the Middle East, juvenile sentencing or death row, race relations are being discussed in terms of people of color interfacing with law enforcement and institutional power.
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Artwork: Art For A Change
[ Commemorative student event at UCLA | Biblography of the LA Uprising | Survey on Public Opinion About the Uprising ]
