Amerasia Journal 38:1 (2012): 63-82

Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later: I Still Love L.A.

Rose M. Kim

This essay looks backward twenty years to the days of violence that erupted in Los Angeles, California, on April 29, 1992, follow- ing the acquittal of four white police officers charged with brutally assaulting Rodney King, a black motorist. On that day, I was work- ing as a rookie reporter for the Los Angeles Times’ Orange County Edition. In the following days, I was reassigned to the City Desk, and, a year later, was among the team of reporters and photog- raphers awarded the Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting. Far from the imaginary objective reporter, I was terrified to see my hometown erupting in violence and flames. My older sister, an as- signment editor at the Korea Times Weekly English Edition, far-along pregnant with her third child, had fled her office due to the threat of mob violence. My father could smell the burning buildings from his apartment and my brother-in-law lost his job when the store where he worked was burned down. In the following weeks, I at- tended political rallies held by Korean Americans, and interviewed depressed store owners seeking federal aid as well as emerging, young community leaders. The violence unleashed a flood of events, affects, and memories that has troubled me and, over the years, made me rethink my understanding of my hometown, my nation, and my ethnic and racial identity. The event has haunted me. More than a decade later, it became the subject of my doctoral dissertation in sociology. Twenty years later, it is the topic of this essay and this special issue. The haunting continues now.

Rose M. Kim is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Borough of Man- hattan Community College, the City University of New York (CUNY). She co-edited Struggle for Ethnic Identity: Narratives of Asian American Pro- fessionals (1999) and has published articles in Ethnic and Racial Studies and Socialism and Democracy. Prior to becoming a sociologist, she worked as a journalist at New York Newsday and also at the Los Angeles Times, where she was among a team of reporters and photographers who won a Pu- litzer Prize for its coverage of the 1992 L.A. riots/insurrection/Sa-I-Gu.

63 64 Amerasia Journal 2012 rative cultural memory.rative cultural atlarge,society thereby constructing visual,andnar acollective, of itskeyroleand recording intransmitting theexperienceto cally printjournalismandthediscoursesitcirculated, because tive viewersmore thannineyearslater. ber 11, 2001,whichwouldtraumatizeandhauntanationofcap- future televisedevents,suchasthefrightfulspectacleofSeptem- unfolding inreal time,themedia-eventwasaforeshadowing of vised imagesstillhadapowerful,visceralimpactonitsaudience; actual threat.” risings were experiencedmore astelevisedspectaclethanan ticularly those livinginwealthierWestside communities, theup- the experienceofcivilupheaval:“(F)ormany Angelenos, par Ise rightlycommentedonthepoweroftelevisionintransmitting images thanbymyowndirect experiences. Art curatorClaudine the street. Thus, as so many, Iam informed more bymass media bloodied Korean American EddieLeeandhisfriends,splayedon white truck driverReginaldDenny;andthestill photographofa the policeassaultonRodneyKing;live,televisedbeatingof intuitively recall—i.e., the grainy, black-and-white videotape of mass mediaimagesladenwithwell-wornnarrativesthatIvividly, ories of whathappened are most powerfully shaped byselect then laterspentyearsresearching itformydissertation,mem- For example, other journalists and I learned about the beating of For example,otherjournalists andIlearnedaboutthebeatingof to reference (orecho)each othertovalidatetheirownreporting. and itiscommonfortelevision broadcasters andprintjournalists tion withtelevisedimages, eachechoingandrepeating theother, they work in concert. Newspaper accounts emerge in conjunc isalsotruea dividebetweenprintmediaandtelevision,it that nology. Whilethere has beenatheoretical focusemphasizing racially segregated communities. Americans, through avarietyofpushand pulls,are sorted into the “racialimaginary”seemsespeciallytrue todaysincemany constructing in media mass of role significant The experience. ber the virtual mass-mediated experience before our own lived hyper-connectivity: Iwouldargue thatwehabituallyremem- pecially astheculture cultivatesaperpetual,electronic, digital our social—racialized,gendered, classist—reality/imaginary, es- isincreasingly narratives, images with powerfulinconstructing This paper emphasizes the role of the mass media, specifi- media, mass the of role the emphasizes paper This Even thoughIworkedasareporter coveringthisevent,and The early1990srepresented aperiod ofincreasing teletech- 1 Even ifnotanactualthreat forviewers, thetele- 2 Mass media, coupling still and moving and still coupling media, Mass - - - Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 65 - - 3 rialization, and reterritorialization of social spaces, as well as of social spaces, as well as rialization, and reterritorialization event- to media to the vulnerabilities of exposure adjustment to turn it “on” or off. decision mere beyond any users’ ness, are “knowledge of matters all to refers therefore, Teletechnology, objects”. . . - prom television, technology and computer the full interface of communication and of information networks globalized ising whereby layers of electronic images, texts, and sounds flow in deterrito territorialization, the of speeds the that so time, real ing a population for the purposes of biopolitical management; it disseminated and circulated media the mass how considers also how and upheaval, civil the 1992 during racialized discourses these discourses impacted racial conflicts and the racialization at large. process, Racialized Biopolitics and Traumatic Identifications Traumatic and Biopolitics Racialized it is a At its core, multiple frameworks. This paper represents especially its vio- analysis of racialization, discursive theoretical lent, traumatic origins, of cultural trauma and its influence on of Americans, and of the role the collective identity of Korean mass media discourses in constructing race. It builds upon Mi- fractur of racial discourse in chel Foucault’s ideas on the role The 1992 L.A. riots/civil disturbance represents such a complex, such represents The 1992 L.A. riots/civil disturbance of how it unfolded on liveteletechnological media event because It and computer technology. by reporters television, buttressed its through of broadcasting marks a unique moment in the history unfolding event. Ideally, live, continuous coverage of a violently up possibilities for talkinga teletechnological analysis will open and viral connections.about psychic, unconscious dimensions Reginald Denny via live televised broadcasts in the Orange Coun- Orange the in broadcasts televised live via Denny Reginald is producing , the “end” Times At the Los Angeles ty newsroom. that newspa- constructing of process but the a daily newspaper, of technologicala multiplicity on increasingly per has depended such as newspapers, but also new including old media, processes, such technologies, of a multiplicity and television as such media computer networks. This cell phones, and as live video streaming, of viral, network a complex technology creates mix of media and socio-machinic interactions. I draw upon Patricia Clough’s Thus, observation of this significantcultural shift that took place in the describes Clough today. and continuing late twentieth century, representing social field teletechnology as a 66 Amerasia Journal 2012 dia coverage, Furthermore, theexclusionofKorean Americans from massme- including Edward Chang, Angie Y. Chung, and Pyong Gap Min. nationality toonebasedonrace,asnotedbyvarious scholars, of Korean Americans, shiftingtheiridentityfrom onebasedon abandonment bythestatehadaprofound impactontheidentity morewhites inBeverlyHills.This wealthy the expendablethan source perception conveyedthe rage ofblack Koreans that were outbreakolent ofKorean scapegoating andthe asthe immigrants The police’sabandonmentofKorean storeowners duringthevi- function indeterminingwhodeservestolivemore: subdivide the population,butthatitalso played acriticalsecond In thelectures, racismdoesnotjust claimedthat Foucaultfurther ing theirvalueorimportance: a societalpopulationintohierarchy ofgroups, andforprioritiz- racialized discourse Foucault notedthatisasystemfordividing Korean Americans. thus belatedlycreating anew, racializedidentityforKoreans and rienced duringthe1992civil unrest, andthetrauma thatensued, this collectiveidentityshift emerged duetoracistviolence expe- the group. In a recently published article, I elaborate on how reotypes ofKoreans thatfueledfurtherviolentassaultsagainst life ingeneralhealthier:healthierandpurer. the degenerate, or the abnormal) is something that will make orous Iwillbe...thedeath of thebad race, theinferiorrace (or than individual—canlive,thestronger Iwillbe,themore vig- in the species as a whole, and the more I—as species rather individuals are eliminated, thefewerdegeneratesthere willbe tionship: The more inferiorspecies die out, themore abnormal like relationship of confrontation, butabiological-type rela - is notamilitaryorwar other that death ofthe my lifeandthe . .racism makesitpossibletoestablisharelationship between cal thatpowercontrols. inferior: all this is a way of fragmenting the field ofthe - biologi scribed as good and thatothers, incontrast, are described as races, thehierarchy of races, thefact thatcertain races are de- continuum ofthehumanraceraces,distinctionamong what mustliveanddie.Theappearancewithinthebiological control: thebreak between main of lifethatis under power’s [Racism] isprimarilyawayofintroducing abreak intothedo- In his lectures at the College de France, from 1975 to 1976, 7 especiallyintheinitialdays,resulted inracistste- 8 4 5 - 6

Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 67 So- 10 12 This paper ap- 11 but in recent decades has been decades but in recent 9 Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles the , Times Angeles Los , a weekly black-owned newspaper, Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly black-owned newspaper, was founded in 1990 English Edition was founded in 1990 Weekly Times Korea - news sole daily city’s the time, was , at the Angeles Times Los To help cultivate an interracial analysis, the paper presents a the paper presents help cultivate an interracial analysis, To The The Trauma theory is also highly relevant to this paper. The study The paper. to this also highly relevant theory is Trauma plies plies Alexander’s definitionof “cultural trauma” to explain how upon their community. the assault Americans perceived Korean dif- by three how the violent event was covered content analysis of the outlets: media ferent English Edition. These media outlets Weekly Times and the Korea of- together, considered and, standpoints, social different represent U.S. the in contested and constructed is race how into insights fer The in a county of about a million subscribers with a circulation paper, totaling founding in 1881, a little over nine million people. Since its capi- white private of promoting the newspaper had a long record it had time, at the same expansion; the city’s developing tal and and pro-police. been anti-union, anti-public housing, was founded by Col Leon H. Washington in 1933. Washington came Washington 1933. in wasWashington H. Leon Col by founded , then theAngeles in 1930, and worked for the California Eagle to Los his launching before black newspaper for a few years city’s largest was wife, Ruth Washington, own publication; he died in 1974. His Jennifer and Kenneth 1983, In in 1990. death her until publisher it until 2004. The ac- the newspaper and owned Thomas purchased community, the black impacting on stories focused newspaper tivist than 100,000 subscribers concentrated of more and had a readership Angeles, Inglewood, and Compton. in South Los Asian immigrant to work for Lee, the first (K.W.) by Kyung Won to the U.S. to In his early twenties, Lee came a U.S. newspaper. In 1955, he was University. Virginia study journalism at West Lee had long in Tennessee. Times-News the Kingsport by hired that would newspaper Korean for an English-language yearned immigrants and on the of Korean travails and triumphs report well as insights, intergenerational provide to and children, their of trauma originated with the study of soldiers, and rape and in- and rape and the study of soldiers, originated with of trauma in clinical psychology; cest victims ciologist Jeffrey Alexander Alexander definesciologist Jeffrey acultural trauma as occurring to a collectivity feel they have been subjected when members of group their upon marks indelible leaves that event a horrendous and changing their their memories forever consciousness, marking ways. identity in fundamental and irrevocable applied elsewhere in the social sciences. It has rightly been noted It has rightly in the social sciences. applied elsewhere have not developed in a linear manner. that trauma studies 68 Amerasia Journal 2012 and then,whilestillincollege, freelanced foranumber ofpub- ate newspapertheChicagoMaroon (attheUniversityofChicago), undergradu- my through journalism in involved got officially I published. was battlefield, the frombarred be to women for call Editor,” of the critique William to a “Letter Buckley’s first F. my journalist inKorea,Times gottheLosAngeles almostdaily. At 16, had grown upreading thenewspapersincemyfather, formerlya increase ofminorityreporters thenumber across I the nation. to program, training reporter two-year a (METPRO), Program Training Editorial Minority the established Los AngelesTimes a fewminorityreporters todiversifyitsstaff, and,in1984,the Following theWatts Riotsof1965,thenewspaperbeganhiring the at program METPRO into accepted ican Koreanfirst Amer the became I 1991, In event. the of witness a coverage. transplant; still,hecloselysupervisedthenewspaper’s Chief K.W. Leewassuffering from liverfailure andawaitinga sion ofasmallstaff ofprofessionals. At thetime,Editor-in- mostly withhighschoolandcollegestudentsunderthesupervi- established newspapers,theKorea Times Weekly Editionwasstaffed prehensive reaction totheviolence.Unlikeothertwomore com first, its represented 11issue May the outbreak, violent the tion published an abbreviated issue on May 4 that did not mention of theviolentoutbreak. WhiletheKorea Times Weekly English Edi Korea Times Weekly EnglishEdition.Thefocusisontheearlydays involved in the Rodney King incident; and the May 11 issue of the Angeles Sentinel 1992) oftheLosAngelesTimes ’ coverage;theMay7issueofLos members whohavevolunteered theirtime. lish Weekly Research inBlackCulture; and,meanwhile,theKorea Times Eng- NYPL’s the for at microfiche Center Schomburg on is les Sentinel branch oftheNew York PublicLibrary(NYPL);theLosAnge- main the in microfiche on of residence: theLosAngelesTimesis city my in availability their in reflected is papers these of status a circulation of more than 50,000 subscribers. The differential daily Korean-language newspapertheKorea Times , whichhad the newspaper, andpublisheditforafewyears.In1990,hebegan American Korean English-language first the Koreatown Weekly , as reach out tothelarger American society. In 1979, Lee founded Korean Times Weekly EnglishEdition,inassociationwiththe Finally, thispaperincorporatesmypersonal experiences as 1, May and 30 (April days two first the on focuses paper This has aminimal online archive created byformer staff , the first issue after the acquittals of the officers the of acquittals the after issue first the , Los AngelesTimes. - - - Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 69

