Let me tell you something real.
In March 1991, a young black boy who had been drunk and driven a car and had been blocked by the police not only spoke but also resisted arrest.
Because of this little thing, there was a big riot in Los Angeles that shocked the world.
(1) Firelines
In the early hours of 3 March 1991, the Los Angeles police forced a white modern car to stop.
The man in the driver’s seat is Rodney King, a 27-year-old black boy, sitting in the back of his two good friends.
The three men drank a lot of wine, and as soon as they opened the window, they came up with a strong breath of wine.
Patrol police frowned and told them loudly, “Get out of the car! I’m sorry.
The two black boys in the back were awakened in an instant, their hands and feet were removed and their hands were raised with great cooperation.
And Rodney in charge of driving, still drunk.
Not only did he dance in front of the police with a funny face, but he also occasionally sent flying kisses to the policewomen.
Such acts, wherever and whenever they are placed, are naked provocations.
Four of the patrol officers present tried to get up there and handcuffed Rodney, and they fell on the ground instantly by a man of 1 m 88 and 113 kg weight.
It was not until one of the policemen took out the electric baton and hit Rodney so hard that he lay on the ground.
But Rodney’s been honest for a minute.
He lay on the ground and passed through God, struggling while he continued to provoke the police.
One police officer, Powell, finally took up the electric baton and waved towards Rodney, and three other policemen were set on fire, all of them coming up.
They waved electric batons hard and stepped on Rodney’s back with their feet.
After more than 50 electric shocks, Rodney woke up completely and fell down on the ground begging for forgiveness.
When Rodney was cured, the police finally stopped, handcuffed him and put him in a police car.
Rodney King’s right eyebrow was beaten to pieces, and there were marks from electric shocks.
After a lot of noise, the street returned to its original peace.
No one noticed, however, that while the police were beating Rodney, a resident of the neighbourhood secretly filmed what had just happened…
(2) Media for stitching
On March 5, 1991, two days after Rodney was arrested.
As soon as the people of L.A. turned on the TV in the morning, they saw an angry report:
“African man Rodney King was brutally beaten by four LAPD officers with electric shock marks…”
Pictures of police brutality recorded by residents
It turns out that on the second day of the incident, the residents of the camera sent the video to local L.A. television station KTLA.
The media know too well how to attract viewers.
They took the video to the end, removed the content of Rodney’s molestation of female police officers and his resistance to arrest, leaving only 68 seconds of police footage of people beaten and repeatedly stressed during the broadcast that it was a violent act motivated by racial discrimination.
Other television stations ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN did not investigate and audit the origin of the video and broadcast it directly in order to keep abreast of current events.
In a few days, the video reached every corner of the United States.
The “Rodney King incident” is fermenting at an unprecedented rate, and anger is rising among the population, especially among Afro-descendant groups.
As the events intensified, four police officers involved were suspended from their duties.
The following year, the Los Angeles District Attorney ‘ s Office prosecuted the four police officers for excessive use of force.
Four violent police officers indicted
In order to avoid the excessive disruption of the trial by the Los Angeles media, the Rodney King trial was moved from Los Angeles to a small California county, Winduna.
The choice of this location, however, is very difficult.
Because 80% of the inhabitants of Wenduna County are white, only 1.5% black.
This has led to a small number of black people going to court.
In addition, the jury in this case has suffered from controversy – of the 12 jurors, 10 were white, 1 was Latin, 1 was Asian and there was no one of African descent.
That is why this trial was unpopular from the beginning.
On 29 April 1992, at 3 p.m., the judge pronounced the verdict: four police officers were acquitted, all released in court!
Outside the courtroom, the white people who supported the police were cheering, as happy as the holidays.
The mood of the black people, eager to see the police severely punished, has fallen to the bottom.
They gathered in front of the court to protest loudly: “It’s not fair! This is naked and racist! I’m sorry.
But it is no longer enough to vent their anger.
Three hours later, the riot began.
(3) Burning Los Angeles
Despite repeated official emphasis, the outcome of this case has nothing to do with racial discrimination.
But the angry black people can’t hear it.
Starting at 6 p.m., an increasing number of blacks gather on the streets to raise the brand of unfairness and protest with their full voice.
