Voices From the Community

The events surrounding the rioting in Los Angeles elicited a variety of responses . These are a few of their comments: “Police brutality was a major issue that framed our (Chicano) movement. Yet here we are in 1992, and the issue continues to be the same. . . . How are we going to fight for equality in the communities that have remained quiet?”

-- Gloria Romero, member of the L.A. Police Commission’s Hispanic Advisory Council

“I lost everything. Nothing was saved--nothing, nothing, nothing.”

-- Antonio Contreras, 65, owner of a South Los Angeles TV repair shop that was looted and burned

“I find it offensive and hypocritical to judge people stealing Pampers out of markets when we have had these people (in savings and loan scandals) stealing millions of dollars from senior citizens’ bank accounts.”

-- Jeff Horton, Los Angeles Unified school board member

“It (the verdict) was a shock not only for (African-Americans), but for everyone. We’ve had cases such as the one in Ramona Gardens . . . and others. That contributed to our feeling it as well.”

-- Arturo Ybarra, president of Watts/Century Latino Organization

“In particular, the (King) trial affected the Central American community because of the issue of police impunity. It’s incredible to see it in a country where democracy is supposed to work . . . . I can see it in El Salvador, but not here.”

-- Oscar Andrade, executive director of El Rescate refugee center

“Just as every other sector of the society, we energetically condemn the criminal acts of some individuals, which in no way are representative (of) our community.”

-- Jose Angel Pescador Osuna, Mexican Consul General in Los Angeles

“The people feel, whether it’s true or not, they’ve been victimized by the merchants. Merchants are in the ghetto to make a profit. They can’t compete with the big supermarkets, and they raise their prices . . . and people feel helpless . . . . You can have youth doing it (looting) for a thrill thing, but by and large, in pictures on television and newspapers, I saw families.”

-- Rodolfo Acuna, historian, Cal State Northridge Chicano Studies program

“No one should mistake our lack of action to say we are not equally as angry, equally as upset about the Rodney King verdict . . .We have to turn our anger into positive energy.”

-- Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard

“It was an ethnic explosion, and the King verdict just ignited it. It’s very similar to what led up to the Watts riots and what came to be called the East L.A. riots, and I think we need to be aware of that.”

-- Steve Valdivia, executive director of Community Youth Gang Services

“I think that much of the cause of the race relations problem comes down to economics--who has jobs, who has businesses, where is the money going. . . . This major emphasis on economics means (providing) entry level jobs and creating partnerships between ethnic minorities working together in joint ventures.”

-- Michael Woo, Los Angeles City Council member

“I was through the Watts thing too, but this rioting cuts across social and economic lines. These areas are the poorest areas of the city. If it weren’t Rodney King, it would have been something else. It just took something like this to set off the anger.”

-- Jimmy Franco, League of United Latin American Citizens state civil rights director

“Issues of concern to minorities that don’t directly affect the middle class are forgotten. All this frustration, all the exploitation against Chicanos is going to explode. If it ever happens again, there’s a seed there. What we want is some fundamental change. People must become politicized. Racism respects power.”

-- Cesar Chavez, founder of United Farmworkers Union.

“A part of me would like to see our (Latino) community as nothing but law-abiding people. That’s the goal we expect from everyone. But we are talking about a human phenomenon (looting and violence), and I guess the reality is that we are all human.”

-- Raul Yzaguirre, National Council of La Raza president

“The hardest part is rebuilding the spirit of the city--what holds us together as Angelenos. It’s the rebuilding of trust . . . . It’s connecting communities that have never been connected . . . . At the table in the business community, Koreans, Latinos and Blacks and others have to interconnect.”

-- Antonia Hernandez, president, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

“What has happened to L.A. is a time bomb ticking under every city in this nation.”

-- Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio mayor

“People, I just want to say . . . can we all get along?

-- Rodney King, May 1 statement