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Summary of Gridlock of Rage- The Watts and Rodney King Riots By-Scott Saul for History of Los Angeles with Professor Leal...

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Professor Leal 1. A Journey into the mind of Watts a. On August 11, 1965, Marquette Frye was pulled over by the highway patrol for speeding and suspicion of drunk driving. b. A violent confrontation broke out involving the Watts community and soon a larger surrounding area over the next six days. i. “Residents openly challenged the forces of law and order, stoning police officers, looting businesses, and burning storefronts to the ground with the then-novel device of the Molotov cocktail.” c. The death of a sheriff's officer, Deputy Ronald Ludlow, on August 13 i. This marked a turning point where the community revolt against the police shifted into the police against the community. d. The National Guard being deployed marked the end. e. 34 people had died, 1,032 had been wounded, and 3,952 had been arrested; with property damage being estimated at over $40 million. 2. The first wave of Intellectual Works a. The McCone Report (1695) i. Underplayed the amount of blacks partaking in the riots and disregarded the allegations of police brutality. ii. “Device ... [of] our adversaries, those who would like to destroy the freedom that this country stands for.” - had a negative response.” b. Robert Fogelson (1969) i. Brought a counter argument to the table saying that “looting and burning” were “articulate protests against genuine grievances and, as such, meaningful protests against the south central ghetto.” ii. “Demolish this “riff- raff” theory, contending that many more blacks were involved – between three and eight times the McCone Report’s estimate – and that the riot itself was understood sympathetically by the mainstream of the black community.” iii. “The new urban blacks” who were the riot’s “shock troops” these young Los Angeles rioters were better educated and more hope about their career prospects. Also they were more suspicious of the white media, more skeptical about the redress they could achieve through conventional channels, more aware of civil rights organizing outside of Los Angeles c. “A sense that the riot expressed legitimate grievances about police brutality, merchant exploitation, lack of political representation, and the like.” 3. The Second wave of Intellectual Works a. The Rodney King riots once again brought the Watts Riots under further analysis, now with a broader political and cultural perspective and with a focus on the changes formed from it. b. Jeanne Theoharis (2006) i. Provides an account of state-supported discrimination against blacks, and the effects of the Riot on local, national, and international politics. c. Josh Sides (2003) i. Suggests a tale of class and generational fragmentation in the black community.

ii. “That the enormity of the event obscured, to contemporary observers and subsequent scholars alike, the many more profound and enduring political and economic transformations reshaping black Los Angeles in the 1960s” 4. What's Missing? a. The connection between black women and the Watts riots. i. Such as Charlotta Bass and Marnesba Tackett who led progressive grassroots campaigns before Watts and young black women who were more active in the riot than black men over thirty. ii. “And despite the fact that black women spearheaded welfare rights organizing after the riot through institutions like the Watts Women’s Organization, Mothers Anonymous, the Welfare Recipients Union, and the Neighborhood Adult Participation Program. -but they too confronted state power and set an important precedent for the cross-ethnic organizing of poor and working-class Angelenos (Marchevsky, forthcoming).” b. Viewpoint of the LAPD street cops, and even less is the dialogue by the informers and counter-subversives of their intelligence division. i. “Journalists have been more interested than historians in detailing the evolution of Chief Parker’s LAPD as a “paramilitary organization whose efficiency was its pride and discipline its obsession” – an organization so commanding and independent that Ed Davis declined to run for mayor in the 1970s because he felt he had more power as LAPD chief “ c. In the process, we might arrive at a new sense of the interplay between suburbanization and urbanization in postwar Los Angeles, and the clash of ideologies involved. 5. 1992 Los Angeles and LAPD a. Chief of Police i. Daryl Gates- trained by former LAPD Chief William Parker b. Trigger Happy Police Force i. 2x more civilian killings than the next deadliest police department c. Operation Hammer i. Rounding up Blacks and Latinos in order to crack down on gangs and the crack trade ii. By the end half of Black LA residents between 21-24 were categorized as gang members 6. Early 1990s Los Angeles a. Reaganomics i. Subsidized Housing and Job Training ii. Federal budget slashed from 18% in 1977 to 2% by 1985 b. Redevelopment of Los Angeles i. Mayor Bradley wanted LA to be an Economic Hub of the Pacific Rim ii. City invested most of its money into the Los Angeles Port, Airports, and revitalizing Downtown Los Angeles iii. Investing so much money into those three sections left no money for South LA whose unemployment was 30%, higher than the Watts Riots iv. 1990 Census 40% of South LA residents labeled as “not in the labor force”