14 Los Angeles Sentinel, describing what I experienced, yet also drawing describing what I 13 Korea Times English Weekly Edition Weekly English Times Korea Also, note how African Americans are pitted against both pitted against both Americans are African Also, note how upon experimental writing, to reveal the repressed stories and and stories repressed the reveal to writing, experimental upon of these experiences. haunted possibilities the productive, , Standpoints: Los Times Angeles Three and . K.W. . K.W. English Edition Weekly Times including the Korea lications, mentors. journalistic important most and first my of one was Lee an to produce want to claim not do I sharing my experiences, In - an au I hope to present Rather, authoritative account. original, toethnography, came to pass after the acquittal of Angeles four police Los officers the writers in the article, King.” Later Rodney in the beating of spoke of “the city’s long standing racial tensions” and identified longstanding city’s “The race: by their perpetrators and victims exacerbated have said were racial tensions, which many leaders point on the streets their hottest by the beating of King, reached following the verdicts. Many of the perpetrators of the attacks It Asian.” and white were victims some Americans; African were though they not mentioned, even how Latinos are is interesting of the city’s population. than 37 percent constituted more or Asians, Asians in the passages. The inclusion of whites and specifically Korean immigrant storeowners, deflected attention this Through system. racist, white supremacist the larger, from for black hos- as the reason posited were narrative turn, Koreans being outraged the privilege of afforded were whites and tility, onlookers in a fight betweenminority groups. The alliance of the case through Asians was discursively constructed whites and American girl who was African of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old about owner, liquor store fatally shot by Soon Ja Du, a Korean two weeks after the police assault on Rodney King. Later that a jury found Du guilty of manslaughter and recommended year, judge, Joyce Karlin, sentence, but the presiding a 16-year prison reduced the sentence to probation for five years, 400 hours of - sig reveals venues media three the by coverage the of review A nificant differences in their dominant narratives. Foremost, the thus, factor; the salient as race emphasize stories ’ Times Angeles Los evi- violence,” thethe paper characterized event as “race-related entitled paragraph of one of its lead stories, denced by the opening “Rioting mobs1992): 30, (April Stores” Loot Fires, “Rioters Set ignited Wednes- beatfires, motorists and looted and stores offices violence Angeles as fears of race-related Los day night throughout 70 Amerasia Journal 2012 was unarmed, K.W. Lee spoke of the violence routinely inflicted routinely violence K.W.the unarmed, of was spoke Lee black media focused on how Du had fatally shot Harlins, who healing andcalming tensions.”Whilethedominant whiteand Angels, polarizingthetwo misunderstoodgroups, ratherthan ful Koreans, contributing to the Lebanonization of the City of rean coveragehashadalife-threatening impactonmanyfear mainstream media’signoranceandsensationalisminblack-Ko- ed legalsystem.Inhisfront-page column,K.W. Leewrote, “The ofaracist, white-dominat- beneficiary depiction ofDuasthe the ago thattheywere theobjectsofcontemptandexclusion. entrepreneurs achievingthe American Dream, itwasnotsolong immigrants are helduptodayasamodelminority, hard-working and 1920inadditiontoraciallyrestrictive covenants.While Asian erty ownership via California’s Alien Land Laws passed in1913 from U.S.citizenshipuntil1952,aswellrestricted from prop- Koreans withwhitesisironic since Asian immigrantswere barred is this:‘Howcouldthingspossiblygetworse’?”Thealignmentof for murdering aBlack teen, as well as these four cops, my question Rose alsomentionedtheDucase:“Ifsystemcanlet(her)walk Latinos share similarhistoriesofoppression.” A columnbySheila Blacks andLatinos,writing,“There islittledoubtthatBlacksand ofracializedoppression claimedacommonhistory bry between people.” WhilealigningKoreans withthewhitelegalsystem, Au- involved blatant disregard for the rights and humanity of Black system for African Americans. Like theKingcase, theDu case justice the of injustice and inequity the confirmed .also . case. Du African-Americans, JudgeJoyceKarlin’sdecisionintheSoonJa Larry Aubry againevokedthecaseofLatashaHarlins:“Formost imbalance withJapan.”Ontheeditorial page,Sentinel and Korean communities; thedeepening recession and thetrade Latasha Harlins,furtherexacerbatingthestrifebetweenBlack Gulf War, whichgaverisetoanti-Arabsentiments,themurder of the 22percent in1991:“the Persian crimes”inthecity risein“hate A-4 story, theLosAngelesSentineloffered thefollowingreasons for blacks havefaced,anddoface,intheU.S.legalsystem.Onapage injustices historical the exemplified and community American on television,inflamingpassionsinbothcases. eotape, andthepowerfulvisualrecords were playedrepeatedly sault onKingandtheshootingofHarlinswere captured onvid- as- Interestingly, the both fine. $500 a and service, community The inthe many Ducaseoutraged ofthe The outcome African Korea Times Weekly EnglishEdition,meanwhile,critiqued columnist columnist - Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 71 -

