Causes of the 1992 LA riots

Causes of the 1992 LA Riots

On April 29, 1992, mounting disparity that was strung through the city of Los Angeles erupted in fearsome riots that shook the city. On the heels of the Los Angeles uprising came riots in Detroit, Washington D.C, New York and other urban centres, redefining the civil rights movement (Unknown NY Times Authors, 1992 p.22). Following the Summer of 1967, President Johnson created a commission that concluded America was in fact in two nations: one black, one white, separate and unequal (Unknown NY Times Authors, 1992 p.22). Racism is seen as the driving force behind social, economic and political inequalities that are seen in Los Angeles (Maclean, 2009 p.2). This separation between Blacks and whites is a Long-term issue and can be seen to take its true shape in the 1960s (Maclean, 2009 p.2). The death of Martin Luther King changed the face of the civil rights movement to a more intolerant and violent force (Maclean, 2009 p.2).

Old NY Times Building

English: Downtown Los Angeles as seen from my Amer...

South Los Angeles

As Blacks slowly got more of a foothold in politics, obstacles in areas such as housing and employment continued to live on (Unknown NY Times Authors, 1992 p.22). Sparest groups such as the Blank Panthers arose, which heightened resistance to police brutality (Unknown NY Times Authors, 1992 p.22). The movement then took on other groups that were victims of discrimination, including Jews and people of Asian orientation. However, the gap remained and continued to grow (Unknown NY Times Authors, 1992 p.22). Approaching the 90s, Los Angeles was still a place of discrimination and difference, and it was only a matter of time before it was to be tolerated no more.

The civil rights movement shifted to a new phase in 1968. With the assassination of Martin Luther King, the dreams of the generation had become poisoned (Unknown...