STEPH CHA
I used to call it the 1992 Riot/Rebellion, but now I say the 1992 Rebellion. And as definitions have been refined over time by organizations such as Black Lives Matter, I think the concept of rioting as mindless destructive behavior will give way to more thoughtful analysis in mainstream media. NR: I don’t think either ’92 or ’65 can be simply defined. People acted for a variety of reasons. But the issue with using the word “riot” so easily, as much of the press does, is that it can suggest that there was no causality, no context. The ’65 unrest happened in direct response to a police stop gone bad in Watts — and decades of suppressive actions on the part of police toward African-American residents. The ’92 unrest happened in the wake of the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King — the beating that caused disgust and anger not just in Los Angeles, but all over the world. Each of these heartbreaking periods of civil unrest happened in response to precipitating events, which caused years of frustration, anger, belittlement, and despair to spill forth. And that frustration and anger was not just about the police, but more broadly about the lack of opportunity, racism, the systemic exclusion of entire sets of people. A lot of what happened was obviously terrible and destructive, and certainly there were individuals who took advantage of the chaos and acted in ways that had nothing to do with resistance. But I don’t want to dismiss the very real — and justified — pain and anger of entire communities by using language that oversimplifies what happened. SC: Could this happen again? Are we doing better than we were 25 years ago?
NR: We are doing better than 25 years ago, but not well enough. There is significant progress in South Los Angeles: real investment in infrastructure through projects like the new Metro Line, the soccer stadium, the Lucas museum, the new Martin Luther King Community Hospital, the Frank Gehry project my old organization is building in Watts. There is progressive political leadership, and entities like Community Coalition and L.A. Trade Tech are pushing real change, bridging racial divides, and thinking strategically about education and jobs. All of this can lead to economic opportunity and hope, which is the antidote to the despair that caused the unrest. And LAPD has made some real strides, too — partly through the prodding of civil rights attorneys like Connie Rice and tools like the federal consent decree, partly through a few key police leaders who have emphasized engagement over suppression. There’s a highly successful community-policing model, first started in Watts at the behest of resident leaders, that has been recognized by President Obama and is now being expanded to other parts of the city. In the areas where it’s operated, it’s led to huge decreases in violent crime and big increases in levels of trust between communities of color and the police. But these positive changes need to spread and continue. And policing is only part of the puzzle. The underlying issues of economic insecurity, educational quality, and lack of access still exist. There are other parts of L.A. county — the Northeast Valley, the Antelope Valley, and East Los Angeles among them — that are also struggling. And now there is the new layer of fear and insecurity around immigration. Could there be another civil disturbance? 203
