LA Riots Analysis

On April 29, 1992 a series of riots and violent disturbances occurred in South Central Los Angeles, which then went to spread out to six different areas. These disturbances were in response to the verdict of the Rodney King Beating. People were furious that our city and leaders would allow police officers to to violently treat citizens like animals. Videos were shown where Rodney King was clearly tasered, hit with batons, and then tackled down. Although this historical event ma seem as if it has little to do with schools, it is in fact relevant because this event led schools to shut down temporarily, the rise of racial tensions (which continue to persist today) and a social stigma of schools in the South Central Los Angeles Area. Because of

Many businesses, bus transits, and schools were shut down because of the dangers. In an LA Times article called “Everyday Life Shattered in Many Ways” the author Miles Corwin reveals that “Los Angeles Unified School district officials decided to close every school and child care centers in the district…” This means that LAUSD decided that it was unsafe for people to attend any activities including school. This may seems like it does not really affect anyone, but in fact it had ripple effects. In an Atlantic Article called “School Yard on Fire: Coming of Age during the LA Riots,” Christopher Wallace reveals his experience of the effects during and after the LA Riots. He conveys that it felt so unreal to see people destroy his home. He also recalls how school was canceled and how it felt to go back. He reveals, “While the notoriously segregated and ever dangerous playground of Los Angeles degraded into trench warfare, our public schools mirrored it in microcosm. My own...homeroom was rife with anxiety-- racial and otherwise-- and more and amore cliques were cohering along ethnic lines.” The LA Riots began because of injustices and people became filled with hatred. This same hatred was mirrored in schools, students became more and more racially segregated. I definitely see this as a drawback because although schools were in session students continued to be distracted and confused on why

In an article from the LA Times called “Rival Latinos and Blacks Start Melee On South LA Campus” the authors Howard Blume and Mitchell Landsberg discuss about a fight (more like a riot) between 600 Black and Latino students at a high school in South Central LA. They state “The campus at 111th and San Pedro Streets has long been one of the city’s most troubled.” Although this may seem a big stretch, I believe that many high schools in South Central were affected by the LA Riots. This Historical event increased segregation and caused South Central to have an infamous reputation. This is important because people who lived there and continue to live there are now affected by it in a negative way. Students who attend these schools are not receiving an adequate education because of the tensions that the LA Riots caused, in fact the educational system became worse which causes students to fall behind and make it impossible to catch up to other students who don't have to worry about these