18 Historically, and par and Historically, 16 To me, it seems reasonable that that reasonable seems it me, To 15 emphasized the outburst of outburst the emphasized Times Angeles Los in stark contrast to blacks who were narrativized were in stark contrast to blacks who 17 Long before the Latasha Harlins tragedy, dozens of small store small store dozens of Harlins tragedy, the Latasha Long before crim- by gang members and and terrorized robbed keepers were part and harassments are racial threats inals. Shoplifting and in merchant American every Korean almost life of the daily of inner cities. Whereas the Whereas Rather than seeing Koreans or Asians as being aligned with with aligned being as Asians or Koreans seeing than Rather Perhaps Perhaps it seems racially inflammatoryto suggest inner-city Sociologist grocers. Korean stolen goods from blacks might have Pyong Gap Min found that Korean storeowners cited frequent and the lower spending of armed robberies, shoplifting, the risk busi- as major disadvantages in running capacity of customers areas. low-income in nesses on Korean immigrant storeowners, but ignored by the dominant by the but ignored storeowners, immigrant on Korean black media: white and “race-related violence”, the Los Angeles Sentinel devoted the top fold“race-related page to Rodney King’s appeal for peace. The contemptof the front Rod- for the state and its allies was obvious: “(I)n just a few words, than all the glib politicians, social scientists, andney King said more about the multi- ‘community leaders’ had said in a million words as economically and academically failing as the “underclass.” as economically and academically failing shoplifting is more prevalent in poor communities where money communities where in poor prevalent shoplifting is more in Santa Cruz, worked as a waitress 1981, when I In scarce. is and potatoes boiled diced, of buckets one-quart stole I California, Thankfully, of toilet paper to make it to my next paycheck. rolls - pro rights, as a tenure-track due to collective-bargaining today, me wage that shields I earn a living at a public university, fessor indignities, such as stealing to survive. from - dy a different offered Lee structure, power white the dominant called nativ- garb a different namic: “(r)acism has come to wear The undercurrent.” anti-immigrant anti-foreigner, an with ism, storeowners Korean depicted media black white and dominant carrying and firingas voiceless weapons likeforeigners, vigilan- still photography. via moving and tes, images vividly captured Min Hyoung Song described the image of Korean American without spectacle a as brandishing guns, owners, business small thus “flexibleprecedent,” signifiers for a wide variety of already perspectives.” competing and entrenched ticularly in that particular moment, Asian Americans had been been had Americans Asian moment, that particular in ticularly economic and educationalviewed as a model minority with high achievement, 72 Amerasia Journal 2012 assault on Rodney King,theevent thateventually led to theac the of violence state-initiated original, the from attention flected tal contradictedthenation’s idealsofjustice. called theverdicts “shameful,” which emphasized howtheacquit- manizing and validating them. In contrast, the hu- thus elation,” and “relief feeling as officers the described tals A-18 story (April 30) on the reaction of police officers to the acquit- tor, was stunned, disappointed and pained.” In addition, apage in SouthernCalifornia,DeputyDist. Atty. White,the lead prosecu- people many case...Like beating King Rodney inthe judgment somber Terry Whiteinreacting Wednesday totheastonishingjury tional process: “‘This is the way our system works,’ commented a it wasimportanttoaccepttheoutcomeasanauthorized institu- headline on April 30. Yet initsleadeditorial,itemphasized that ized theoutcomeasevoking“outrageanddisbelief,” in itspage1 vealed otherdifferent narratives.TheLosAngelesTimes character little more thanburnt-outshells.” that lefthundreds ofcommercial andretail establishmentswith firey (sic.)destructionthe escaped business Black-owned “Many Owned BusinessesNotSpared,” evenasthearticleitselfsaid, of black vs. white through its front-page article headlined “Black- further underscored thattheevent was not a simple opposition Latino looters as African Americans. . .” The in downtownLos Angeles, andthere appeared tobeasmany black; lastweek, Anglos ledviolence-producing demonstrations Watts Riots to the 1992 event: “In 1965, they were exclusively sion, Prophetic Aftermath,” Larry Aubry compared the1965 as being“multiracial.”Inhiscolumnentitled“ShamefulDeci- rioting emphasizedthe Sentinel Angeles Los the point, planatory all getalong?”becamethefocusofdominantmedia’s tile feelings toward other racialized minorities, his plea of “Can we King wascriticalofthemedia’sdepictionhimselfashavinghos- ple ofcolor. I’mnotlikethey’re (making)meouttobe.” Although want. ..Ilove..youknow, I’mneutral;Iloveeveryone...Ipeo- They’ve wonthewar. We’ll haveourdayincourt,andthat’sallwe not right. And it’snotgoingtochangeanything.We’ll getjustice. you know, canwe,weallgetalong?...It’sjustnotright. It’s wanttosay, “People,Ijust quotedKing, Thearticle notorious.” racial riotingwhichmadetheso-calledCityof Angels universally By emphasizinginterracial violence,theLosAngelesTimes de- re- also officers police four the of acquittal the of story The Whereas theLosAngelesTimes premised “race”asakeyex- Los AngelesSentinel Los Angeles Sentinel emphasis. emphasis. - -

Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 73

- 19 Korean storeowners storeowners Korean 21 20 and the Los Angeles Times , meanwhile, was was , meanwhile, Edition English Weekly Times Korea The The The racialized narrative—particularly the black white vs. na- inclusive more the larger, on race also concealed The focus unique in not mentioning the words “race” and “multiracial” in “race” unique in not mentioning the words page the stories. While any of its front Middleman minority theory helps to illuminate how the targeted attack on Korean small business owners con- reflected intergroup middleman minorities serveflicts. an intermediary Theoretically, population by dis- and an oppressed class between the ruling role the latter; to services and tributing goods quittal of the four officers and to the violent outburst. An editorial An outburst. violent the to and officers four the of quittal this point: expressed Sentinel powerfully the Los Angeles cartoon in with judge in a robe silhouettes, a showed two black the drawing - and a man carry “stupid justice” blood, labeled a gavel, dripping both “We’re blood, labeled “stupid violence.” ing an axe, dripping the man tells the judge. it,” and don’t you forget responsible references through of the violence—was further emphasized ture front stories on the three Riots of 1965. In two of the to the Watts writing, “It the 1965 event, referenced page, the Los Angeles Times Watts Angeles since the in Los rioting to erupt was the largest was the most damaging, Riots the Watts Riots of 1965.” While in- episodes in the city’s history violent other racially-inspired thou- Riots of 1943, during which several cluded the Zoot Suit males, and marines assaulted young Latino sand white sailors and the Chinese Massacre of 1871, during which a mob of more at least 18 Chinese. The than 500 white men killed and lynched blacks emphasize era Rights post-Civil the in riots on emphasis the fact that, for most of of violence, and obscures as the source instigated by whites many race riots were this country’s history, against racialized minorities. to act violently mobs of people economic violence driving large as Ed- some activists and scholars such In reaction, or to plunder. riots,” as “bread episode violent to the referred have Chang ward than racial, inequalities. in class, more i.e. an upheaval rooted in the U.S. played the role of a “middleman” merchant between merchant of a “middleman” in the U.S. played the role white- predominantly large, and consumers minority low-income owned companies, suffering a high level of conflict with both mi- on middle- nority customers and white suppliers. The literature be used can merchants middleman that suggest minorities man have and scholars the dominant group, as scapegoats to protect hos black for shields as used were merchants that Korean claimed tility social conditions beyond their control. 74 Amerasia Journal 2012 issue of the Korea Times English Weekly Edition began: “Under a 11, 2002 May the for story lead the Thus, control. their in not ties white mass media who made them scapegoats for social inequali- Koreans, thepolicewhofailedtoprotect them,andtheblack ignored who politicians the of actions the by reflected as tivism, na and classism, racism, by stratified society white dominant a of the conflict, Angeles Times orChristianScienceMonitor,emphasizedinterracial insurance rates—anythingwecouldforpayback.” .We . wanted tohurt[Koreans]. physically, economically, raisetheir aimed atthrowing off perceived economic and socialoppression Najee to wereAli, said,“Theriots arebellion all,but at riots not can pie,” Jang said. Meanwhile, Eskew, who had changed his name color foughtforthecrumbs ratherthantheirduepieceofthe Ameri- the interviews.“Koreans becamepawnsinthisgame,aspeopleof in worker.construction echoed was conflict interracial of story The dental College;andTodd Eskew, asomewhatolderblackpart-time Jurado, a19-year-old Salvadorian American, thenastudentatOcci- cille Roybal-Allard (D),whosedistrict included Koreatown; Randy Lu- Rep. for representative field 24-year-old a Jang, Mira color: of Wood revisited the event through the eyes of three young people the in story a In riot. multiracial first the as emphasized be to tinued not afairplacetolive.Itislandofopportunity.” Reporter SophiaKim recorded whatLee toldher:“America is supplies store—wereoperation andabeauty lootedandburned. black candidates.Still,histwofamilybusinesses—aswapmeet 77 he had been elected by African American residents to sit on the area,Vermont-Manchester the in merchants friendliest the of grown up with blacks in the Deep South. Recognized as one to hiscustomers’funerals.IttoldofStevenLee,24,whohad sponsoredlocal blacks, andgone teams, Leaguebaseball Little the Black-Korean Alliance in the 1980s and who had employed Chung Lee, a Watts grocer for 15 years who had been co-chair of traits oftheircommunityinteractions.Thenewspapertold fering richdetailsoftheirsubjects’livesandmore nuanced por focused on the Korean immigrant storeowners as individuals, of- via theSoon JaDu case, theKorea Times Weekly English Edition Los AngelesSentinel briefly mentioned Korean merchants, usually th Street Area Community-Based Policing Council, edging out Christian ScienceMonitoron April 29,2002,staff writerDavid While thedominant whitemainstream press, such as theLos On itstenthanniversary, the1992L.A.civildisturbancecon- Korea Times EnglishWeekly repeatedly spokeoftherole - -

Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 75 - the riots were the riots were 22 23 ’ nar Los Angeles Times The three media narratives (or standpoints) offered by these offered media narratives (or standpoints) The three the operations, its routine of result a As In our election-obsessed culture, everything else going on in everything else going on in In our election-obsessed culture, the world—war, hunger, official sickness, brutality, the vio- of people—is swept life for huge numbers lence of everyday out of the way while the media covers every volley of the can- didates. Thus, the superficial crowds out the meaningful, and this is very useful for those who do not want citizens to look of by the contest Hidden system. the of the surface beyond peace, and war, class, of race, issues the real are the candidates which the public is not supposed to think about. - norma with a presumably contrasted upheaval a violent rative of tive state of non-violence, in this way deflecting attention from other against blacks and the everyday violence of the U.S. state oppressed minority and economic groups, as exemplified in the of the violence origi- Rodney King. While the root attack on brutal of inequalities economic gross and injustices in the criminal nated society, capitalistpatriarchal a white supremacist blazing sun, college student Helen Kim cried out: ‘Where were were ‘Where cried out: Helen Kim student college sun, blazing The looted’?” being were businesses the Korean when the police storeowners American Korean by directly experienced violence publically in Koreans of exclusions its by violent additionally was of depiction well as in its stereotypical discussions, as broadcast In blacks. with conflict in storekeepers vigilante armed, as Koreans Lim, whostudent Soon Hyun college quoted Lee K.W. column, his for fear “I : Times Angeles Los the to letter a in written recently had my father’s safety and well-being because of the way that the me- existing in South Central L.A.” the problem dia have perpetuated and reveal competing racialized discourses newspapers illustrate Angeles Los the In society. U.S. in race of nature the into insights and the event as race-based violence , the narrative depicted Times - obvi is While race violence. of the initiators as blacks emphasized the event, by singling ously an important concept to help interpret essentializing worked toward out this aspect, the Los Angeles Times this strategy of the violence; race and making blacks the source and to as- its audience into racialized groups, served to fracture to racialized groups. sign blame or causality for the event depicted as originating from blacks in the central city. In this way, way, In this city. blacks in the central depicted as originating from understandingdeflect to and problems signify to allowed was race spoke Zinn Howard Historian at hand. problems the true from fix- by violence everyday obscure can journalism how of brilliantly the case of electoral politics: ating on insignificant stories, such as 76 Amerasia Journal 2012 households and18timesthat ofHispanichouseholds;therecent and compared byrace,whiteshave 20timesthewealthofblack Americans isthegreatest Great sincethe Depression ofthe1930s, last twentyyears.Today, thegap betweentherichestandpoorest how economicandpolitical conditionshaveonlyworsenedinthe States.” Itishard toswallowsucharosy assessment,considering formed, offering itselfup..asamodelpolice agency fortheUnited was caughtonvideotape. ..this has become adepartment trans ry stated,“Twenty ofRodneyKing yearsafterthepolicebeating bled Police Force Has Been Transformed inLos Angeles.” The sto- a storyontheLos Angeles PoliceDepartment,entitled,“A Trou- August 13, 2011, the structuralage ofsystematic, lacking.On isstill socialinjustices pristine wildernessviamassmediaaccounts. been conquered with racist violence and then mythologized as a es. Thisfantasyexistedinaphysicallandscapethathadactually fantasy Iconstructed withpersonalandmassmediated experienc- imaginary oftheplace—aprivileged,elitist,predominantly white bye, andValley Girlthatfedmyfantasiesofthecity. Suchwasmy Deadbeats, and cherished movies such as in divey clubs, listening to bands such as X, the Blasters, and the California asaspiritualhome.Ibecamenostalgicfornightsspent suchasEdRuschaandDavidHockney,artists whohadclaimed and Miller, Henry and Didion, Joan Isherwood, Christopher as thologized itasaplaceofrebel culture, worshippingwriterssuch from thecityforvariousreasons, thatIlearnedtoloveL.A.my- York. It was only, as the years passed, and I found myself exiled ed thecityasaculturalwastelandandyearnedtoescapeNew cruising onemptyfreeways withtheradioblasting,Ihadregard- a teenager, IhadloathedL.A. WhileIhad loved theocean and realize how imprecise, revisionist, and sentimental they were. As I them, wrote first I after months sentences few last those reading my tiestoandfeelingsfortheplace.(Three monthslater...) Re- Vanishes inSmoke.” After theviolentoutbreak, Iquestionedall Times the irony.in the headline without 1 AMaybut song, my hometown.IhadalwayslovedL.A.,liketheRandyNewman cialized discoursefractured theaudienceintocompetinggroups. conflicts. In the case of the violent outbreak in Los Angeles, the ra- As itiswithwhatZinnwritesofelections,soracialized Twenty yearshavepassed,andthedominantmedia’scover I remember wellhowtheeventmademerethink mytiesto echoed my heartbreak—“View of Model Multiethnic City City Multiethnic Model of heartbreak—“View my echoed New York Times featured on its National page Gidget, 24 The Long Good- Los Angeles Los Angeles - - Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 77 - - - In brief, 25 through a handful of Korean American reporters, American reporters, a handful of Korean through including myself and the sole Korean American photojournalist including myself and the sole Korean minora was Americans Korean of theplight HyungwonKang, and Koreans story about racialized violence, motif in a larger aligned with depicted ultimately as understandable villains, were I mentioned previously, As I whites against blacks and Latinos. domi- violently assaulted by the Americans were believe Koreans unfolded onthe events that coverage of nantly white mass media’s verbal, epistemological vio- April 29, 1992, and that this physical, a shift in their ra- produced lence traumatized them and belatedly racialization. Such is the tragic essence of cial and ethnic identity. American Sa-I-Gu on Korean The enduring, lingering impact of scholars and writers, includ- identity has been observed by other Song. Hyoung Min and Oh, Angela Chang, Edward ing Closing Thoughts, or, What Now, L.A.? What Now, or, Thoughts, Closing Los the in included was perspective American Korean the While Angeles Times thered these economic inequalities. The unemployment rate in The unemployment inequalities. these economic thered Angeles Los County is approaching 12 percent, and that figure is from Furthermore, among blacks. to be nearly double estimated 73 per increased has prison population 1990 to 2005, the state’s disproportionately population prison massive a to rise giving cent, - prob dire these all of light In minorities. racialized by represented lems, it is difficult to imagine that is the experiencing L.A.P.D. a - The September 5, 2010 shoot in community policing. renaissance ing of Manuel Jamines, a day laborer of Guatamalan-Mayan - de offlurry a unleashed Department Police Angeles Los the by scent, well and alive is brutality state/police that suggests and protests undocumented and indig- what extent did Jamines’s in L.A. To out- social of lack the influence and death his devalue status enous American, Mexican or Asian or African been had Jamines If rage? indigenous an undocumented, of instead speaker, a Spanish or would the turn of American lacking political representation, Latin Who matters in this landscape? events have been different? economic economic downturn and the subprime mortgage fiascohave fur I believe that the violence led to a slippage from a nation-based from led to a slippage I believe that the violence via discursive compari- identity into a race-based one, especially Americans during sons to the violence experienced by Japanese Americans through II internment and by Chinese War the World riots/upris- 1992 L.A. the to Prior the 1880s. in exclusionary acts invested physically immigrants were ing/Sa-I-Gu, many Korean be after Sa-I-Gu, After Dream. American the in psychically and 78 Amerasia Journal 2012 marker beyond a singular, politically defined term. or aword, than April 29).Rather (4-2-9, atemporal adate, it’s of beingmanipulatedorexploitedbythelarger society: an American communityactivistBongHwanKimechoedthissense tion towhatevermightarrest theirimagination.” turned, and willreturn, intheirworks againandagain—inaddi- American activists, artists, creative writers, and scholars have re large asanimportanthistoricalevent,onetowhichmanyKorean loom riots “the observed, Song Hyoung Min As upheaval. lent reconstructing been belatedly happenedinthosedaysofvio- what Thankfully, Korean Americans scholars, artists, and activists have against aseeminglythrivingtribeofstrangers.” hard times,pittingapowerful,buteconomicallyfrustrated minority go away. It’satextbookcasehistoryofmediascapegoatinginthese trauma victims.Theywere hauntedbytheirmemories. felt stigmatizedandsetapart.Theytheself-blamethatmarks Korean Americans underwentashiftincollectiveidentity. They ing violently targeted inthe racially charged American landscape, nagging uncertaintysuggests ahauntedconsciousness. my purposeincoveringthis event.Thisconstantquestioningand of these reminiscences. I question my actions, my role, and even my agencyorstructural intentionspeakstothehauntednature about uncertainty My racism? new the inclusiveness and ralism Isculturalplu- let’s claimofracialfairnessandbalance? American reporters. Didmymere presence justifythemediaout- by theLos Angeles Times bybeingone of its fewtokenKorean I remain hauntedandtraumatizedbythefearthatIwas“played” ing howlittlecontrol Iultimatelyfeltovermysubjectmatter. And tographers thatwonpraiseforitscoverageoftheevent, itisstrik- pho- and reporters of team the of member official an was I While enmeshed inagigantic,machinicassemblagebeyond mycontrol. ty yearslater, recalling theevent,Ifeel/thinkhowpowerlessfelt It’s evocative that Korean Americans call this event Sa-I-Gu that weneithercreated norhadanycontrol over. where Korean Americans couldbescapegoatedforconditions ship allowed the social environment todegeneratethepoint neglect ofurbanpovertyandlackeffective politicalleader Institutional fine. working basically otherwise is that system social a in aberration or fluke a as riots Angeles Los 1992 the We can’tdismiss what happenedtoKorean Americans during K.W. Lee has written in KoreAm won’t Sa-ee-gu , “Our Journal 26 Long-timeKore- 28 27

