West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Tha G-Spot => Topic started by: Kill on October 05, 2004, 04:59:01 AM
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I still have the newspapers from the riots back on April 29th. '92
Florence and Normandie the infamous intersection.
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Synopsis
On April 29, 1992, in Los Angeles, California, the United States witnessed one of the largest riots in its history. A jury in Sylmar, California had rendered their verdict of a controversial case involving the beating of a black man named Rodney King by four white policemen. The twelve jurors had decided to acquit three of the four officers accused of police brutality, which caused a tremendous uproar. Many African-Americans took to the streets of South Central Los Angeles to demonstrate frustrations of economic deprivation and most importantly, racial injustice. This infamous incident, known as the L.A. Riots, lasted for more than forty-eight hours and was responsible for millions of dollars in damage, over fifty deaths, thousands of injuries, and the dispatch of 2,000 National Guard troops and 4,500 federal troops.
Many first hand witnesses of the riots described the event as full of chaos and carnage. Rioters looted stores and then set them on fire. Some of the scenes were so dangerous that fire fighters were not able to extinguish flames set by the frenzy. Large numbers of police officers had to protect the fire fighters from rioters as the firemen battled flames that encroached other parts of the city.(L.A. lawless. p26(4). [Online])
Reporters also experienced violence. When radio broadcaster Bob Brill tried to cover the riot on location, rioters attacked him. "Before he knew it, a full bottle of beer exploded on the side of his face, knocking him to the ground, where people kicked and beat him. Brill suffered a cracked skull, a perforated eardrum, and a broken thumb."(Columbia Journalism Review, "Get the hell out of here!" p23(3). [Online])
Another instance of violence was caught on camera by a news helicopter that focused its camera on Reginald Denny, a white truck driver who was pulled from his vehicle and nearly beaten to death. He had to have brain surgery to repair damage done by his attackers.
Whites and reporters, however, were not the only targets of violence during the riot. Many Asian-owned (mainly Korean) businesses were specifically attacked. Bad relations between the African American community and the Korean community had risen from "a perception that Korean merchants have been exploiting poor neighborhoods by establishing shops in ghetto areas while refusing to hire blacks to work in them." (L.A. lawless. p26(4). [Online]) It is also noteworthy to mention that many African American-owned businesses were destroyed, despite some shop owners attempts at putting signs on their shop doors stating "This is a black-owned store."
When the violence quelled, many fingers pointed blame at the Police Chief Daryl Gates. He was accused of slowly responding to the riots. Though his force contains 7800 officers, hardly any of them were seen in the beginning of violence.
How the Three Theories Apply
Le Bon's Theory
The Los Angeles Riots prove that individuals act differently when in collective action compared to when isolated. The instances of violence by rioters where reporters were attacked, where stores were looted and burned, and where innocent bystanders were beaten and murdered only highlights that people regress to a more primitive state of mind when caught up in focused crowds. These rioters in the L.A. incident became part of a collective emotion that caused each person whom participated in the barbarian like behavior to temporarily lose reasoning capabilities that they display in daily life.
For example, when Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, stopped at a red light in the neighborhood where the first riot erupted, at least five black men pulled Denny from his truck, bashed him with the vehicle's fire extinguisher, punched him and stole his wallet. Another fired a shotgun into him at close range. As a blood-soaked Denny called for help, he was hit with beer bottles and kicked in the head. Denny was eventually rescued by four black bystanders and taken to a hospital, where he underwent four hours of brain surgery. The rioters acted violently and primitively towards Denny because he was white, and almost killed him. Any reasonable and cultivated human being would realize that murder is an ultimate taboo in society and morally wrong. However, because the individuals in the riots were part a collective action, they lost all humane-like attributes, including the respect and concern for other's lives.
Contagion Theory
When the verdict of the Rodney King case was released, many African Americans felt angered and discriminated against, especially in South Central Los Angeles and in neighboring areas. When African Americans and others formed crowds to protest the court's decision, many of the individuals in the crowd became hypnotized by the collective energy that was occurring. They became excited and rowdy and eventually extremely violent. Due to the large amount of people, individuals within the crowd felt anonymous. This anonymity allowed rioters to break established norms or laws without punishment, and thus, all social accountability and responsibility for their actions diminished, allowing rioters to act as they pleased. In doing so, they could easily persuade others to copy, causing large amounts of chaos. (The American Journal of Sociology, p.173)
An example of this loss of social accountability through the affects of being almost anonymous in a collective crowd is the looting and torching that took place in Los Angeles. As more and more people broke into stores, stealing what they could, it became an established norm of the moment. Individuals were not only anonymous in the crowd but also in the action of looting. Because there were so many norms broken, including looting, individuals participating in this activity realized that they would not likely be punished or discovered by law enforcement.
