The Watts Riot
Los Angeles, California 1965
Jennifer Peters
Race and Ethnic Relations
November 30, 2004
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The Watts Riots of Los Angeles, 1965
Many things were happening in Los Angeles California in 1965. The L.A.
Dodgers won the World Series, a $12 million dollar County Museum of Art opened
and a new Music Center Pavilion was dedicated to the city (World Book, 2004).
However, the most memorable event to take place in Los Angeles in 1965 was the
Watts Riot. “In August 1965, a five-day riot in the Watts section of Los Angeles was
the most destructive race riot in years” (Layman, 1995, p.183).
A “riot” can be defined as “a noisy, violent outbreak of disorder by a group of
people” (World Book, 2004). Riots typically involve hundreds of thousands of people
who harm other persons and damage property. Riots typically follow “aggravation of
already severe economic, social or political grievances” (World Book, 2004). There
are many different causes for riots, but for the most part riots occur because
members of a “minority” group believe that they do not have an equal chance for
economic, political or social achievement.
Riots were nothing new in the United States, or in Los Angeles, at the time of
the Watts riot. There have been many major riots in the United States dating back to
the 1700’s. During the 1700’s many of the riots in the U.S. occurred over discontent
with specific issues. These riots included the Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion and
the Whisky Rebellion. In the 1800’s anti-catholic, anti-immigrant and anti-African
American riots were very common. These riots, and most to follow, occurred because
many people of a minority group wanted to express their dissatisfaction with their
living conditions. During the depression in the 1870’s Chinese immigrants became
the victims of mob violence because native born Americans feared that the Chinese
were taking their jobs. Race riots continued into the 1900’s. Attempts to segregate
African Americans and to keep them from voting caused increased tensions between
African Americans and whites. In 1917, in East St. Louis, thirty-nine African
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Americans and nine whites died in a race riot. In 1919, in a Chicago riot, 38 people
were left dead (Crump, 1966, p.3). The worst race riot occurred on May 21, 1921 in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. The riot broke out when a mob of whites gathered to lynch a black
man who was accused of attacking a white woman. White people burned more than
twelve hundred buildings, leaving the cities black district destroyed. The deaths of
forty people were documented, however many historians believe that more than
three hundred people were killed, mostly African Americans (p.3). Race riots also
occurred during WWII. The most destructive race riot to occur during WWII occurred
in 1943 in Detroit; thirty-four people were left dead.
Many race riots broke out during 1960 “largely because of the economic deprivation
and social injustices suffered by ghetto blacks” (p.3); Watts riot being one. In fact, in
the summer of 1964, African American communities in seven other major cities were
stricken by race riots. Among these cities were New York City, Rochester, Jersey
City, Paterson City, Elizabeth, Chicago and Philadelphia. The riot in New York City
lasted five days and killed one person and injured one hundred and forty-four
(Commissioners Report, 1965). The riot in Rochester lasted only one day and killed
four people and injured three hundred and fifty (Commissioners Report, 1965).
The role of African Americans in Los Angeles dates back to the day it was
founded, and many argue that Watts occurred because of years of tensions brought
to a boil. African Americans played a large role in founding Los Angeles. On
September 4, 1781, a group of forty-six men, women and children “trudged along
the base of the mountains from Mission San Gabriel, crossed the shallow river of
Wenot, Indian land, and founded El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los
Angeles de Prociuncula, Spanish for: The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels
of Prociuncula” (Crump, 1966, p.13). Americans later shortened the name to Los
Angeles. These forty-six settlers were persons “whose blood was a strange mixture
of Indian and Negro with here and there a trace of Spanish” (p.13). Two of the
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settlers were Spanish, eleven were Indian, and seven were of mixed Spanish-Indian
blood. The remaining twenty-four people had African American blood mixed with
Spanish and Indian ancestry (p.13). Two of the settlers had 100% African American
blood. These settlers embarked on the expedition out of Mexico to California because
of the economic advantages that California had to offer. The African Americans were
not the only group which faced racial discrimination in Los Angeles. Many race riots
occurred before Watts including racial groups other than African Americans.
