Parker Center

On the day the Country of Ventura Superior Court acquitted police officers for assaulting Rodney King, protestors gathered in front of Parker Center to speak out against the LAPD’s history of racial profiling and police brutality. “Unlike the mostly spontaneous eruption of Black rage at Florence and Normandie, the racially mixed and well-organized Parker Center demonstration began as a conventional political protest” (Cannon). Previously in 1965, the LAPD had to deal with the Watts Riots, another case of civil unrest engendered by racial tensions. Overall, the police did not handle the situation well and had to call in the National Guard, similar to the 1992 uprising. Clearly, since the Watts Riots, the LAPD did not improve or better prepare for large scale social unrest.  

Arriving at work, “the officers at the station that morning knew they were likely to be at the center of any violence that erupted in Los Angeles.” (Cannon) Unfortunately, this knowledge did not inspire any of the LAPD officers to prepare to quell any discord; officers did not feel responsible enough or obligated to properly carry out their jobs. “Overall, the LAPD was shockingly unprepared for even a mild disorder, let alone a full-scale riot” (Cannon). As the crowd outside Parker Center grew, rioters began attacking officers, turning over vehicles, starting fires, and blocking traffic. During the entire skirmish, there was no solid leadership demonstrated by LAPD officials, and the “outnumbered LAPD officers had only the unpalatable alternative of retreating or using deadly force against civilians” (Cannon). As a result, rioters and protesters ended up causing a great deal of damage to the city and harming many civilians, which forced the mayor to summon the National Guard—as previously mentioned.

Furthermore, “during the entire crisis the chief of police appears never actively to have taken command of the department and its response, preferring to leave that critical responsibility in the hands of less experienced subordinates” (Cannon). The chief at the time, Daryl Gates actually departed from Parker Center to the neighborhood of Brentwood. While “the absence of fates from Parker Center may have had a negligible impact on the LAPD’s actual performance, it had immense symbolic consequences” (Cannon). The lackluster performance of the LAPD, and especially of Gates, emphasized their incapable, undependable nature, serving to further drive the wedge between citizens and the police. The police not only regularly committed racist acts of police brutality but also clearly did not care about the wellbeing of the communities they were supposed to protect. Under immense public disapproval, Gates retired from the LAPD a few months after the 1992 uprising. 

Abelmann, Nancy, and John Lie. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans And the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995.

Abelmann and Lie offered a deep dive into how the 1992 L.A. Uprising affected the Korean American community. They account and examine issues which previously existed and engendered Black resentment against Korean Americans. Additionally, they also describe the experiences of Korean Americans during the riots and in the aftermath as Los Angeles struggles to rebuild. 

Bates, Karen Grisby and Anjuli Sastry. “When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back at the Rodney King Riots.” NPR. NPR, 26 Apr. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots. 

The article by Bates and Sastry gives a detailed account of what happened during the riot and how the uprising affected several different areas of South Los Angeles. 

Cannon, Lou. Official Negligence: How Rodney King And the Riots Changed Los Angeles And the LAPD. New York: Times Books, 1997.

Lou’s analysis of the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising provides a great deal of information spanning the entire timeline of the rioting, from Rodney King’s beating to the impacts the rioting had on the political environment and police department. With many direct quotes, Lou goes step by step through the riot and examines the entire event unfolding.  

Madhubuti, Haki R., 1942-. Why L.A. Happened: Implications of the '92 Los Angeles Rebellion. Chicago: Third World Press, 1993.

Madhubuti compiles a series of essays from several authors which discuss the factors that caused the Los Angeles rioting.

Mydans, Seth. “Riots In Los Angeles: Pocket of Tension; A Target of Rioters, Koreatown is Bitter, Armed, and Determined.” The New York Times Company. The New York Times, 2 May, 1992, https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/03/us/riot-los-angles-pocket-tension-target-rioters-koreatown-bitter-armed-determined.html. 

Mydans’ article accounts the personal responses of Korean Americans to the rioting of Koreatown. 

The Associated Press. “Rodney King Riot: Timeline of Key Events.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 26 Apr. 2017, apnews.com/article/fa4d04d8281443fc8db0e27d6be52081.  

The Associated Press provides a concise timeline of events outlining the uprising.