Convergence Theory
The riots in Los Angeles seem irrational without direction. However, this is not entirely true. For instance, individuals angered by the outcome of the Rodney King case convened to form a large collective crowd that contained similar emotions and ideals towards the outcome of the trial. The protesters, wanting to be heard, realized that behavior that broke strict norms and laws were the most likely action they could create to capture the attention of the rest of the country. It is important to note that most of the rioters were initially African-Americans who felt discriminated and harassed by the Los Angeles Police Department. By ignoring laws and creating temporary anarchy, the rioters were able to get the attention of the media and concurrently the rest of the United States. This awareness that was created allowed the revealing of past police brutalities against African Americans and ultimately gave the rioters a voice in their concerns with the corruption in the LAPD.
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i wasnt even in the USA at that time
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thanx Twista, props
anybody else, or anybody who saw shit himself?
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i was 14 when the riots went down. i grew up by florence n vermont, which is about 4 blocks from were the riots started. when they started though i was in south gate watching everything on the news and i remember we werent able to go home because of that. i remember on the way home the next day, just seeing all those clouds of smoke from all of the buildings that got set on fire. the things i remember about the next day is going to this shopping center on florence n figueroa, theres a burger king in the corner which is still there and a bunch of other stores around it, well we went to go check out that center and the owner of the burger king was on the roof with a shotgun pionting it at anyone that got near it, but all the stores around it got burned down. i also remember going to another shopping center on slauson and vermont that has a kmart in it, that center was surrounded by the national guard. just watching 5 cops crammed into 1 car, seeing about 70% of stores on vermont between florence and 92nd st burned down. that was some crazy shit to see
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I remember EVERYONE was scared of it coming for East(where I live). I'm only about 20 minutes east of the city, so a lot of people thought for sure it was gonna spread out. L.A. was off limits for us, LOL. We didn't visit family until everything died down. Tons of looting, I do remember that. But I was a young buck then, I really didn't care. I thought it was kinda cool.
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I remember EVERYONE was scared of it coming for East(where I live). I'm only about 20 minutes east of the city, so a lot of people thought for sure it was gonna spread out. L.A. was off limits for us, LOL. We didn't visit family until everything died down. Tons of looting, I do remember that. But I was a young buck then, I really didn't care. I thought it was kinda cool.
i agree... we had just moved from El Monte (in the SGV) to Azusa. We still had ties to El Monte and people were scared that it would spread out. I too thought it was kinda cool, but looking back, I'm sure it would have been a bad situation.
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i wasnt even in the USA at that time
where were you? where are you from? ???
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^ LOL? ???
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russia
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ohhhh, all this time I thought you were American lol 8)
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i am... russian american.. im a citizen..
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for the record that picture doesnt help explain things.
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i am... russian american.. im a citizen..
Well yeah, but what I meant was I didn't know you were originally from another country 8)
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thanx to everybody who posted sumthin. anybody else?
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i agree... we had just moved from El Monte (in the SGV) to Azusa. We still had ties to El Monte and people were scared that it would spread out. I too thought it was kinda cool, but looking back, I'm sure it would have been a bad situation.
That's whats up. You still stay in Azusa?
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Damon "Football" Williams was killed at a nightclub earlier this year.
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I was in the Valley the entite time (North Hollywood) but you could see the smoke from all over LA county and smell it. I did see some guys loot a few stores in my area though. Nothing big.
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I'm still looting here and the hurricane was 2 weeks ago. lol
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I'm still looting here and the hurricane was 2 weeks ago. lol
Get a big screen or a couch for me
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lol couch...they hard to come-by nowadays?
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Nah, the one I have now is really uncomfortable and I'm cheap ;D
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i agree... we had just moved from El Monte (in the SGV) to Azusa. We still had ties to El Monte and people were scared that it would spread out. I too thought it was kinda cool, but looking back, I'm sure it would have been a bad situation.
That's whats up. You still stay in Azusa?
Nah man... we ended up moving back to El Monte... my family is still there, but I'm in Boston now. But I make sure to hit up El Monte and the SGV about every 3 months or so.