The first race riot to occur in Los Angeles took place on October 23, 1871 at
“Calle de los Negros.” Its victims however were not African American, they were
Chinese. Early in Los Angeles’ history, the people were not as concerned with African
Americans as they were with the Chinese. The Chinese were originally brought to
America by the builders to “provide cheap labor for railroad construction and soon
earned a reputation as wage cutters” (pg.14). The whites developed a strong hatred
for the Chinese because they felt their own jobs were becoming endangered to the
Chinese. Many anti-Chinese incidents took place, however the first most brutal race
riot in Californian’s history was the one at “Calle de los Negros.” This event went
down in history as the “Chinese Massacre” (pg.14). The second group to face racial
discrimination in Los Angeles was the Mexican-Americans. In June of 1943 the anger
towards Mexican-Americans erupted in what is now known as the “Zoot Suit Riots.”
The Zoot Suit Riots were not your typical “riots” in the sense that no one was killed
and no one suffered serious injuries. “Probably the greater importance though, the
zoot suits flaunted the distinctiveness of being Mexican-American, pride in MexicanAmerican heritage, and the resentment of the racism of the dominant group”
(McLemore & Romo, 2005, p.239). Although suffering racial inequalities right along,
“by 1965, the Negro was the minority group that seemed to face the most
formidable economic and social barriers in Los Angeles” (Crump, 1966, p.15).
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With the expanding new “Los Angeles” and the large numbers of whites
taking over, the Southern parts of Los Angeles and Watts became the “blacks
ghettos of Los Angeles” (p.16). “In almost every major city, Negroes pressing ever
more densely into the central city and occupying areas from which Caucasians have
moved in their flight to the suburbs have developed an isolated existence with a
feeling of separation from the community as a whole” (Commissioner Report, 1965).
In 1907, when the population in Watts reached fourteen hundred, the people voted
to incorporate Watts as an independent city. However, in 1926 the people voted to
incorporate Watts as a part of Los Angeles. Predominately during the 1950’s many
African Americans moved to Watts because it was easier for them to rent or
purchase property there. The built up anger and resentment many researchers agree
caused the Watts riot. Jobs were scarce, and African Americans were not receiving
an equal opportunity to have these jobs. Better schooling was offered only to white
children. African American children were disadvantaged in receiving equal
educations. The African American population had also grown very rapidly by 1965,
which contributed to the violence. “While the Country’s population has trebled, the
Negro population has increased almost tenfold from 75,000 in 1940 to 650,000 in
1965” (Commissioner Report, 1965). There was also talk of police brutality against
African Americans. Before and after the Watts riot many African Americans spoke out
against the treatment of blacks by police officers. “On the eve of the riot- as there
were to be for months afterward- there were also charges in the Negro community
that its members had been the victims of police brutality” (Crump, 1966, p.26).
Whether the allegations were fact or fantasy no longer mattered once the riot had
started. “The rioters excused their violence with cries of ‘police brutality’ and even
the most law-abiding and conservative members of the Negro community tend to
cite the brutality charges as the source of the trouble in more instances than they
named poverty or poor education” (p.26). “There is no doubt that Watts was a social
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revolution- a clear manifestation of an oppressed people tired of being called
“nigger” by white police while being brutalized. Tired of downtrodden living
conditions. Tired of being the last hired and first fired. Tired” (Carter, 1998, p.1).
With all these factors brought to a boil on an “unseasonably hot” semi-desert like,
dry heat evening, the Watts riot began.
