A ‘Sad and Angry’ Anniversary

Re “An Anniversary of Anger, Sadness and Pride,” April 29: My family lived in Compton when I was born in 1963. I grew up in Wilmington, where the sound of fog horns from the harbor lulled me to sleep at night. So did the sounds of explosions and gunshots. By 1992, I lived in Victorville and watched the riots on TV, terrified that I could have easily been in Reginald Denny’s place, had I happened to be “down the hill” that day.

In 1997, I left Southern California for good. The 10-year anniversary of the riots leaves me sad and angry. L.A. is still my city. It is still home. I am a white woman who never fully comprehended what my neighbors of other ethnic origins were going through. I was raised without prejudice, taught to treat all the different people who surrounded me with respect and consideration. That attitude proved to be a blindfold to the reality of what was going on. The riots brought fully to my attention the disparities that exist in L.A. Afterward, I began to notice when my African American friends commented about being pulled over more by police, or my Hispanic friends told stories of racism, or my Asian friends vented their frustration regarding the same issues. I am now more aware of the reality of life in L.A. for all its residents. At first the riots seemed to be an overreaction, but it was only in retrospect that I could see they were, in fact, long overdue.

Jena Martin

Paris, Ill.

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I read in disbelief the April 29 story on the Times poll on racial attitudes among various segments of the population. What I found incredible, both in the context of the uprising 10 years ago, in which Korean Americans bore the full brunt of the riots and in light of the dramatic growth of Asian Americans in L.A. and California, was that The Times did not bother to ask in sufficient number and to report how Asian Americans perceive race relations.

It’s as if Asian Americans do not matter and the destruction of hundreds of predominantly Korean-owned businesses was irrelevant. This neglect speaks volumes about how much more Americans of Asian or Pacific ancestry still have to overcome just to be accepted as full-fledged citizens of this nation. It is a sad comment on race relations indeed.

Vu-Duc Vuong

San Francisco

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The American right of protest for a just cause was correctly demonstrated by the initial demonstrators against the Rodney King verdict. But their cause was lost when people began looting the innocent storekeepers in their own neighborhoods and beyond. Following that, the demonstrators became just another mob of law-breaking thieves.

George Wood

Ventura

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Every car that passes by, every house we set our eyes on, everyone in this free, blessed land seems to chant “God bless America.” This is the phrase that keeps us going in the hardest of times, when life for us “ain’t no crystal stair” (Langston Hughes).

But around April 29 this powerful phrase becomes harder to say, for on April 29 several years ago a blow struck at the hearts, the wealth and the minds of the Koreans residing in Koreatown. On that day, when rioters stormed the city, looting money, merchandise and food, throwing homemade grenades made of bottles containing alcohol and fire and scaring thousands to the depths of hell, the police refused to answer the screams for help. They refused to act because we--Koreans--are not white.

There’s no use denying that there was discrimination in their inertia--it’s true. April 29 showed that life in America is the best, but for whites only, not for any others. This is why those precious words, “God bless America,” cannot ring throughout the nation.

Cynthia Lee

Cerritos

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I can well sympathize with those worn down by the futility of attempting to revitalize areas adjacent to downtown (“How the Looters Stole a Dream,” April 26).Eighteen months ago my wife and I purchased a large, 1925 Mediterranean-style house near Beverly Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. But the trash-strewn streets, the ever-present graffiti, the incessant horn-honking and car alarms, the drunks and gangbangers strutting about brazenly and the general disdain that many recent immigrants display for civic values have left us disheartened.

This past week two parked cars owned by Asian students living with us were struck by illegal immigrants without insurance. Our attempts to seek restitution have been met with blank intransigence, forcing us to seek aid from police and other agencies that are too busy to assist in a timely manner. It seems that the Rampart Division is, understandably, more concerned with responding to violent crime than with enforcing quality-of-life issues.

In my opinion, the only effective way to deal with these miscreants is through a massive civic education policy, combined with strict code enforcement.

Fred Stafford

Los Angeles

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Here’s how far we’ve come: Recently I was driving on Highland in Hancock Park when I witnessed a Korean American driver of a Mercedes rear-end the van of an African American driver. Instead of coming to blows, they got out, saw there was no damage and actually hugged and smiled as they said goodbye.

There has been a lot of healing in this city in the last 10 years, which I’ve also seen at the big Promise Keepers events at the Coliseum, in which tens of thousands of men of all races stood arm in arm and repented and apologized to each other for racism. We’re on the right track.

Jim Hodson

Pacific Palisades