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TWITTER Armed Korean Americans protected their businesses during the Rodney King riot. |
Thirty years ago, I was still enjoying the best years of my journalistic career as a copy editor at the Oakland Tribune, at the time, the only major black-owned newspaper in the country, when the Los Angeles riots broke out.
In the Tribune newsroom I was transfixed watching TV and reading the wire stories on the burning and looting. For most Americans, the major images that stood was of entire blocks aflame in the black community and Korean Americans on the rooftops of their businesses brandishing guns trying to defend the buildings from their black neighbors.The Black and Asian journalists in the Tribune newsroom took a deep breath and put on their professional faces and tried to appear objective, but the furrowed brows were hard to miss.
Almost forgotten in the ensuing days was the incident that sparked the unrest and the following police reaction: a jury acquitted four white police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
“Newsrooms have a responsibility to cure the legacy of racism.”
Among Korean Americans, the L.A. riots became known as "Saigu," which translates to April 29, the first day of the week-long riots.
“Saigu has become almost like a memorial for Korean Americans,” Connie Chung Joe, chief executive officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Los Angeles, told NBC Asian America. “It’s a moment of profound sadness and loss, of feeling so targeted and so abandoned.”
Black and Asian civil rights leaders involved in the aftermath of the unrest in 1992 gathered recently to discuss past news coverage, how it impacted racial tensions and what members of the press can do to change the divisive narrative.
In an April 14 virtual panel titled "LA Uprising / Saigu Reflections: Race Relations Then and Now," speakers included Civil Rights Attorney Connie Rice, Attorney Mediator Angela Oh, Founder of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA Stewart Kwoh, and USC Professor/President of the National Association of Black Journalists Jarrett Hill. The virtual panel was hosted by Connie Chung Joe (CEO, AAAJ- LA) and moderated by Monica Lozano (former CEO, La Opinion).
On April 29, 1992, four white police officers were acquitted for the brutal beating of an African American man, Rodney King, which had been caught on tape. The verdict was followed by five days of unrest in Los Angeles in which more than 60 people lost their lives and an estimated $1 billion of damage was done in what dominant media labeled as race-related violence instead of injustice-related.
Civil Rights Leader Connie Rice, highlighted how the Rodney King video was the kindling that lit the fire of social issues which had been affecting the African American community in L.A. for generations, with the dominant media only focused on branding the community as criminals rather than talk about the economic gaps;
"For the working class and poor African Americans, they had seen 80,000 jobs leave the South Central area. When your entire economic base leaves, you are going to have a gap there and people fall through the cracks, and then you have an emerging and gang culture and of course the dominant media covered most Blacks in LA as criminals and as being violent because that was what the elite communities feared," she expressed.
For the African American community, the 1992 LA Uprising left a deep wound, one which embodied racial, economic and political injustice. There was a struggle to define community identity against the backdrop of the City removing all pillars of systemic support. The dominant media ignored this and instead labeled African Americans as the aggressor and Korean Americans as the aggressed, pitting one community against the other.
Attorney Mediator Angela Oh, explained why the word SAIGU defined the consequences the Korean American community experienced in LA as a result of the dominant media only portraying the community implementing vigilante justice.
"The Korean American community which the dominant media did not see experienced many issues. There were issues around suicide and mental health which didn’t get covered in any media. Children had to give up their education futures because they had to help their parents rebuild. The entire situation was truly dispiriting," she said.
Founder of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA Stewart Kwoh, made the point that a multi-racial democracy really depends on dominant media which is fair, accurate and avoids pitting one group against another;
"We went to the LA Times and said a small percentage of Korean Americans were trying to protect their businesses with guns, but that was the only image shown by the LA Times. It was inaccurate, imbalanced and it took everything out of context on the injustices faced by both communities – whether Korean American or African American," Kwoh strongly stated.
University of Southern California Professor/President of the National Association of Black Journalists, Jarrett Hill provided some observations on the how the dominant media has covered topics dealing with race, civil uprising and communities and how diversity in the newsrooms needs to be extended to decision makers.
"I think one of the things we have to recognize first is that the dominant media’s role has never been about upholding a multi-racial democracy. We are trying to change the system and bend it to the needs of what we need for it to reflect, so this is why we need to diversify our newsrooms and not just for interns or news reporters but also for editors, directors and the owners of these media companies," he emphasized.
“Saigu has become almost like a memorial for Korean Americans,” Connie Chung Joe, chief executive officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Los Angeles, told NBC Asian America. “It’s a moment of profound sadness and loss, of feeling so targeted and so abandoned.”
Black and Asian civil rights leaders involved in the aftermath of the unrest in 1992 gathered recently to discuss past news coverage, how it impacted racial tensions and what members of the press can do to change the divisive narrative.
Following is the press release issued by Asian Americans Advancing Justice about the panel discussing the news coverage of those days when L.A. burned.