29 Today, twen- - - Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 79 - New York Newsday, New York Koreans have new cultural cultural have new Koreans Korea Times Weekly English Edi English Weekly Times Korea 31 The root of good reporting, whether reporting, good of root The 30 What drives the process of the media’s construction of events? of events? of the media’s construction What drives the process and left journalism I 1998 In now. Here’s past. the that’s So This helplessness and ambiguity suggest to me the inability of suggest to me and ambiguity This helplessness writing a news story, a novel, or a sociological ethnography, has to a novel, or a sociological ethnography, writing a news story, deeper historical connections and intimate interactions be in larger, need to provide communities. We between and within different individual experiences to equal time for documenting particular, humanity. our shared construct else, stitching as everywhere is the interstitial force, I believe affect and occupying the spacetogether events and discursive objects, full of feelings, emotions, andbetween concepts and histories; it is and connections volatile of place creative a dynamic, memories, personal interactions through produced potentialities. It is a force commitment. and investments of time, caring, and after sociology, in Ph.D. a to pursue decided the newspaper where I worked, decimated its staff with waves with waves its staff I worked, decimated the newspaper where I work as a sociology professor of corporate downsizing. Today, at a public community college. Meanwhile, since the 1992 vio- Americans have developed African and lent upheaval, Koreans intimate, the about written has Kang Miliann relationships. new manicurists and complex bonds that develop between Korean their black and white customers. produced more complex stories about its Korean and Korean Korean and about its Korean complex stories more tion produced the deeply vested in were because the reporters American subjects because the newspaper had de- importantly, community and, most and their connections between reporters veloped intimate, personal Lee. K.W. involvement was cultivated by subjects. This passionate Asian in the as an the indignities he suffered Lee has written about African in his a passionate interest South. He developed Jim Crow American and brothers sisters, and their fight for social justice and Flowers, a white nurse he met In 1960, he married Peggy equality. for his fellow His feelings children. and they had three on a story, to reporters his all exhorted He deep. as ran immigrants Korean eye” view of these latest brave newcomers.develop the “worm’s the newest just as be embraced to immigrants Korean He wanted instead of being stuck with to arrive on this country’s shores, group tag. foreigner” “forever the token representatives to temporally singularly, fill such a void in The upheaval. violent a of face the cache as they globally export K-pop, video games, and beloved cache as they globally export K-pop, video games, and beloved these TV soap operas. They seem less of an immediate problem days, and Muslim or Arab Americans or undocumented immi- 80 Amerasia Journal 2012

Notes moments ofcaringandgenerosity thatuniteus? violence? Or will we search for and cherish the often overlooked Today,community/subject. willwejustremember thescenesof to our city, if we don’t even have the fantasy or desire for a unified social world,especiallygrowing up.Iwonderwhatwillhappen portant reporting that informed and educated me about the larger aged toproduce fascinating,socially-conscious,andpoliticallyim- been, despiteallitsshortcomings,theLosAngelesTimes stillman- have may society of coverage its as problematic As tragic. find I Today theLosAngelesTimes isashadowofitsformerself,which The continues topublishandclaimsareadership ofmore than125,000. compassing, print,video,andblogging.TheLosAngelesSentinel reporters toproduce more andtoworkinmultipleplatforms,en- consolidation, incredibly shrinking its staff, all the while asking selves intoadigital format and undergo globalized, corporatized news media giants, such as the munity reporting, intheirdeaththroes newspapersseemtobe as Jews, thenitwasKoreans andnowit’s Arabs.” ripped offthey’ve “I think was it First ourcommunitiesenough. versy andlosthispositionasaWalmartsaying, spokesmanafter when long-timecivilrightsactivist Andrew Young drew contro- The oldfeelingsoccasionally rear theirhead,though,asin2006, needs. consumers’ serve to stores box big new and East Middle are shopsownedbyimmigrants from countries in Africa andthe in ourmidst.InthewakeofKoreanvulnerable storefronts, there seem amongthemostpoliticallyandeconomicallyshaky grants loomastheraciallysuspect,groups whichinmymind 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

