Where Lies Injustice?

I don’t know you personally, Mr. Vladimir Cerna (“For Some, the Horizon Was Brighter Three Years Ago,” Community Essay, May 1), but I am willing to bet that you are used to viewing life from just one angle--your own.

You are angry that our justice system allowed an unarmed teen-ager to be shot and killed for painting graffiti. You are angry that an unarmed man was beaten by a Compton police officer and nothing was done to the officer. You are angry that the same privileges extended to people who went through the trouble to get their immigration paperwork done are no longer going to be extended to those who sneaked in illegally years ago and still haven’t got their status straight.

Granted, this is an imperfect world, but can you justify the individual behavior that the Establishment is fighting against? The graffiti, the public disturbances, the fighting, stealing, killing. I know that you can place blame in a hundred corners, but can you justify it? I don’t think so.

I’d suggest that you and anyone else who’s worried about the next round of riots in Los Angeles begin to think more constructively about yourselves and your place in the future of this city.

ARTHUR SAGINIAN, Northridge