Underlying Causes Of The 1992 LA Riots

Cynthia Desantiago

Professor Zapata

English 1A

25 November 2014

Underlying Causes of the 1992 LA Riots

The 1992 Los Angeles riots were not just about the beating of Rodney King, they were also about more significant issues of economic and social oppression that had existed for years. The riots were sparked by the police beating of Rodney King, a construction worker, who had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery. The California Highway Patrol attempted to begin a traffic stop, a pursuit later ensued after he failed to stop. After he pulled over; four police officers began to beat him with batons while he lay on the ground. The police officers claimed that King was under the influence of PCP at the time of his arrest, which causes

Nevertheless; the jury acquitted all four police officers of assault. The riots started the day of the acquittal of the police officers; a crowd started to gather outside the courthouse and eventually moved to other places. Some intersections were looted and crowds started attacking people and vehicles. Reginald Denny, a truck driver, was driving his truck in an intersection when he was pulled out from the vehicle by a group of black men; they knocked him in the head with a hammer, brick and other objects; almost killing him. A news helicopter that was flying above, broadcasted the beating live on TV. This lead to Denny being rescued by a black civilian named Bobby Green Jr. Small-business owners became victims of looting, theft and arson. Stores owned by Latinos, Koreans, and other Asian ethnicities were widely targeted. During the riots; 53 people died and as many as 2,000 people were injured. Property damage was

The not guilty verdict may have been the last straw, but the riots were not just about Rodney King, they were about bigger issues. Some people believed that racism and years of police brutality was the main cause of the riots. I agree that the underlying cause of the L.A riots was the years of abuse that many African Americans took from the police. The rage between African Americans and the police had been building up between residents of Los Angeles and after the acquittal of the police officers; they believed that police even when caught on tape, could get away with such cruelty. “L.A.'s black community was prepared to explode by an earlier incident. 13 days after the Rodney King Beating, Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old black girl, was shot and killed by a Korean liquor store owner in an altercation over a bottle of orange juice” (The 1992 Los Angeles Riots). Soon Ja Du, the liquor store owner, Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter but wasn’t given any prison time; was only sentenced to five years probation for the killing of Latasha Harlings. “For many poorer African Americans, the verdict was an outrage, and became a symbol of what they considered decades of economic colonialism by Korean store owners who operated in black neighborhoods” (L.A.'s Darkest