The L.A.P.D. sent more than a dozen policemen to maintain order and arrested a small number of the rioters on 71st Street and Raymond Avenue, but this did not have any deterrent effect.
As the night came, the demonstration became a riot and the protesters became a mob.
Innocent white people became their targets of anger.
Black thugs stoned, threw bottles at passing white vehicles, either stormed directly to stop the vehicles, jumped on the roof and smashed them, or pulled white drivers out of the car in a rude manner, beating them in the face and in the blood.
The skull of a white driver named Reginald Danny was fractured; a white construction worker who passed off duty was hit on his forehead with a car stereo and cut off his ears.
But this is still not enough.
Black thugs began to treat passers-by pedestrians and vehicles without discrimination, and when they saw that they were not black, they rushed to rob their belongings and then beat them up.
Every time they beat down, they shouted, “To avenge Rodney King!” I’m sorry.
Shortly after, local Afro-descendant gangs and Latino civilians joined the mob.
In just a few hours, the number of mobs exceeded 100,000.
They began burning palm trees along the road and began to burn down the door after the shop, which was opened by any ethnic group, had been looted.
At 10 p.m., the City of L.A. was turned into a hell of earth, a fire in the sky, a cry all over the world.
It’s a fire in Los Angeles.
Four policemen were acquitted only six hours later.
As the violence became unstoppable, the police sought to withdraw the police force to the Government’s core offices, as well as to the rich areas of Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
So, the civilian district of Los Angeles became a park for black mobs.
They robbed, set fire to and killed here, completely forgetting what they were doing a few hours ago.
In order to avoid the looting of their shops, some black owners wrote “Black Shop” in front of the store.
“BLACK OWNER”
But as the riots escalated, nothing worked at the door.
A large number of mobs stormed into small shops and houses on the street to rob whatever they saw, and others prepared supermarket shopping vans ahead of schedule before leaving with satisfaction when they were packed.
The riots have intensified, and innocent Koreans are next.
(4) New Angers
In the cloak of human rights, thugs enter the courtroom.
On April 30, 1992, the day after the riots, “South Korea City” in a civilian area was looted by black mobs.
However, their slogans have changed — from revenge for Rodney to revenge for Natacha Harlings.
Turns out the blacks in Los Angeles and the Koreans had already been sunk.
In the 1950s and 1980s, many Koreans crossed the sea with the American dream in mind and came to L.A. with relatively liberal immigration policies.
Because of the persistent security problems in the black-populated areas, the rents in the vicinity of the area have been reduced further and very cheap.
Newly arrived Koreans chose to be black neighbours in order to save money and built their own community here, Korea City.
As they say, it’s better to be close to one another.
But the relationship between Koreans and blacks in L.A. was extremely tense, almost as if it were a stride.
On the one hand, there is a great cultural difference between Koreans and blacks, and Koreans focus on courtesy, and if they do not respect them, they will not prevent themselves from being shopkeepers and smile at each other.
As a result, “hot” became the stereotyped image of Koreans by blacks, and the reasons why Koreans do not give them a good look were attributed to racial discrimination.
“What is the right of Asian Koreans to despise blacks? I’m sorry.
That was the true mind of most black people at the time.
On the other hand, Koreans were very hardworking and had quickly accumulated wealth by running small businesses in the early days of Korea City.
As a result, many idle blacks became jealous that Koreans had taken employment and entrepreneurial opportunities that were supposed to belong to blacks.
The Koreans are scornful of this statement and even less of the blacks.
However, even though they are not comfortable with each other, the two sides maintain their surface harmony and the wells are free from the river.
Until March 16, 1992, shortly after the Rodney King case, there was a gunshot in South Korea City.
The man who shot was the lady boss of a convenience store.
This day, she unexpectedly discovered that a 15-year-old black girl, Natasha Harlins, took a bottle of orange juice and tried to escape without paying.
Natacha Harlings, black girl.
Because of the theft of black people in Korean stores, when the boss’s wife, Jun-sun, discovered that someone had stolen something, burned in anger, and she pulled Natasha and severely reprimanded.
However, Natasha did not realize that he had punched him in the face with his back.
A beaten-up son.