Unlike the more common relatively cool, dry and pleasant summer days in
Los Angeles, Wednesday, August 11, 1965 was the exact opposite. The temperature
reached the 100 degrees marker, and the people of Southern California and Watts
moved to their porches hoping to catch some sort of cool breeze. The time was just
after 7:00 p.m. and California Highway motorcycle officer Lee Minikus, a white male,
was on duty on 122nd Street. The Street was located just south of the city limits in an
area of predominately African Americans. Minikus was stopped by an African
American motorist. The motorists informed Minikus that a few moments earlier he
noticed “an automobile being driven recklessly” (p.33). Minikus immediately perused
the automobile and stopped the car six blocks away on 116th and Avalon, only two
blocks from the driver’s home, for speeding. Minikus recalls “I pursued the car
northbound on Avalon from approximately 122nd, where I started my clock. I clocked
the defendant going approximately 50 miles-an-hour in a 35-mile-an-hour zone”
(Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.27). The stop immediately peaked interest from the
people sitting on their porches trying to seek relief from the heat. The driver of the
car was a 21 year old African American man named Marquette Frye. The passenger
was his 22 year old brother Ronald Frye who had just been released from the U.S.
Air Force a few days earlier. The two boys were driving their mothers car and
Marquette would later admit they were coming from the home of two young women,
where they had enjoyed a “few drinks of vodka and orange juice” (Crump, 1966,
p.33). Minikus assisted Marquette Frye out of the car where they proceeded to talk in
what was witnessed to be a friendly almost joking manner. Frye later stated “The
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officer that stopped me was as polite as an officer of the law can be. I mean, the
reason that most people started gathering around was because I was joking with the
officer- I mean, we was getting along, getting along” (Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.30).
Minikus proceeded to administer a sobriety test. Frye subsequently failed the
sobriety test, and Minikus informed him that he was under arrest on the charge of
drunk driving. However, Frye was not placed in handcuffs at the time. Minikus noted
that “despite his announcement of the arrest of Marquette Frye’s he remained a very
happy-go-lucky drunk” (Crump, 1966, p.30). Officer Minikus then radioed for a
patrol car to take the young men to jail. He also called his partner and a tow truck to
impound Frye’s car. This procedure was routine for handling drunk driving suspects
and up until this point happened almost daily in Los Angeles. Approximately between
twenty-five to thirty spectators had gathering near the scene from their porches and
lawns to witness the ordeal at this point.
Ronald Frye, the passenger of the car, wanted to remove the vehicle from the
scene himself. When Minikus informed Ronald that he could not do so, he quickly ran
to his residence two blocks away. He summonsed his mother to the scene so she
could remove the vehicle. By the time Ronald and his mother arrived back at the
scene, Minikus’ partner had arrived, the patrol car had arrived and the tow truck had
arrived. The crowd of on looking persons had grown to approximately two hundred
and fifty to three hundred people. Frye’s mother, forty-nine year old Rena Frye,
arrived on the scene. She immediately went to he son Marquette and reprimanded
him for his drinking. The conversation was remembered to go something like:
Mrs. Frye: “Something’s wrong with you. Are you drunk?”
Marquette: “Mama, I’m not drunk.”
Mrs. Frye: “You’ve been drinking- I can smell it on your
breath.
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You know you shouldn’t drive when you’ve been drinking. You
better go with the officers. You’re not acting normal, you’re not
acting right. Get away from me (Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.33).
Marquette Frye quickly became enraged by his mother disapproval and that is
when the trouble began. He suddenly began struggling with police officers and
pushed past his mother towards the crowd. Frye was quoted as saying; “You’re not
going to take me to jail! You’re going to have to take me the hard way” (Crump,
1966, p.35). When police tried to apprehend Frye he shouted, “Don’t touch me you
white mother-fu*ker. I’ll kill you” (Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.34). By this time the
number of people was growing more and more rapidly. The Highway Patrolmen
became alarmed and called for more backup, Minikus drew his revolver. Frye jumped
in front of Minikus and shouted “Go ahead. Kill me!” (Crump, 1966, p.35). Mrs. Rena
Frye had become very angry with the situation. An intense struggle broke out
between the Frye brothers, their mother and the police officers. There was a struggle
between Minikus and Marquette Frye. Frye was hit over the head with Minikus’ baton
and received a cut above the eye. The struggle temporarily weakened Frye and
Minikus was able to place him in handcuffs. “I took him by the neck and brought him
to the patrol car and threw him across the front seat, face down and handcuffed him”
(Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.37). Ronald was holding onto one of Frye’s legs, as their
mother jumped on the back of an officer. Office Lewis remembers, “I went over there
and pulled Ronald aside and then as I grabbed the mother by the arm, I noticed
Minikus’ shirt was torn and she was on the back of Officer Wilson” (p.37). Officer
Fonville witnessed Mrs. Frye attack Officer Wilson. He recalls his struggle with Mrs.
