Sa-I-Gu: The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

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Simone Anderson English 1A Professor Cerofeci 10/20/15 The Effects of Sa-I-Gu The Los Angeles riots of 1992 identifies today as one of the deadliest urban riots of the twentieth century and was sparked by the beating of Rodney King by white officers, symbolizing police brutality and oppression. The verdict of the Rodney King trials were a clear representation of systematic injustice and resulted in a six day series of rioting, looting, burning and damaging businesses in South Central, Los Angeles from April 29, Sa-I-Gu in Korean, to May 4. One might assume that these events were a race war between Whites and Blacks, however; majority of the stores owned by Koreans were widely targeted. The Los Angeles riots of 1992 had the most profound impact on the lives of Korean-Americans, crushing their American dream economically, psychologically, and socially, one store at a time. On April 29, 1992, four white LAPD officers were exonerated for the brutal beating of Rodney King. Immediately, the city of Los Angeles was enraged and citizens began to violently express themselves through rioting, setting everything in their way into flames…show more content…
Many regretted even coming to America and lost self-confidence and respect as a result of victimization and financial losses. UC Riverside's ethnic studies professor Edward T. Chang notes, "According to a survey conducted eleven months after the riots, almost 40% of Korean-Americans said they were thinking of leaving Los Angeles" (“Los Angeles”). Confused and helpless, they didn't know whether to be upset at Whites, Blacks, the police, or America as a whole. Unexpectedly, they had landed themselves the role of the sacrificial lamb. It is evident that as such hard workers, they did could not reason why this would happen to them and demanded compensation for such psychological destruction which would never find its way back to those who suffered
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