Dow Junko was totally pissed off, and she pulled a pistol out of the counter and killed the black girl, who was 1 metre tall.
He was later arrested and sentenced to five years’ probation, 400 hours of community service and $500 fine.
The result of this decision was an outrage to black Americans across the United States and an ice point for Korean-Black relations.
About Dow Junko.
One year later, the tragedy of Natasha was repeated on Rodney.
New revenge and old hatred.
Black mobs seized this opportunity of revenge and sprung into Korea City like a tide.
All the items, clothing, electrical appliances, all kinds of food, and even the sign “open” in front of the shop were looted.
For those things that were difficult to move, they simply destroyed or set a fire.
If they were stopped from looting, they were shot and killed.
Indeed, long before the blacks stormed Korea City, there were warnings that Korea City would be the next target for the blacks.
But none of the Koreans escaped because the shop was their lifeline and the only way to survive in the United States.
They have to stay and have no choice.
Koreans first thought of LAPD in the face of mob attacks.
However, although their frequency of alerts had reached every five minutes, they did not wait for any police officer.
The police said only on the phone: “These thugs are too dangerous and in the United States the police have the right to put their safety above others. I’m sorry.
At this moment, the confidence of Koreans in the United States police collapsed completely.
They watched their fellow citizens shot dead, ransacked shopfronts, and cold and cowardly policemen.
Koreans are totally angry.
They decided to fight back.
(5) Koreans on the roof
“Don’t leave Korea City, everyone stay and protect their homes! I’m sorry.
This is the first call from the Korean radio station in Los Angeles.
Soon after, all Koreans in South Korea City gathered together to start talking about counter-attacks.
Thanks to the Korean military service system — almost all men are required to perform military service and receive rigorous military training — most Korean men are skilled in the use of firearms and have extensive experience in combat.
Soon, a civilian unit was formed.
Most of these people are shopkeepers of shops in Korean cities, but there are also many students who look weak.
It is well known that, in the United States, people can legally hold a gun.
In order to resist the daily looting of the blacks, the Koreans had pistols in their shops, with a high of 70 per cent.
Moreover, their weapons range from pistols, shotguns, shotguns to AK semi-automatic rifles, even sub-machine guns, and are in full range and in a significant number.
The Korean owner of the gun trades out of all the guns for use by members of the armed forces.
All set. Fight back!
These Korean men were first divided according to the base from which they were serving, and each team organized patrol convoys to patrol within Korea City.
At the same time, they have established a high command within the community, while Radio Korean acts as a position correspondent and is responsible for the timely transmission of information between the command and the combatants.
Where there are mobs, there are Korean patrol cars and several armed men with guns.
American Radio Korean as a correspondent
The walls of the radio office are full of intelligence information.
In order to better observe the “enemy”, the members of the armed forces set up a “snipers’ spot” on the roof and mounted a number of long range machine guns.
Some members of the team who are skilled in the use of pistols are placed in front of shops to protect women and children and the elderly who have taken refuge there.
They used the walkie-talkies to communicate in a timely manner and to work together, forming a highly lethal fire network.
Koreans fighting on the roof.
The owner of the shop who fought with the mob.
Koreans waiting for time.
Young Koreans watching the enemy.
They did not hesitate to pull the trigger when they discovered a mob trying to approach Korea City.
Shots were fired and the response to convenience was reversed.
However, the way in which this “prevent” is done has not served as much as a deterrent. There are too many outlaws among these thugs who, like zombies, are in the middle of a barrel of fire.
As a result, the South Korean city was filled with gunfire and blood.
At night, when many black men who were not afraid of dying tried to jump in, the Koreans turned on the doors and lights of some cars to form a defensive front.
(6) A violent ending
May 1st, 1992, dawn.
It was the third day of the violence in Los Angeles, and the United States Government was finally aware of the gravity of the situation.
Military forces such as the National Guard, the 7th Infantry Division of the United States Government, the 1st Marines, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney General’s Department, and the 144th Gendarmerie were quickly deployed to suppress riots in various parts of Los Angeles.
Under cover of armoured vehicles, they entered the civilian areas of the riots, armed and gradually took over the streets.
In the end, the riots subsided on May 3rd.
