The Los Angeles “Race Riot” and Contemporary U.S Politics, Michael Omi and Howard Winant

In the book The Los Angeles “Race Riot” and Contemporary U.S Politics, Michael Omi and Howard Winant take a close look at the contradictory nature of George W. Bush’s statement following the LA riots in 1992 where he points out that “ ...the system perpetuates failure and hatred and poverty and despair.” This statement is out of character for Bush, who is known for his neoconservative values.  In a time of such chaos clearly divided along racial lines, this statement creates a false sense of hope that Bush is finally getting a grip of the structural issues with in the current system that has brought the city of Los Angeles to the state it is during the riot. The message meant to be delivered by this statement, however, is not that poor communities of color in inner cities are economically malnourished through many seemingly progressive measures that only further widen the wealth gap between specific racial and social classes. Bush flips such a simple and seemingly obvious statement to victim blame the poor for failing to fix their own problems and depending on the state for assistance. He indicates the system feeds into poverty because it nurtures a growing culture of poors that are personally irresponsible and feel entitled to be taken care of by the government with no real personal effort to support themselves.

The simplicity and irony in this system speaks to a larger theme at play, the disconnect between the frustrated poor communities of color and the affluent white men put in place to serve these communities. Omi and Howard draw attention to the fact that this issue is persistent across both the left and right American political ideologies, as Bill Clinton similarly implied there needs to be a better demonstration of responsibly from the poor. This leads to the ethical question whether politicians like Bush and Clinton in the ’90s and many more currently are truly blind to the system oppressive roots of America's enormous economy as they comfortably paint the millions of individuals that carry this economy on their back bones as they work tirelessly without reaping any benefit.

-Hanna Abuhay