What now?Whither, L.A.? com informed sensitive, need we as much as Meanwhile, Korea Times English Weekly has long ago stopped publishing. Ibid., 255. France, 1975-1976 Foucault, Michel ogy (Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesota Press, 2000):3. Patricia Clough,Autoaffection:UnconsciousThought intheAgeofTeletechnol- On Television (New York: TheNewPress, 1998). tance (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1997); Pierre Bourdieu, Hunt, M. Darnell Benedict Anderson, the War oftheCalifornias Claudine Ise, inSandow Birk,InSmog and Thunder:Historical Works from (New York: Picador, 1997):254-255. Screening- andResis Seeing “Riots”:Race, Angeles Los the “Society Must Be Defended”: Lectures at the College de Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 1983/1991); (SanFrancisco:LastGasp,2000). Los Angeles Times, transform them - -

Sa-I-Gu, Twenty Years Later 81 - - - Pacific Historical Pacific American Sociologi- Ethnic Peace in the Ameri the in Peace Ethnic Ethnic Business Enterprise: Ethnic Business Enterprise: (New York: Basic Books, 1992/1997). York: (New (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Press, Chicago of University (Chicago: Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Americans and Korean Dreams: Blue Legacies Legacies of Struggle: Conflict and Cooperation Pessimism and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots Strange Future: - Uni (Berkeley: Identity Collective and Trauma Cultural Caught in the Middle: Korean Communities in New York and York New in Communities Korean the Middle: in Caught (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). of California Press, (Berkeley: University (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995): 1. Press, University Angeles Riots (Cambridge: Harvard (New York: NYU NYU York: (New Angeles and Beyond Community in Los can City: Building Chung, Y. Angie 1999); Press, 2007); Press, University Stanford Politics (Stanford: American in Korean Min, Gap Pyong Los Angeles Lie, John and Abelmann Nancy Edward T. Chang and Jeannette Diaz-Veizades, Diaz-Veizades, Jeannette and Chang T. Edward Rose M. Kim, as and “Violence Constitutive Trauma Elements in Korean Formation: The 1992 L.A. riots/insurrection/ American Racial Identity (2011). saigu,” Ethnic and Racial Studies and Recovery Judith Herman, Trauma 2000). Trauma: A Geneaology A Trauma: Leys, Ruth Jeffrey Alexander, Alexander, Jeffrey versity of California Press, 2004). versity of California Press, Knopf, 1979). York: David Halberstam, The Powers That Be (New ing and writing about the “other” back upon the researcher. the researcher. ing and writing about the “other” back upon Emphasis added. Min, Caught in the Middle. Song, Hyoung Min (Durham: Duke University Press, 2005): 11. Duke University Press, (Durham: An autoethnography turns the traditional sociological practice of observ of practice sociological traditional the turns autoethnography An D.A. Bell, “The Triumph of Asian Americans: America’s Greatest Suc Greatest America’s Americans: Asian of Triumph “The Bell, D.A. (July 15, 1985): 22, 23-31; H. Kitano, “Japanese “Japanese Kitano, H. 23-31; 22, 1985): 15, (July Republic New Story,” cess Minority,” Middleman a of Development The Americans: Review 43 (1974): 500-519. (New York: Vintage Books, Books, Vintage York: (New The Black Underclass Douglas C. Glasgow, University (Chicago: Disadvantaged Truly The Wilson, Julius 1981); William 1987). of Chicago Press, 26. Chang and Diaz-Veizades, Edna Bonacich, “A Edna Theory Bonacich, of “A Middleman Minorities,” cal Review 37 (1973): 547-559; Pyong Gap Min, (Staten Island: Center for Migration Stud- Migration for Center Island: (Staten Atlanta Business in Small Korean ies, 1988). Abelmann and Lie; Sumi K. Americans: Cho, “Korean Conflict and Con- ed., Reading Rodney King/Reading Robert Gooding-Williams, struction,” Routledge, 1993). York: Urban Uprising (New Video of bell hooks, available online at: http://www.youtube.com/ at: online available hooks, bell of Video watch?v=OQ-XVTzBMvQ. (San Francisco: City Power Governments Can Not Suppress Zinn, A Howard Lights Books, 2006). Making the San Fernando Valley: Rural Landscapes, Urban the San Fernando Valley: Barraclough, Making Laura R. 2011). Press, Development, and White Privilege (Athens: University of Georgia

6. 8. 7. 9. 11. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

82 Amerasia Journal 2012

31. 30. 29. 28. 27. 26. 25.

vice Work (Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress, 2010). Kang, Miliann ence Today (NewBrunswick: RutgersUniversityPress, 1998). Tuan,Mia and asubsequentdemarcation before andaftertheevent. theorizes thattheso-namedeventsimplicatearupture inthesocialfabric North-South JointDeclarationonJune15,2000.SociologistHosuKim of SouthKorea andPresident SyngmanRheeon April 19, 1960,andthe Republic first autocratic the against uprising popular the 1948, 3, April civilianmassacre1950, the Korean South by soldiersonJejuIsland and politicalupheavals,suchasthestartofKorean War onJune25, Koreans with social associated events violent haveuseddatestosignify Song, 5. 1996): 348. Elaine Kim and Eui-young Yu, nal (August1996):13. K.W. Lee, “How the Media Endangered Korean Americans,” American StudiesCenterPress, 2003);Song. 10-11;Oh, Angela tive,” Edward T. Chang,“TheLos Angeles Riots: A Korean American Perspec- Koreanand Korean-American Bulletin 4:3(Summer/Fall,1993): Studies Forever Foreigners orHonoraryWhites?:TheAsianEthnicExperi- The ManagedHand:Race,GenderandtheBodyinBeautySer- Open: OneWoman’s Journey(Los Angeles: UCLA Asian East to America (New York: New Press, KoreAm Jour-