The LA Riots: A Final Reflection

In 1992, I was still in elementary school in Torrance, CA.

The news was reporting the widespread and growing violence that was erupting all over the Southland.

I had witnessed that afternoon on TV as a group of thugs attacked Reginald Denny in his truck.

The supermarkets as far South as Rancho Palos Verdes were bare. People all over the South Bay really feared that the riots would spread all other the county.

I even got to a miss a day of school, since administrators were scared of the fall-out that would persist and disrupt any meaningful learning.

One of the teachers, Mrs. Cousins, lived in South Los Angeles, and there was no way that she was going to be coming to work for the next week after the verdict was read April 29, 1992.

I was not scared at the time. I knew that something big and historical was taking place that day. I also believe that the City of Los Angeles has learned a lot after that explosive break-down in law and order. It's amazing that with the growth of technology since then, there have been fewer riots. Even the fallout over the sudden death of  Trayvon Martin has sparked outrage, but has not led to fighting and pillaging in the streets. Perhaps the fact that people can share their feelings in the street and online more readily has contributed so much toward granting individuals a sense of efficacy and expression, thus minimizing the need to "raise hell."

The City of Los Angeles is not the best that it could be only because the state still plays so great a role in what is done, who makes decisions, and how people seek redress and reform. LA is still too much government, not enough culture.

On a side note, Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Ministries has not gotten as much press as he deserves. Because he infused former gang members into capitalism, because he inbred in his mentees a work ethic that respects pride and place, the LA riots never touched the sections of South Los Angeles where his former gang-banging lot has set up shop and made a consistent profit. If there is any phenomenon which better dramatizes the power of the free market to make free people and sweet customs, it is the phenomenal success that Father Boyle and Homeboy Ministries has effectively instituted. The LAPD has also learned about forming strong ties with the community, putting aside previous acrimony and recriminations between minorities and law enforcement, all of which came to a head during the 1992 riots.

More private enterprise, less government, more respect for an open culture of investment and individual initiative, and Los Angeles will go from barely surviving to thriving.