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i had a personal experience..
my cousin marquis got his teeth knocked out durin this shit... at 1 of the toys r us stores.. i was with with him and like 10 of his homies...they 15-17..im the youngest 12..i dont know how we ended up at toys r us.. but we ran in thru the backdoor as they was recievin stock or whatever.. i didnt know they was finna start lootin, so im jus in the there..
they runnin im back by the tyco playin wit a display..sumthin told me to look, this nigga rydin down the aisle on a murray 10speed, with 2 my pet monster dolls and some more shit..he was finna make it back out the back door on the ramp...he was like come on t come on t.. i ran behind him.. some how i beat him outside.. im near a disel.. then i see this nigga comin like he was pee-herman feet on the side of the bike..gettin ready to jump and run ..out the door..with all that shit.. im jus lookin heart thumpin..
he damn near out the door..1 of the black truck drivers blind sided him..nigga was in the air 4 a hour.,..it seemed..and all i saw was him lookin dead in my eyes as he literally bit the rail that goes up the ramp.. nigga teeth out of there... all i heard was loud ass mariah carey like note..
i jus caught out runnin...im like fuck that nigga.. kuz his folks r meaner than the boogyman ..and i get blamed 4 his fuck ups( im the nigga who is always darin niggas and shit)..and all they need to do was find out i was wit him..and im up shit creek..so i jus left..
he was the only 1 who attempted to make it out the back..the other dudes went out the front..and nuthin happen.. now he walkin around with a metal plate 4 a gumline...
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Nah man... we ended up moving back to El Monte... my family is still there, but I'm in Boston now. But I make sure to hit up El Monte and the SGV about every 3 months or so.
Coo. Happy you don't gotta deal with Azusa 13 no more? LOL.
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LMAO at Twista and Sik.
Hook me up with summen, you know I cant go out during this shit.
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Those foos will trip on anyone. They popped trunk on my and the homies once. None of us even bang or look like bangers. Oh well. LMAO. EMF is little easier to deal with, but they're knuckleheads too.
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Those foos will trip on anyone. They popped trunk on my and the homies once. None of us even bang or look like bangers. Oh well. LMAO. EMF is little easier to deal with, but they're knuckleheads too.
talkin shit foo! ...lol...
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Those foos will trip on anyone. They popped trunk on my and the homies once. None of us even bang or look like bangers. Oh well. LMAO. EMF is little easier to deal with, but they're knuckleheads too.
talkin shit foo! ...lol...
:cheers:
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my cousin marquis got his teeth knocked out durin this shit... at 1 of the toys r us stores.. i was with with him and like 10 of his homies...they 15-17..im the youngest 12..i dont know how we ended up at toys r us.. but we ran in thru the backdoor as they was recievin stock or whatever.. i didnt know they was finna start lootin, so im jus in the there..
they runnin im back by the tyco playin wit a display..sumthin told me to look, this nigga rydin down the aisle on a murray 10speed, with 2 my pet monster dolls and some more shit..he was finna make it back out the back door on the ramp...he was like come on t come on t.. i ran behind him.. some how i beat him outside.. im near a disel.. then i see this nigga comin like he was pee-herman feet on the side of the bike..gettin ready to jump and run ..out the door..with all that shit.. im jus lookin heart thumpin..
he damn near out the door..1 of the black truck drivers blind sided him..nigga was in the air 4 a hour.,..it seemed..and all i saw was him lookin dead in my eyes as he literally bit the rail that goes up the ramp.. nigga teeth out of there... all i heard was loud ass mariah carey like note..
i jus caught out runnin...im like fuck that nigga.. kuz his folks r meaner than the boogyman ..and i get blamed 4 his fuck ups( im the nigga who is always darin niggas and shit)..and all they need to do was find out i was wit him..and im up shit creek..so i jus left..
he was the only 1 who attempted to make it out the back..the other dudes went out the front..and nuthin happen.. now he walkin around with a metal plate 4 a gumline...
LOL!
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Damn I wish somebody had hit me up on AIM about this thread because I haven't been on here too much since I got into the swing of school.
(Warning....long, and if you aren't from LA you might not know what I am talkin about)
But yeah....92, I was in 2nd grade, I remember it vividly. I was goin to the doctor's office in Santa Monica with my mom, but I remember we drove all the way there and they said they had closed because of somethin. The verdict hadn't been read yet though. When we were drivin back, I remember we were somewhere in West LA, probably La Cienega, and they were readin it and my mom started cryin. To people who didn't grow up in LA or understand how long bullshit like this had been goin on, they wouldn't understand why she was cryin about it. I was livin in Gardena back then too, just moved from Inglewood. Back then, comin from West LA/Beverly Hills, we would take La Cienega to Olympic to La Brea on down and make it Crenshaw, because that was before the 105 was built. You couldn't just take La Cienega to the 405 to 105 to Crenshaw, since I live right off Crenshaw and 135th. We were on La Brea, and I donno how to explain it, but we just felt a weird vibe in the air. We got word on the radio that people had started to riot and my mom was just like ............. :-\..........about two weeks before, I was with my dad and we visited his friends in Baldwin Hills, and for some reason, I remember us going to the shopping center on La Brea right by Rodeo, to their McDonalds. So goin down La Brea, I remember lookin on the right side, and I was like "mommy!!!!!!!!!!! They are setting everything on fire!!!!!!!!!!" and she started cryin and we were basically stuck in traffic for a minute. I guess it was probably the dudes from the Jungles since that was the closest gangbangers and dudes who would act wild in that area, which was pretty decent other than the Jungles themselves. I remember she finally made it to the long stretch of La Brea past Rodeo and Jefferson that's like a Freeway, and we ended up just goin all the way around Inglewood to get back home because we didn't have cell phones and we heard them on the radio sayin what was bein fugg'd up and what wasn't.
