City Still Viewed as Racially Split

While strong majorities of Angelenos have put the 1992 riots behind them, many continue to view the city as racially divided and consider some of its institutions unjust, a Times poll has found.

A growing number of residents have replaced post-riot despair with a sense of satisfaction. Yet two-thirds of those queried in the poll, taken earlier this month, believe that race relations in Los Angeles are poor, and 39% say they have seen no change over the past five years. The rest are about evenly split between those who think that race relations have worsened (30%) and those who see improvement (27%).

Still, residents’ views are less stark than previously; six months after the riot, 82% said race relations were poor, and a year later, in October 1993, 79% still held that view.

The poll reflects the often contradictory emotions that affect race and class issues in Los Angeles.

Nearly half of Angelenos consider their city segregated, a view shared among majorities of whites, blacks and Asians; only Latinos showed some ambivalence on the question.

But a comparison with other Times polls taken since the violence broke out five years ago today shows that an increasing number of Angelenos are satisfied with their communities, with the city as a whole and with the Los Angeles Police Department.

The new poll surveyed 1,560 randomly selected Los Angeles residents by telephone April 13-20. It has a margin of sampling error of 3 percentage points in either direction.

The survey found that a strong majority believes that the city has made progress in its emotional recovery from the riots, which were sparked after a jury acquitted four white police officers of most of the charges in the beating of black motorist Rodney G. King. Only 14% think the city has changed for the worse over the passing years, while 29% think things have improved; about half see no change. Nearly two-thirds said the rioting did not permanently affect the way they feel about their city.

Perceptions on many issues vary markedly by racial group. Of those who do believe that the city has changed for the worse, the leading reason mentioned was racial polarization, at 33%.

“This is very much a case of whether the glass is seen as half empty or half full,” said Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus. “Overall, we see a city that has come through a very difficult period in its history. For the most part, residents have put that behind them. But there are also some signs of underlying negativity and division.”

Fifty-one percent of respondents said life in Los Angeles was going well, while 46% said things were going badly.

By contrast, one month after the riots killed 53 people and injured 2,300 others, 85% of residents said things were going badly; one year later, in April 1993, 76% still thought so. Even a year before the rioting, an April 1991 Times poll found 54% were dissatisfied.

Residents were about evenly divided in their views on whether the quality of life in their neighborhoods will get better or worse or stay the same over the next five years.

Economic Opportunity

Majorities of all races reported that they were more satisfied than not with their communities--81% of Asians, 76% of Latinos, 73% of whites and 64% of blacks.

Majorities of all these groups say that, given a choice, they would not move out of the city. Yet only 27% think that the quality of life in their communities will get better over the next five years.

Angelenos’ feelings of safety in their own neighborhoods has grown stronger. In October 1992, six months after the riots, only 53% of residents said they felt safe; that number has climbed to 67%.

Residents are divided over whether the city is a good place to rear children: 50% said it was not a good place, while 48% said it was. One month after the rioting, 75% of all residents viewed the city negatively as a place for bringing up their families.

More than half, 53%, said economic opportunity was not good in the city. Blacks, at 75%, were considerably more pessimistic; that view was shared by 65% of Latinos, compared to only 41% of whites and 40% of Asians.

While large majorities in all groups said they do not think much about the riots anymore, their views on what sparked them varied by race.

On the whole, Angelenos continue to disagree with the 1992 King beating verdict. Sixty-nine percent of all respondents said they disagreed with the verdicts, including 65% of whites, 69% of Latinos, 72% of Asians and 83% of blacks.

Blacks and Latinos differed sharply with whites and Asians over whether the Superior Court in Simi Valley jury had based its verdicts on a fair reading of the evidence; 74% of blacks and 62% of Latinos said the verdicts were based on juror prejudice, while 49% of whites and 38% of Asians thought so.

While a majority continue to feel strongly that the rioting was unjustified, they also resoundingly agree that the riots were the culmination of injustices felt by most blacks every day in the city. That view was held by 83% of blacks, 76% of whites, 63% of Latinos and 61% of Asians.

Most of the rioting took place in predominantly Latino and black neighborhoods and many of the stores that were looted or burned had belonged to Korean or other Asian Americans. Yet solid majorities of all the main racial groups said the rioting disrupted their their lives little, if at all: 72% of Asians, 67% of Latinos, 60% of whites and 55% of blacks. That may help explain why such large numbers of residents say they have been able to close the book on that chapter of the city’s history.

