18 years of America's Racial Climate

At the close of the 20th century, America had changed in many ways about the attitudes towards other races that were non-white. More than ever, people agreed with things such as integration in public places, which were well established by then, among other such positive opinions. However, many things lingered in society that would come to a boiling point. One issue was the harder crackdown on drugs by law enforcement, which usually meant that black communities in particular were targeted more harshly for drugs than white neighborhoods. Another issue was the issue of police and how they handled dealing with other races, which led to the infamous LA Riots. The LA Riots, also known by names such as the Rodney King Riots, were sparked by the arrest and brutal treatment of a man named Rodney King. Intoxicated and in violation of his parole, after a car chase by police, he was brutally beaten with batons and tasered. The court case to deal with the four officers involved, ended up with three being acquitted, the fourth case thrown out as the jury hung on the decision. The thought of Rodney King not receiving the justice he deserve angered the black community, therefore they started to riot. The riot not only affected Los Angeles in general, but also impacted another ethnic group at the time - Korean immigrants. Already tense in racial relations from decades spanning back to the 50's, many Korean shop keepers were left to fend for themselves with no help from law enforcement during the riots, even after reports of looting and assaults were given. This left many Koreans to end up arming themselves, to ward looters and rioters away from their stores, sometimes ending with people being shot at out of paranoia. The riot was immense. It required the National Guard, US Army, and Marines for it to be dispersed. 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, 3,100 businesses damaged, and nearly $1 billions dollars of financial losses resulted from it. Afterwards two cops were given 30 month sentences and it became a stark reminder that even in the 90's, with all of it's progress and quality of life contrast from decades ago, there was still a lot of work to be done to mend multi-ethnic tension and strife.