Los Angeles City Hall

Unlike the rest of South Los Angeles, City Hall did not experience as intensive rioting and looting; however, rioters did congregate at City Hall to protest the verdict of Rodney King’s trial. Almost immediately after the verdict was announced, the Los Angeles Mayor, Tom Bradley, released a statement condemning the decision of the jury. Mayor Bradley was Los Angeles’ first African American mayor, and he did not stand on good terms with the LAPD. After delivering his disapproval, police incidents started rising, thus implying that Bradley inspired some of the rioting. As mentioned beforehand, Bradley ended up summoning the National Guard due to the LAPD’s incompetence at handling the escalating violence and enacted a curfew until the uprising ended. 

With thousands of buildings affected, widespread looting, and almost a billion dollars of property damages, Los Angeles had a long road ahead to recovery. Initially, donations flooded in to help those affected with food and medicine. Local gangs formed truces, and LAPD officers patrolled intact stores alongside military personnel. “The city’s biggest attempt to respond to the 1992 Uprising was Rebuild LA” (Daniels). Rebuild LA was a large project meant to revitalize all the communities devastated by the rioting. Initially, the project promised to invest six billion dollars and create over 70,000 jobs; “supermarkets...would be built...minority business enterprises...would be created...vans...would be distributed” (Daniels). Unfortunately, the initiative did not follow through on its promises. The majority of local stores destroyed by the rioting and looting ended up never being rebuilt, and store owners struggled greatly with actually receiving loans. Some of the failures can be tied to the board of Rebuild LA, which “was comprised of 96 Fortune 100 entrepreneurs, community leaders, and public officials” (Daniels). Instead of wanting to help the people, they were more concerned with lining their own pockets and benefiting off of short-term projects, such as gas stations and temporary academies, which never left lasting impacts. 

Overall, few of the promised rebuilding plans were actually implemented, which greatly discouraged business investors as well as civilians. South Los Angeles’ bad reputation drove families and businesses away, which then stripped the people left behind of opportunities. This ultimately contributed to the high unemployment rates and run down streets. South Los Angeles still struggles today with many of the same issues as 1992. Clearly, Los Angeles—and the rest of the country—has a lot to work and improve upon. The 1992 L.A. Uprising tells a tale that continues to happen even today. Reflecting upon what provoked these riots and the subpar attempts to address them demonstrate the current need for new policies and initiatives in order to ensure that the future will not repeat the same mistakes and injustices. 

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.