Past and Present: Identification with Power

The Korean/African American conflict in South Los Angeles and the 1992 riots is inextricable from conflict with white America. The struggle between the two communities of color cannot be understood without understanding their relationships to America and whiteness. The stereotypes and violence preceding the riots and destruction of predominantly Korean-owned property, the shooting of Latasha Harlins, and even the movement of both groups into Los Angeles were prefaced by interactions with white-determined racial ideologies. The image of African Americans as dangerous thieves was disseminated by white media, including images like the Willie Horton ad, which would come to symbolize anxieties about the “black criminal.” Even before the 1988 ad, Korea would absorb racist images during American occupation and involvement in the Korean War; caricatures and racist performances including blackface emerged in Korea as a result. For Korean American immigrants, the American dream (in a black-white dichotomy) would be achieved by distinguishing themselves from blackness.

Similarly, resentment among African Americans for immigrant Asian communities was sowed by white media that portrayed them simultaneously as “model minorities” and greedy, foreign merchants. By presenting Asian Americans as successful in spite of their non-whiteness, black struggles were attributed to the neoliberal ideology of a lack of personal responsibility. While Korean immigrants were encouraged to identify with whites by virtue of being non-black, black Americans were encouraged to identify with whites in being American. Korean and Latino immigrants to Los Angeles were presented as foreigners who stole American jobs and were met with xenophobia a result.

For these reasons, it’s necessary to understand that the Korean/black narrative in the L.A. riots did not take place in a vacuum. The conflict was preceded by a long history of oppression, reflected and symbolized by these stereotypes and images. When convenient, both groups were encouraged to identify with ideas of white American privilege, at the expense of one another and without benefit.

Nick Yi