UNDERSTANDING THE RIOTS / PART 3 : WITNESS TO RAGE : ‘This riot is the ugly other side of America’

That day I knew there was trouble. In the black community there is a lot of negative energy compressed and it could explode any time. When it spread out to Koreatown, I said, “Oh wow, finally it came.”

I watched television and read newspapers as much as possible. I was recovering from an illness when the rioting broke out and was frustrated that I could not join in the defense of Koreatown.

I contacted friends in Koreatown and asked what they needed, and I organized a civil defense unit in my neighborhood. I was sick then, but if I felt good, I might have come out here and carried an M-16.

During the three days of rioting I traveled to South Central and Koreatown to oberseve the treament of my fellow Koreans. During the riot I was writing a story I was going to call “City of Dog” about the Korean experience in the heart of the black community.

I recorded my impressions in a poem which I read to the large rally in Koreatown last Saturday. When I was reading the poem, people were clapping and shouting and jumping up and down. I knew they were changing. When I read poetry in the past I never had that kind of feeling. Now I am going to write about how to build up Koreatown.

America started with force. That undercurrent is still there. There is never peace here. This riot is the ugly other side of America.

North America is racially segregated. They (ethnic groups) are really separate worlds, so this is not a melting pot. It’s a mosaic, a very loose mosaic that’s a poor work of art.

We are in a gray area, black and white. We are marginal people. Koreans are a kind of scapegoat. The American mainstream needs a scapegoat and the black community does also, they need some kind of target. The white community is too big. Think about the Jewish merchants during the Watts riot.

Koreans are victims but blacks are victims, too. Legally they are free, but economically they are still slaves. They’re trapped there. So we have to share sorrows. We have to share sympathy and we have to study more, in a humanistic way. A lot of Korean merchants are doing business, and Korean leaders have an interest there, but they don’t understand black culture.

I have written works based on mythology, on love and romance, but from now on I’m going to concentrate on what the Korean community has to do. I am going to write about how to build up Koreatown. I am going to write about how to build up the whole city of L.A. I am one of those people who loves this city.

In the Korean community there is no cohesive organization, but some leader will emerge. This kind of riot is an awakening experience.

Once we build up the Korean community, I’d like to build a bridge to the black community and other communities. First we will build a bridge of cultural communication. We will sing together, dance together and eat together, then we can be friends.

I’m going to promote some kind of event in black community, reading poetry, holding artistic work, we’ll have a party together.

We’ve got to plant beautiful trees, flowers, paint, build up. And I’m going to fight. I’m going to go see city government. First of all, let’s clean up graffiti. And then maybe we can fight with the other guys to drive the drug dealers out of the city. This is a time when everyone has to come to the aid of the city.

I like the sun, this beautiful sun here. I like this weather and this diverse culture. It’s a rich culture. Just like ancient Rome before it was destroyed.