I know school was cancelled for the next few days, but I couldn't enjoy the time because me and my dad were constantly watchin the TV to see if the rioters were gonna make it to Gardena. Where I stay is basically borderline to South Central, about 5 min from Raymond Crips hood (where they filmed Friday) and a few miles west of Compton, but my actual neighborhood is decent even though it's gang turf. The thing I remember is that the LAPD pretty much couldn't do shit in LA, but the other cities police had their cities on LOCK. I know the beach cities weren't lettin anything serious go down, and even Inglewood didn't get anything destroyed. Most of the rioters were targeting the businesses that were not black owned, and that is where a lot of jokes started to come from. If you remember in Menace II society I think, or maybe Don't be a menace to SC.....when they had the liquor store that had "Black owned business" then showed Koreans workin. Durin the riots, many many many asian stores had bought these kind of signs hopin that the blacks wouldn't burn down their shops, because they really tried not to destroy black businesses. The riots weren't just about police brutality, but also about the silent but obvious race wars going on between blacks and other races.
One thing that the news probably wouldn't tell you, and that you wouldn't expect to hear, is that there was even more police brutality during these riots, but ALL you saw was the wild ass gangbangers that were tearin up things. I heard some people say that the police would get at ANYBODY who was young and black, some would just physically abuse em, and I even heard a report that they killed one dude that they said was shooting at them, but since it went on durin such a hectic time, nobody paid any attention or remembered it.
I also remember that in 93, my school was about to cancel classes because they had the re-trial, and they felt that if Stacey Koon and those dudes had been found "Not guilty" again, somethin woulda popped off once again.
If anything positive came from the riots, it was definitely all of the gang truces that happened shortly after. Many gangs realized that the world was much bigger than the small world of warfare that they knew of, and that they the real enemies were the ones who were holdin them back and not helpin to stop them from killin each other. Even though most gang truces didn't last too long, LA definitely saw a sharp decline in violence statistically. Being that I was only in 2nd grade, I have heard this from gangbangers who were my age at the time, because I definitely didn't know much about gangs back then.
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This is one of those topics that you post something, then think about it some more and remember a whole lot more about it....
Also...I remember a lot of the things that happened after the 3 days of destruction. The clean up process was damn near amazing. Many of the local churches formed groups to re-construct LA. The main church was First AME on Adams in L.A. My dad knows the pastor because he went to our college, and I remember my dad was very active in helping with him. Many people donated money to re-build the city, especially the rich and famous stars like Magic Johnson, and even many white celebrities helped out. My dad was interviewed on CNN for being one of those who was part of the project.
Although the riots definitely had a very strong effect on LA and caused much change, the riots themselves were very unorganized and you can tell that many people were in it just to enjoy actin an idiot. Just as the report that Twista posted said, many of the rioters felt anonymous because it was so many other people doin the same thing. I am 100% sure that there were gangbangers who were inside their house, probably high and just watchin TV, and saw what was goin on and was like "cuzz, that's bullshit that the cops got off. But ey, them niggas is tearin up shit out there, lets go do the same shit!"
Even the coverage of the riots was very biased and racist. I definitely recognize that there was a lot goin on that was completely stupid, ignorant, and racist. But at the same time, the media played into this and chose to televise this, and this only. They never showed the protestors who walked around with signs, and those who were outside of the LAPD precincts showing verbal outrage. Just like with 9-11, they showed the negative images OVER AND OVER....I remember seein Reginald Denny get hit in the head OVER AND OVER throughout that whole weekend. I know that violence sells and I understand why they showed everything that they did. But it was obvious that they were trying to sell it to white America and those who weren't in LA like this....."The cops may have taken it too far when they beat up this guy, but he was on drugs and he ran away and was fighting them. But when the cops got off, it just shows you how these idiots in LA need to get beat like this. They are not any better because they are burning up places and killing innocent people because of this." And overall...they tried to make America forget that Rodney King ever got beat...they wanted them to remember that the black youth is completely fucked up. That "fucked up" image of us still lives in everybody's head to this day.
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^^ thanks alot, that could be quite helpful. props man
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Good read R-Tistic... props!
I agree with a lot of what you said.
Peace! :)