The Role of Rodney King in the Los Angeles Riots

On this episode of History of the 90's we look back at the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the various factors that led to the largest and most violent case of civil unrest in United States history.

The acquittal of four police officers in connection with the brutal video taped beating of Rodney King wasn’t the only reason people went into the streets of South L.A. looting and burning buildings over a six day period in April 92. 

The Black community was also reeling from a judges’ decision not to send a Korean shopkeeper to jail in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins. Plus, South L.A., which was 50 percent Black in the early 90s was hit hard by unemployment, gang violence and the crack epidemic. As you’ll hear in this episode. the conditions were ripe for unrest.

A note on sources:

The information in this podcast about the timeline of events at the intersection of Florence and Normandie was based on reporting in a 1998 article by The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/01/26/worlds-collide-at-florence-and-normandie/5bfed605-0da1-4bfd-b69f-bc1cef8b7cc8/

Contact: 

Twitter: @1990shistory

Facebook: @1990shistory

Instagram: @that90spodcast

Email: 90s@curiouscast.ca

Guest:

Brenda Stevenson, Professor of African American Studies at UCLA. Author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the L.A. Riots

https://www.drbrendastevenson.com/

Ryan Gattis, author of All Involved

https://ryangattis.com/

Twitter: @ryan_Gattis

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