This also means that the “self-defence war” organized by the Koreans themselves was a great success.
According to subsequent official information, during the Korea City self-defence war, the mob was shot and killed 44 people, while the Korean side sacrificed only one person.
This strong 1:44 contrast has had to impress Koreans across the United States.
Koreans were known for their violence and war.
At that time, a journalist went into deep riot and documented the great riot.
When he arrived at the door of a shop, he found three young Koreans who were waiting to fight the mob.
The shop was filled with broken glass and from time to time with gunshots, but the three young faces were very calm: “We have no hatred for Afro-descendants, they shoot at us, and we have to fight back. There is no police force, no riot control force to help us and protect us, so we have to protect ourselves with our own shotguns and pistols. I’m sorry.
Three Korean youths to interview.
The riots triggered 916 fires, from the centre of the city, Korea City to Beverly Hills, Hollywood.
According to statistics, a total of 63 people were killed, 2383 injured and more than 12,000 arrested, and property damage exceeded $1 billion. Many blacks lost their homes, businesses and even lives.
On the second day of the riots, a black uncle opened his eyes with tears and cried out to all the black people around him:
“This is wrong! Why are you doing this to me? I come from a slum, just like you. But you guys screwed up my vision, and you said it was black power? What’s better than white people? I’m sorry.
Angry black shopkeeper.
Since Koreans were the main targets of black mobs, they suffered more than other ethnic groups.
More than 2,000 Korean shops were damaged and economic losses amounted to nearly $400 million.
Moreover, the rejection of Koreans by the United States police during the riots left many of them of American-Korean and even Asian origin in a chilling state.
A woman who runs a shop in Korea City said, “I know I can get American citizenship, but I’m not too interested because it doesn’t mean anything in the United States. This Government does nothing in any way about minorities, so citizenship has no meaning. I’m sorry.
As for Rodney King, the heart of the riot, he appeared before the public again on May 1, 1992.
At the press conference, Rodney King had long been healed from scars on his face.
His eyes were open and he looked at his fellow blacks gathered around him and his voice shivered unwittingly.
“Can we live in peace? I’m sorry.
“The people who died as a result of this riot can no longer return to their families. I’m sorry.
“We can get along, we can do it. I’m sorry.
Speech by Rodney King
Shortly thereafter, the case of Rodney King was reopened.
On this occasion, two of the violent policemen were found guilty and sentenced to 30 months ‘ imprisonment, while Rodney King received substantial compensation of $3.8 million.
In 2012, Rodney King drowned in his swimming pool for overdoses of drugs and alcohol.
(7) History is always amazingly similar.
Indeed, the ethnic conflict in the United States has not stopped.
In August 1965, also in California, also in Los Angeles, a black brother was arrested by the police for drinking.
As the police searched them, their mothers came to the scene in a hurry.
As a result of the police ‘ s harshness and rhetoric, the parties had an argument, which was followed by a sprawl.
The black residents of the neighbourhood came and joined the fighting, and news of the “police killings” quickly spread.
In a matter of hours, hundreds of black people were gathered in the area where the incident occurred.
The police immediately reinforced their personnel in an attempt to contain the current situation.
But the reality is, the more control, the more chaos.
A DUI had developed into the most devastating ethnic riots in the history of the United States at the time in a few hours.
Black mobs took torches, set fire to local white cars, houses and ransacked their shops.
1965, the Great Watt Riot in Los Angeles.
After the riots were suppressed, journalists interviewed a middle-aged black man in the streets.
The journalist asks, “How can this improve the situation and stop the riots?” I’m sorry.
He looked at the distance with his eyes emptied, shaking his head and saying, “It will not stop, it will never stop.” I’m sorry.
As this African man said, 27 years later, Rodney King was searched for driving drunk, causing the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
And 28 years later, in May 2020, an African man, George Felod, died of suffocation under the knees of the police.
Once again, the case provoked great unrest in the United States.
History’s script never changed. It’s just another set of actors.
At the beginning of a documentary about the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, there was a saying:
“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future.”
We must face the past and make it useful for the present and for the future.
—Frederick Douglas (Freddy Douglas) file number: YXA18LJK8wHx6y8M4ec9r9z
I don’t know.
Keep your eyes on the road.