Nearly three-quarters of all residents said they don’t think about the riots much. For the 26% of those who still do, life clearly has been difficult. More than half are women; 37% live in the city’s problem-plagued inner core; and 31% earn less than $20,000 a year, making them among the city’s most destitute. More than half have a high school education or less. And three-fourths say race relations in the city are poor.

When asked whether there had been progress toward Rodney King’s post-riot plea of “Can we all get along?” 53% said the city has made some progress and 41% said not much had been achieved. Blacks were the only major racial group in which a majority, 51%, felt that little had been achieved.

Asked what steps could be taken to improve racial relations, poll respondents suggested increasing community spirit (15%), encouraging individuals to confront their own prejudices (11%), providing an anti-bias curriculum in schools (9%), having institutions add more cross-cultural programs (9%) and improving the economy (6%). Increasing community spirit was the first choice of all groups, although blacks especially embraced it.

“Everybody stays all to themselves. They form cliques at work and social gatherings,” said Chester Beasley, 60, a retired city Department of Water and Power worker who lives in South-Central Los Angeles. “We need to get out of our shells more, have block parties again and get to know each other.”

Thomas Meskin, 23, of Eagle Rock is an account manager for a large multinational corporation, and he believes that racial inequities can be erased through the workplace. He cited a minority mentoring program called Inroads.

“We need to learn to work together to solve common problems,” said Meskin, a Latino. “We can do that once we have broad representation from all groups” throughout companies and other institutions. “Right now, we still seem to be pitting one group against another.”

Rebecca Durem, 86, of Hollywood said education--especially learning more about other groups’ cultures--is key.

“I think it’s interesting to know more about other people,” said Durem, who is white. “I think we like and respect each other more when we do that.”

Ken Kawamura, 56, a county probation officer who lives in the San Fernando Valley, said he believes that everyone needs to lighten up a little.

“It seems the humor has gone out of things” and people too easily take offense, Kawamura said. He recalled shopping at a nursery one day and being approached by two white women who assumed that he worked there and starting asking him about what plants he would recommend.

“They were very embarrassed when I told them I didn’t work there and I didn’t know much about gardening, but I didn’t take offense. . . . I find that if you don’t focus on these things, life is really much richer.”

Criminal Justice

On the whole, pluralities of Angelenos believe that Latinos and Asians are the hardest-working groups and believe that more political power is going to whites and Latinos, while whites and Asians are perceived to have the most economic power.

All racial groups questioned in the poll felt that blacks and Latinos are the groups most discriminated against. Pluralities rated whites, then blacks, as the most prejudiced themselves; about a third of Angelenos said no group was more biased than another.

Views on the criminal justice system varied somewhat by race. Majorities of all groups but Asians said it was not sound.

The division was much stronger, however, when it came to the Los Angeles Police Department.

While majorities in all groups gave the LAPD favorable job approval ratings, they were divided on whether the department has become a better institution in the wake of the King beating. Sixty-four percent of Asians and 52% of whites see improvement, while only 34% of blacks and 39% of Latinos think that the department has improved. Citywide, 47% think that the department has improved, compared to 12% who think it has become worse; among both blacks and Latinos, that latter number is 17%.

As for incidents of brutality involving the LAPD, 75% of blacks and 61% of Latinos said they were common, a view shared by only 38% of whites and 37% of Asians.

Similar, albeit less striking, divisions turned up when residents were asked about racist feelings among LAPD officers. Well over half of Angelenos overall said they believe that racist feelings within the department are common, but only 44% of Asians agreed, while 53% of whites and 58% of Latinos held that view. But 75% of blacks said racism was common.

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Views on Race Relations

How would you rate race relations in Los Angeles today?

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Poll taken in... Oct. 1992 April 1997 Excellent 1% 3% Good 15% 27% Not good 43% 45% Poor 39% 21% Don’t know 2% 4%

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Source: Los Angeles Times Poll

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Most See Progress

Most L.A. residents have put the riots behind them and think about them infrequently. More than half believe that progress has been made in the city with respect to racial and ethnic groups striving to get along together.

About a quarter of city residents say they still think about the riots often.

