Project ReMiX looks at race in the 1992 LA riots


Dozens of students leaped back in time to 1992 on Wednesday to explore how Los Angeles erupted in riots under severe racial and economic stress.

USC Student Affairs’ Project ReMiX presentation of LA Explodes examined the underlying causes leading up to the ’92 riots through a video and panel offering first-person perspectives.

Her story · Corliss P. Bennett-McBride, the director of the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, talks about her experience during the L.A. riots. - Zhiyi Feng | Daily Trojan

Rachel Shannon, a rookie Los Angeles Police Department officer when the riots broke out, recalled her response to then-Chief Daryl Gates’ orders for officers to stay off the streets. The riots broke out when LAPD officers were acquitted for the beating of Rodney King, which was videotaped and widely broadcast.

“I wasn’t afraid,” said Shannon, now an officer with Beverly Hills Police Department. “We could hear screaming, we could hear gunshots and I remember hearing many of us asking, ‘How come we can’t go?’”

The riots lasted less than a week, but when the dust settled, more than 50 people had died, more than 4,000 were injured and the estimated overall property damage was $1 billion.

“I couldn’t understand it,” Shannon told the students. “People were destroying their city, destroying their communities.”

The post-panel discussion gave students an opportunity to analyze modern urban race relations, today’s economic woes and whether Los Angeles is in imminent danger of erupting into another violent protest.

“[Many] USC students weren’t born when the L.A. riots took place,” said Sumun Pendakur, assistant director of Asian Pacific American Student Services. “It’s so important for students to learn and address the economic impact and realize how many lives were lost and property that was destroyed.”

Pendakur said the general assumption is that the ’92 riots came from black-Korean conflict, but that economic injustice and racial inequality spurred the conflict.

“Race and economics go hand-in-hand,” Pendakur said. “It’s about access to resources, who controls resources and this country’s 400-year history of racial and economic injustice.”

Amanda Smith, a third-year USC law student, said economic inequality threatens Los Angeles’ social stability even though racial tensions between minority races have relaxed since 1992.

“Unemployment is rising. and it’s highest among minorities,” Smith said. “It’s important to address this and other issues so we make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.”

The Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, APASS and El Centro Chicano founded Project ReMiX in 2008 to address multi-racial issues in USC and in the surrounding urban communities.

About 14 percent or about 2,400 current undergraduates check more than one ethnicity box when applying to USC, according to Pendakur.

Though Pendakur said conditions have dramatically improved for multi-racial students since 1992, work still needs to be done.

“Diversity is a strength but can also be a challenge when services are unavailable and resources are unequal,” Pendakur said. “Multi-racial students face a particular set of challenges in our society.”

Minhee Ji, a freshman majoring in East Asian studies and international relations, said she has never encountered racism living in Los Angeles.

“I personally have not faced discrimination or any big challenges in America,” Ji said. “I’m comfortable. There are lots of Asians here and people understand you better.”

Pendakur said diversity in Los Angeles and at USC is a key strength, but it can also present challenges.

“USC has great structural diversity, but we need instructional diversity,” Pendakur said. “It’s the job of the classrooms and programs like these to encourage students to interact with people of different backgrounds so we can understand different cultures.”

5 replies
  1. Do the Right Thing...Spike Lee
    Do the Right Thing...Spike Lee says:

    Am I prejudiced?. Hell yeah. Do I express it openly?. Hell no. Do I burn crosses on people’s lawns, or hang nooses, or tatt swastikas on my body? Hell nah. You don’t have to be an extreme racist to be racist. Everyone is racist to some degree. Do I condone it?. Yep….It’s human nature. Are people who say things like “I’m not racist; I got black, brown, yellow peeps as friends” racist?. Hell yeah! People who say they’re not racists are ironically the biggest racists.

    The realistic approach to race relations isn’t “let’s all hold hands and sing kum ba yah.” No, it’s more like, “I don’t agree with your cultural diffrences, but as long as you don’t bother me, I can tolerate them.” We don’t have to see eye to eye on everything….

  2. Ras
    Ras says:

    I wish we can be more open and honest about the people who decided to riot and kill people. All these discussions make it seem their actions were partially justified. If we really want to pander to the lowest common denominator in society we will quickly turn into a 3rd world country – which LA already feels like right now. Let’s raise the intelligence level and raise the bar for how people should behave in a civilized society. people who whine and complain about being disenfranchised are also the ones acting like animals in school and not learning any employable skills. If you are lazy physically and intellectually then what do you expect?

  3. uscmomRI
    uscmomRI says:

    It sounds like it was a great presentation. I’m glad that 20 years later the new generation is re-examining what happened. I was going to USC at the time. I drove by the areas affected and took lots of pictures. It was quite eery. I still have the pictures. My son is at USC now. The surrounding areas seem better now. Thanks for posting the article.

  4. USC Alum
    USC Alum says:

    I was a student living in College-Uni dorms dutring the ’92 riots, now I live near campus in West Adams. I would have LOVED to hear the ReMiX interpretation of the events that transpired. I can tell you one thing for sure: it was scary to be on campus that first night, but DPS really handled the situation well. The fact that people were still trying to study for finals while we could all smell smoke, and hear sirens and gunshots was insane!

  5. uscdadnyc
    uscdadnyc says:

    Living in NYC during it’s Crown Heights Riots, I watched in a “Deja Vu” Moment when the 1992 LA Riots took place.
    With the LAPD off-the-streets there were TV Images of Korean Shopowners Firing (weapons) at would be Looters. So naturally I was apprehensive when I stayed at a Hotel in Koreatown during USC 2010 Parents Weekend. I found the Neighborhood and the Area around USC very nice and pleasant. But I still wonder (w/ such divide-siveness in Politics) whether we will suffer another Breakdown in Governmental Administration/Responsibilities?

Comments are closed.