Past & Present- 1992 LA Uprising Involved Deeper Issues than Police Brutality-Hanna Hasan

Hanna Hasan

April 16, 2018

PAST AND PRESENT OF THE 1992 LA UPRISING 

PAST:

ZOOT SUIT RIOTS-JUNE 1943:

Once African-Americans finally found a version of freedom through swing dancing, white officials slowly became angry and upset that minority freedom was on the verge to being normalized in the U.S. {One of the main causes of the L.A Uprising is that white superiority never went away by the 13th Amendment or from the Civil Rights Act; white supremacists always subconciously felt anxious and nervous when minorities started gaining rights so white supremacists did everything in their power to destroy the joy and fun from minorities} During the summer of 1943, zoot-suiters (mainly African-American and Latino Americans) who wore baggy suits were involved in physical fightings and riots with white sailors, soldiers and Marines stationed in L.A. The first recorded fight occurred on May 31 when Mexican Americans beat a U.S. sailor during a fight. This quickly resulted in a group of 50 sailors marching through downtown L.A carrying clubs and other weapons attacking and beating anyone who wore a zoot suit on June 3. From this day, riots and fights between white sailors and Latinos begun as the streets of LA started to erupt with open violence and surprising attacks.

The worst part about these racially motivated attacks is that even though the white sailors brutally attacked these Latino Americans and left their wounded/dead bodies lying on the street, the white officials would arrest the wounded/dying Latino VICTIMS instead of the U.S. sailors. This serves as a prime example of white privilege and "white officers handling the situation" by protecting their fellow white members instead of protecting the citizens of L.A. which is what led the foundation for the 1992 riots as police officers killed and attacked marginalized victims instead of attacking the authorities (or at least not participate in the violence since the police were the bad guys in this case).

PRESENT:

Unfortunately, police detest against African-Americans has not seen an end. The new lynching has now transformed into police brutality/killing and the mysterious vanishing of many young African-Americans (ex: Trayvon Martin-killed by a Latino because he "looked suspicious"). Even though his shooter was not white, violence targeted specifically towards African-Americans remains evident and to say that anyone can get killed regardless of race/ethnicity which is the "color-blind" ideology assumes that racism towards African-Americans does not still exist, which sadly it clearly does.

 The problem with the "color-blind" ideology is that white people have an advantage to using this technique since it masks the past centuries of abuse and racism that their ancestors may have done. It ignores the previously negative racial experiences of minorities and diminishes the value of cultural and ethnic appreciation. In a sense, this ideology is the easy way out for white people. Many black people respond to this ideology by saying "Look at my black skin, recognize my darkness and that it is different from yours" or some sort because we must acknowledge that we are all different, but what is wrong is that we are not all equal. 

This poem written by Cressana Williams-Massey shows her love for black skin:

 

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/poem-my-black-skin