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In an April 14 virtual panel titled "LA Uprising / Saigu Reflections: Race Relations Then and Now," speakers included Civil Rights Attorney Connie Rice, Attorney Mediator Angela Oh, Founder of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA Stewart Kwoh, and USC Professor/President of the National Association of Black Journalists Jarrett Hill. The virtual panel was hosted by Connie Chung Joe (CEO, AAAJ- LA) and moderated by Monica Lozano (former CEO, La Opinion).
On April 29, 1992, four white police officers were acquitted for the brutal beating of an African American man, Rodney King, which had been caught on tape. The verdict was followed by five days of unrest in Los Angeles in which more than 60 people lost their lives and an estimated $1 billion of damage was done in what dominant media labeled as race-related violence instead of injustice-related.
They failed to acknowledge the systematic and institutional causes of economic inequality, legal injustice, and police brutality were the primary causes of the incident.
For the Korean American community, the word “SAIGU,” which means 4.29, commemorates the day the Uprising began. $400 million of the property damages occurred to Korean-owned businesses, including Koreatown being heavily hit.
Leading up to the 30th anniversary of LA’s 1992 civil unrest, the panel urged the audience -- comprised of members of the press, students, and advocates–to reframe future narratives by focusing on the real issues of bias and oppression instead of sensationalized stereotypes. With the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements underway, dominant media have the obligation to self-reflect on its role in reporting and focus the political and economic history of race relations in Los Angeles and across the United States.
For the Korean American community, the word “SAIGU,” which means 4.29, commemorates the day the Uprising began. $400 million of the property damages occurred to Korean-owned businesses, including Koreatown being heavily hit.
Leading up to the 30th anniversary of LA’s 1992 civil unrest, the panel urged the audience -- comprised of members of the press, students, and advocates–to reframe future narratives by focusing on the real issues of bias and oppression instead of sensationalized stereotypes. With the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements underway, dominant media have the obligation to self-reflect on its role in reporting and focus the political and economic history of race relations in Los Angeles and across the United States.
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DOJ 30 years ago, a Korean American watched buldings burn. |
Civil Rights Leader Connie Rice, highlighted how the Rodney King video was the kindling that lit the fire of social issues which had been affecting the African American community in L.A. for generations, with the dominant media only focused on branding the community as criminals rather than talk about the economic gaps;
"For the working class and poor African Americans, they had seen 80,000 jobs leave the South Central area. When your entire economic base leaves, you are going to have a gap there and people fall through the cracks, and then you have an emerging and gang culture and of course the dominant media covered most Blacks in LA as criminals and as being violent because that was what the elite communities feared," she expressed.
For the African American community, the 1992 LA Uprising left a deep wound, one which embodied racial, economic and political injustice. There was a struggle to define community identity against the backdrop of the City removing all pillars of systemic support. The dominant media ignored this and instead labeled African Americans as the aggressor and Korean Americans as the aggressed, pitting one community against the other.
Attorney Mediator Angela Oh, explained why the word SAIGU defined the consequences the Korean American community experienced in LA as a result of the dominant media only portraying the community implementing vigilante justice.
"The Korean American community which the dominant media did not see experienced many issues. There were issues around suicide and mental health which didn’t get covered in any media. Children had to give up their education futures because they had to help their parents rebuild. The entire situation was truly dispiriting," she said.
Founder of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA Stewart Kwoh, made the point that a multi-racial democracy really depends on dominant media which is fair, accurate and avoids pitting one group against another;
"We went to the LA Times and said a small percentage of Korean Americans were trying to protect their businesses with guns, but that was the only image shown by the LA Times. It was inaccurate, imbalanced and it took everything out of context on the injustices faced by both communities – whether Korean American or African American," Kwoh strongly stated.
University of Southern California Professor/President of the National Association of Black Journalists, Jarrett Hill provided some observations on the how the dominant media has covered topics dealing with race, civil uprising and communities and how diversity in the newsrooms needs to be extended to decision makers.
"I think one of the things we have to recognize first is that the dominant media’s role has never been about upholding a multi-racial democracy. We are trying to change the system and bend it to the needs of what we need for it to reflect, so this is why we need to diversify our newsrooms and not just for interns or news reporters but also for editors, directors and the owners of these media companies," he emphasized.
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Here's the answer to Question No. 2: Has coverage of minority communities improved?
A footnote:
Unable to survive the Recession, later that year in 1992, Robert C. Maynard, had to alter his dream of holding the Tribune as an example of a diverse newsroom and journalists of color were just as talented as their white peers. The owner of the Trib -- a better journalist and human being than a businessman -- was forced to sell his newspaper to his competitors, the Alameda News Group part of the white-owned Media News Group chain.
The wonderfully diverse newsroom, which was not dominated by white males, was scattered to the winds to other publications throughout the nation.
Maynard's dream of diversifying the ranks of journalists lives on in the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Atop the Institute's website, a quote from Maynard resonates today as we mark the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King Riots:
“Newsrooms have a responsibility to cure the legacy of racism.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.
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