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All White Black Latino Asian Often 26% 25% 27% 30% 21% Not often 73% 74% 71% 70% 79%

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Few think the city has totally recovered emotionally from the riots.

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All White Black Latino Asian Totally recovered 20% 19% 9% 22% 25% Recovered somewhat 49% 48% 56% 47% 56% Not recovered at all 25% 25% 26% 26% 13%

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Do you agree or disagree that the riots weren’t just about the not-guilty verdicts in the trial of the four white police officers in the Rodney King case, but about the injustices felt by most blacks every day in Los Angeles?

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All White Black Latino Asian Agree strongly 38% 48% 57% 21% 28% Agree somewhat 33% 28% 26% 42% 33% Disagree somewhat 10% 7% 7% 15% 11% Disagree strongly 8% 9% 5% 9% 7%

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Since the riots, L.A. has changed for the:

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All White Black Latino Asian Better 29% 29% 18% 31% 41% Worse 14% 17% 20% 8% 9% Remained about the same 51% 46% 58% 55% 47%

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During the riots, Rodney King said, “Can’t we all just get along?” Over the last five years, how much progress have L.A.’s racial and ethnic groups made in getting along with each other?

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All White Black Latino Asian A lot 4% 2% 2% 6% 6% Some 49% 50% 43% 52% 45% Not much 28% 27% 32% 29% 19% None at all 13% 14% 19% 10% 14%

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Would you describe L.A. as a racially/ethnically segregated city or an integrated city?

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All White Black Latino Asian Segregated 49% 57% 54% 35% 56% Integrated 30% 24% 30% 36% 32% Some neighborhoods 16% 16% 13% 21% 9% integrated and some segregated

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Which groups should be getting a better break in L.A. than they are now? (Accepted up to two replies)

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All White Black Latino Asian No group should be getting a better break 61% 67% 49% 56% 72% Whites 4% 5% -- 7% 2% Asians 4% 3% 3% 3% 8% Blacks 20% 15% 45% 18% 9% Latinos 22% 14% 29% 31% 15%

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. . . are working harder than the others to succeed in L.A.? (Accepted up to two replies)

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All White Black Latino Asian No group working harder 32% 36% 32% 27% 35% Whites 10% 15% 6% 6% 9% Asians 35% 38% 20% 30% 53% Blacks 13% 5% 24% 19% 10% Latinos 36% 23% 44% 55% 17%

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. . . are getting more economic power than other groups in L.A.? (Accepted up to two replies)

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All White Black Latino Asian No group getting more economic power 23% 25% 20% 19% 26% Whites 35% 29% 34% 39% 50% Asians 30% 27% 29% 31% 38% Blacks 9% 6% 5% 15% 5% Latinos 19% 20% 36% 13% 11%

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. . . are getting more political power than other groups in L.A.? (Accepted up to two replies)

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All White Black Latino Asian No group getting more political power 25% 28% 22% 19% 37% Whites 33% 26% 42% 40% 27% Asians 6% 3% 10% 6% 7% Blacks 20% 19% 8% 28% 20% Latinos 31% 36% 36% 24% 24%

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. . . are most discriminated against in L.A.? (Accepted up to two replies)

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All White Black Latino Asian No group in particular 21% 25% 16% 18% 21% Whites 6% 10% 4% 2% 8% Asians 5% 4% 4% 5% 7% Blacks 54% 51% 66% 52% 52% Latinos 48% 34% 43% 67% 51% Other group 3% 2% 7% 1% 4%

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Since the riots, how effective have L.A.’s civic leaders been in improving the situation of blacks and other minorities?

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All White Black Latino Asian Effective 40% 35% 33% 44% 53% Not effective 51% 57% 61% 42% 42%

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Note: Numbers do not total 100% where more than one response was accepted and because “Don’t know” response are not shown. “--” indicates less than 0.5%

Source: L.A. Times Poll

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How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Poll contacted 1,560 adults in the city of Los Angeles by telephone April 13-20. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges citywide. Random-digit dialing techniques were used so that listed and non-listed numbers could be contacted. The sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education and area of city. The margin of sampling error for all adults is plus or minus 3 percentage points; for certain subgroups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Asians were oversampled to ensure a large enough sample for analysis. This group was weighted to its proper proportions in the overall citywide results. Poll results can also be affected by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.