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The Watts and Los Angeles Riots

            
             Tension between the LAPD and African Americans boiled over and had its hand in starting the Watts riots. The traffic stop of Marquette Frye made the community believe excessive force was used. Once the residents of the Watts suburb witnessed Marquette, his brother and mother get arrested they went into battle mode.
             The Watts riot was also a result of the Watts community's longstanding grievances and growing discontentment with high unemployment rates, substandard housing, and inadequate schools. The oppression the community felt caused them to feel as if they weren't good enough for help. The unemployment rates were on purpose. This is true since many trade unions and apprenticeship programs were practices resulted in the discrimination for Negroes (Herald). When they went looking for jobs that were clearly available they found they weren't available to them. Those who went to predominantly African and Mexican American schools were not offered the same educational opportunities as those who lived in advantaged places. Many of the schools in these poor neighborhoods lacked better teachers. Three or more years of experience was what teachers in richer neighborhoods had. They also lacked libraries in disadvantaged schools. If students wanted to go to a better school they could not since transportation was costly.
             The riot did inspire the federal government to implement programs to address unemployment, education and housing under Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty." Before this many school in poverty stricken communities' lunch was not provided for students. Unfortunately much of the money set aside for these programs was eventually absorbed by the Vietnam War. The community was forced back to square one. .
             Prior to the LA riots the people who lived in poorer neighborhoods in Los Angeles had a hard time than those who did not. This is one the sparks that started the LA riots. For many of those who lived in places such as South Central many necessaries weren't offered.


Essays Related to The Watts and Los Angeles Riots

1. Discrimination and the L.A. Riots

In 1992 the Los Angeles Riots were described to be the most deadly and costly riots. ... Although poverty was one of the causes that contributed to the L.A. riots they ultimately stemmed from the acquittal of four white Los Angeles Police Department officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1991. ... Many African-Americans were angry toward a growing Korean merchant community in South Central Los Angeles earning a living in their communities, and felt disrespected and looked down on by many Korean merchants[ CITATION jos12 l 1033 ]. ... One third to one half of the businesses...

  • Word Count: 1042
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography

2. War Between Races

War Between Races The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 marked a recurring problem facing the people of the city as well as the country. ... The Los Angeles riots enveloped the streets of the city in a flash that created a melee but at the same time brought forth positive figures who maintained their own propriety. ... Others on the other hand enjoyed participating in the anarchy in Los Angeles. ... As Greg walked down a Watts residential street, a car slowly drove by. ... The Los Angeles riots, despite being the worst civil disturbance in recent history, brought forth a sense that good people can...

  • Word Count: 1634
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The City of Angels Los Angeles

These are, of course, gross exaggerations, as is the perception that Los Angeles is the city of ceaseless riots and brutal racism. ... The image of Los Angeles as a divided, white vs. black city has been around for some time, with areas like south central and Watts becoming household synonyms for the bad part of town. Media images of the L.A. riots and the O.J. ... Writers especially love to tear Los Angeles apart. ... In greater Los Angeles four times as many U.S. ...

  • Word Count: 1815
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Recipe For A Riot

No other city in the United States has shown this fact better than Los Angeles, California. ... s latest riot, brought on by an innocent verdict handed down to white police officers in the beating of a black motorist named Rodney King during April of 1992.# This could be the destructive Watts riots of 1965, in which thirty-four people lost their lives during the civil rights movement.# This could also be the "Zoot-Suit" riots of 1943, spurred on by a highly publicized murder, sensationalized in a racially biased press. ... Looking at the steps taken to bring about the "Zoot-Suit" riots rev...

  • Word Count: 4735
  • Approx Pages: 19
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. 1960s'

By August of 1965 riots began to erupt in Los Angeles. ... No one actually knows what started the riots, but some blame it on the heat wave that was hitting Los Angels and others blame it on the irritation of the urban blacks because of their isolation and poverty. ... The Los Angeles ghetto of Watts plunged into anarchy in 1965 after a black man named Marquette Frye was arrested for drunk driving. ... During the summer of 1967 riots intensified in Detroit. ... After King's murder rioting took place in scores of cities around the country. ...

  • Word Count: 1407
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Blaming the Victim - The Crips and the Bloods

Bird an interviewee in the film "Crips and Bloods explained "Growing up in Los Angeles he wanted to be a Boy Scout, but he could not because he was black" (2008). ... Not only did America keep blacks out of their clubs but also out of white neighborhoods ,this was done with violence and fear by the Los Angeles Police Department. ... "Watts, the part of Los Angeles that the blacks lived is surrounded by rich neighborhoods that blacks were not allowed to visit without harassment from the LAPD" (Crips and Bloods 2008). ... In 1965 a routine police harassment traffic sto...

  • Word Count: 1355
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Gangs

Today, on the streets of Los Angeles there are over four hundred street gangs with a membership of 61, 406(LAPD Statistics). ... The first gangs to claim the streets of Los Angeles as their turf were Mexican gangs in about the year 1910. ... Not until after the Watts Riots of 1965 would black gangs truly make their stake in Los Angeles. ... Founded by Raymond Washington the Crips took Los Angeles and the LAPD by storm. ... Los Angeles had on its hands the true beginning of the Epidemic. ...

  • Word Count: 2819
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

8. 1965

Another news story which happened on July 1, 1965 was the race riots. For 6 days blacks rioted in the Watts section of Los Angeles: 34 dead, over 1,000 injured, nearly 4,000 arrested, fire damaged was put at $175 million. Those race riots were going on all over the United States. As a matter of fact, my uncle was driving down a city street in York, Pa that year during a race riot and a brick was thrown through the window of his vehicle. ... I am thankful that we do not have those riots now although in today's society we still have the KKK. ...

  • Word Count: 687
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett

Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett is a film that effectively uses noir realism to portray to the viewer the everyday life and mundane routine that many people went through in the city of Los Angeles, especially in the poverty ridden neighborhood of Watts. ... In reality, during the time of the intense riots, post Civil Rights War, and the coming of a new era for the black community; black exploitation (commonly known as blaxploitation) films were making a wave. ...

  • Word Count: 634
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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