v. Competition between Blacks and low wage labor from Mexico and Central America vi. Middle Class families left South LA for San Bernardino and Riverside 7. Soon Ja Du a. Korean merchant who killed Latasha Harlins i. Soon Ja Du- convicted of manslaughter, paid a 500 dollar fine, no prison time served ii. Angered the African American Community 8. Rodney King a. Black America pulled over after a high speed chase i. Officers Wind, Powell, Koon, Briseno beat Rodney King ii. All charged with assault and use of excessive force iii. Trial moved to Simi Valley due to its high priority in LA iv. Majority white jury acquitted all four LAPD Officers 9. City on Fire a. Who was targeted? i. Latinos 1. Black Americans felt that Latinos were taking away their jobs and displacing them in South LA 2. 30% of businesses destroyed were Latino owned 3. Distinction between South LA Latino residents and East LA Latinos, most in South LA were from Central America and 80% were foreign born. ii. Korean-Americans 1. Angered by the murder of Latasha Harlins and their “invasion” of South LA businesses a. Many had business in South LA and many Black Americans felt they were invading their neighborhoods because most businesses were no longer black owned but Korean owned. 10. After the Riots a. Rebuilding of Los Angeles i. A private organization that looked to get private development in South Los Angeles to rebuild it ii. Watts Riots led to more federal funds being available to anti-poverty programs, but RLA was based on market forces. iii. The program failed to get the 6 Billion in investment it wanted and later became a non-profit organization iv. Most new businesses in South LA were small businesses opened by Latinos not huge corporations. b. New Mayor i. Mayor Tom Bradley did not run for reelection and Mayor Richard Riordan a Republican was elected 1. He was tough on crime and focused on Law and Order 2. Expanded the LAPD without raising taxes

3. Began an anti-gang injunction used to surveillance the Pico-Union area 11. Similarities between the Watts Riots and The King Riots a. Both were sparked from LAPD’s use of excessive force i. The Police Department under the leaderships of Police Chief William Parker and Daryl Gates ii. Prided themselves in the use of aggressive tactics, militarization, as well as its independence from civilian oversight iii. LAPD earned a reputation under Gates for it’s high rate of police killings that doubled that of second most lethal police department. b. Lack of Social Justice i. Anger in the Watts riots due to the failure of legitimate channels to address issues such as desegregation in schools and housing ii. The 1992 riots were fueled by rulings in the Soon Ja Do and Rodney King court cases iii. These cases showed an unequal application of the law in which some members of society were protected and other were pursued with harsh minimum sentencing. c. Economic Hardships i. In both cases we see the industrialization either moving away from the city or the industrialization of selective areas that caused unemployment rates to rise, which especially hit African Americans. ii. Competition with low skilled migrant workers who often took minimal paying jobs iii. Middle class minorities moving away from their communities also took much needed capital away and stunted economic development. iv. Social Welfare programs v. The watts riots sought the expansion of the programs and the 1992 riots was a response to huge slashes in funding to social welfare programs. 12. 1965 Watts riots vs. 1992 Rodney King Riots a. Multiracial conflicts in the Rodney King Riots

i. In contrast to the Watts riots that were a conflict between LAPD and the African American community, in the 1992 riots we saw violence directed at Korean, and Latinos. ii. Many Korean store owners took arms in the absence of police response to their stores being looted and burned. iii. Latino businesses and people were also a target. iv. People of color who were deemed foreign were targeted. v. Watts: 26 of 32 deaths were cause by LAPD vi. King Riots: 6 of the 54 deaths were caused by LAPD vii. This was consistent with anti-immigrant vigilantism in California viii. A large number if illegal immigrants were rounded up and deported during the 1992 riots. 13. Main Arguments a. The article Argues that High unemployment rates which reached 30% among young African Americans in the 1992 riots coupled with failed economic policies that disproportionately affected minorities and led them to the streets.

i. Unemployment rates were higher then in the Watts riots, which shows the inaction to address the grievances that ultimately led to the 1992 riots. ii. Police brutality was the spark that initially started both riots. iii. Discontent with the criminal justice system, which criminalized the poor with policies like Operation Hammer, which criminalized almost 50% of all African American males between the ages of 21-24. iv. Black residents during the watts riots were facing a daunting uphill battle to desegregate schools and housing. v. The article also argues that the riots were a response after the exhaustion of all legal ways of trying to make changes with no avail. This left them to take action with “Politics of the last resort” and demonstrate violently to voice their frustration. vi. These form of political protest galvanized communities of colors to band together and from multiracial coalitions to advocate on behalf of the poor and working class. 14. Why Isn’t Los Angeles Burning? a. “New Ecology of Power” i. Minority groups are able to take control of institutions when absolutely necessary and prevent violent political movements. ii. White flight has mitigated the conflicts within cities as boundaries are dissolved b. “Manage Marginalization” i. By assimilating the elites from different minority groups creates the notion of inclusion. ii. Racialized groups become consumers and thus concealing their secondclass status as people of color. iii. The militarization of police departments and the mass incarceration of young people of color allows for better control from powerful white elites. c. Leveraging Social Control i. The use of immigrant labor and using their legal status to exploit them....