I understand why so many people in Los Angeles are restless, and angry, and taking to the streets as they did in 1965 and 1992.
Things haven’t changed much since then.
Now, as then, the notion of equal opportunity is distant dream and not a reality, and the darker your skin, the bleaker the outlook.
Schools are not equal. Healthcare is not equal. Criminal justice is not equal. And black Americans just keep dying at the hands of police.
These are not opinions. These are the irrefutable truths.
In 20 years of covering Los Angeles, I’ve seen all these things play out here. There is so much to cheer about in our mixed-up, polyglot city. But there is also so much to cry about. And so many frustrations that have to boil over.
On Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, glass shattered Friday night, looters roamed and smoke rose.
At 3rd and Fairfax on Saturday afternoon, police vehicles were torched and riot squad officers fired nonlethal shots at advancing protesters.
Just as we were beginning to open up after months of coronavirus lockdown, we were shutting down again with curfews. It’s a shame because it seemed clear that most of the protesters, who had every right and reason to demonstrate, wanted to make a statement rather than draw blood.
I’m not going to excuse the destruction of property. It’s chilling and irrational, especially in a city where so many shop owners, the heart and soul of L.A., are barely scraping by themselves.
But the scene of a murderous white Minneapolis cop with a knee on the neck of a black man was chilling and irrational too. And at the same time so utterly familiar that it set off little explosions across the U.S. Is it any wonder that people are far too tired of waiting for change that never comes?
The inequality is everywhere. For decades, the skid row population has been mostly black. Countywide, due in part to decades of housing discrimination and institutional racism, African Americans account for about a third of the total homeless population despite representing just 11% of the total population.
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Protesters stand on top of a burned LAPD cruiser. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters stand on top of a bus stop at the Los Angeles Civic Center to demonstrate for justice Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protestors turn on their cell phone flashlights at Los Angeles City Hall at 9 pm on Wednesday as part of a silent protest against the death of George Floyd. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts National Guardsmen as thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles to demonstrate for justice in the George Floyd murder by cop case Wednesday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters dance on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles Wednesday night to demonstrate for justice in the killing of George Floyd. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with protesters and L.A. clergy during a march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Khalil Mitchell speaks to protesters kneeling near a police line, preaching calm and working to preserve a peaceful protest on Monday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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In Hollywood, hundreds of protesters march Monday against police brutality. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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AJ Lovelace, a director and writer, and others keep potential looters from entering a dry cleaning store as they attempt to march peacefully. “We need peace and we need someone to talk to each other,” he said after the looters fled the scene. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Demonstrators in Riverside retreat as county sheriff’s deputies fire nonlethal rounds on Monday after law enforcement announced an unlawful assembly. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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An arrest in Hollywood during a protest Monday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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A demonstrator, injured while trying to flee the firing of nonlethal rounds, lies on the ground in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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An LAPD officer arrests a looting suspect in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Riverside County deputies advance on demonstrators on Monday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Fireworks thrown by a protester explode at the feet of Riverside police. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco takes a knee with demonstrators. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A watch and jewelry store is looted in Van Nuys on Monday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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A looting arrest in Van Nuys. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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AJ Lovelace, director and writer, tries to stop looters from breaking into a Walgreens in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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An LAPD officer arrests a suspected looter in an alley behind a Hollywood Boulevard store. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Police advance on a line of protesters in Hollywood, firing rubber bullets. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Arrests are made of those out after curfew in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A store is looted in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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People out after curfew are arrested Monday at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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Arrests in Hollywood. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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Protests in Westwood. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Volunteers help clean up the mess left by looters in Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Protest in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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National Guardsmen outside Santa Monica Place. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Gilbert Haro and sons Richard, 8, and James, 6, help clean up in Santa Monica. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters face off with police in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Santa Monica stores were the target of looting on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Suspected looters in custody in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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L.A. County sheriff’s deputies in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Sake House employee Jared Settles can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Broken glass from a looted store covers the sidewalk in Santa Monica. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Cecelia Rosales, who said she was homeless, walks past a line of police officers in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A man guards a convenience store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Looting erupted Sunday in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Police and protesters face off in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A police officer inspects the damage to a Santa Monica supermarket. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is treated after being struck by a rubber bullet. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Looting in Long Beach on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Looting in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A suspected looter in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Smashing windows in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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An arrest in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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People walk away with surfboards in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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People rush out of a looted store in Santa Monica. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
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Cheers for protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
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City Hall on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
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A shattered storefront on Melrose Avenue on Sunday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Smashed windows on La Cienega Boulevard. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Downtown L.A. on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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People carry merchandise from a looted store. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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A person carries items from a looted store in the Fairfax District on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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A couple of protesters embrace on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles Saturday. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
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People protest Saturday at Pan Pacific Park. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of a downtown L.A. street on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall on Saturday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters take to the streets Friday in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters are escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester is escorted off the northbound 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters climb over a barrier during the May 29 protest in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the 110 Freeway on May 29. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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During a May 29 protest, Los Angeles police patrol the 110 after having moved protesters off the freeway. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester rides a skateboard on the 110 Freeway. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block the 110 Freeway northbound and southbound in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester confronts LAPD officers on Friday in downtown L.A. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A protester lies hurt on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles on May 27. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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An injured man gets up with the help of emergency workers during a protest May 27 in downtown L.A. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
In Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, 90% of the students are nonwhite, and 80% meet poverty standards that qualify them for free or reduced-price meals.
The numbers are shocking, and every time I write about them, I hear from readers who think I must have gotten something wrong. That they’re shocked is revealing in itself.
We live in a city where people with vastly different realities live in close proximity. A house lists for more than $200 million; the homeless count approaches 60,000. California has the world’s fifth-largest economy; it has the nation’s highest rate of poverty.
And in recent weeks, a marauding coronavirus has made the playing field even more unlevel. In Los Angeles, black people are dying at twice the rate of white people, largely because of underlying health conditions related to trauma, poverty and lack of access to regular healthcare.
In the Los Angeles I know, the seeds of revolution have been in the ground for years. It was never a matter of if the smoke would rise again, but when.
It’s understandable but a shame, really, that the clash we’re witnessing in L.A. is between protesters and police, most of whom do a hard job as well as they can. Police don’t run the schools or the economy or write public policy that determines who we invest in and who we leave behind.
It’s true that in L.A. County, cops accused of brutality are seldom prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and it’s true as well that the Los Angeles Police Department is not perfect, by a mile. It’s a different force than it was in 1965 and 1992; more diverse, more progressive, but we still have a long way to go.
I hope righteous but nonviolent protests, a great and vital expression of American liberty, continue and bring about real change.
When the civil rights movement surpasses its half-century anniversary and people still feel constantly judged and feared and treated like suspects because of the color of their skin, it’s time.
When an unarmed man is killed by police in broad daylight while begging to breathe, it’s time.
When the politics of division and scapegoating and race-baiting carry a man to the White House, it’s time.
When schools are not equal, healthcare is not equal and criminal justice is not equal, it’s time.
When promises are made in 1965 and again in 1992, but real change is still elusive, it’s time.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