Frye; “I grabbed her. I grabbed her by the arms from behind. Both arms … in the
area of the elbow. Mrs. Frye fought back, until he bent her over the hood of the
patrol car. She kept yelling ‘help me, help me.’” (p.37). Officers were able to arrest
all three of the Frye’s.
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The crowd of people had grown to over three hundred people. The car with
the Frye’s left the scene at approximately 7:25 p.m., less than a half hour after the
initial stop. The remaining officers were leaving the scene when someone from the
crowd spit at them. The arrest of an African American female and male were made
reasoning they had “been inciting the crowd to violence when the officer was
arresting her” (Commissioners Report, 1965). The last patrol car left the scene at
7:40 p.m. At this time, the crowd had grown even more angry and violent and began
throwing rocks at the patrol cars. The Watts riot had officially begun.
Rumors that the Frye’s were beaten once inside the patrol car, and that the
woman arrested for spitting in the officers face was pregnant and that they “roughed
her up too.” The heat encouraged people to stay outside, where a colder night would
have encouraged them to stay inside. “The crowd, eventually without leadership,
broke into small mobs that wandered up and down the streets in the vicinity of the
arrests and sought means to display their anger to the world” (Cohen & Murphy,
1966, p.37). By 8:15 white people driving through the area were stopped and
beaten. African Americans threw stones, glass bottles, boards and chunks of asphalt
pavement through the windows of white peoples’ cars. They also menaced a police
field that was set up in the area. By 11:00 p.m., the rioting covered eight blocks.
Approximately one hundred officers, mostly white, were rushed to cover the eight
block radius. The fact that the officers were white seemed to infuriate the crowds
even more. The rioters’ actions soon went from throwing things at cars to
overturning them and setting them on fire. Before the first night of rioting was over,
over fifty cars had been burned or damaged, including two fire trucks. By 1:00 a.m.,
the crowd had grown to over 1500 rioters, including men, women and children. By
midnight, the police thought the riot was somewhat under control, but until the early
morning hours “there were sporadic reports of unruly mobs, vandalism and rock
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throwing” (Commissioners Report, 1965). Thirty-four people had been arrested and
thirty-five, including nineteen police officers, were injured.
As Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning, violent protest and
activity was minimal compared to the night before. “On Thursday morning, there was
an uneasy calm, but it was obvious that tensions were still high” (Commissioners
Report, 1965). There were hopes that the violence would end, and desperate efforts
made by both African Americans and whites to keep things under control during the
day. The activity had gained huge media attention that day through newspapers,
television and radio. Among the desperate efforts made all day to end the rioting, a
meeting was called at 2:00p.m., in Athens Park by the Los Angeles County Human
Relations Commission. This was the biggest and most publicized meeting. “It brought
together every possible representative of neighborhood groups and Negro leaders to
discuss the problem” (Commissioners Report, 1965). This meeting was held with
“the sincere purpose of avoiding new violence by giving residents an opportunity to
discuss their troubles”
(Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.39). “Several community leaders asked members of the
audience to use their influence to persuade area residents to stay home Thursday
evening” (Commissioners Report, 1965). A sixteen year old boy threatened at the
meeting that “the rioters would move out of the Negro communities and attacks
predominately white districts” (Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.42). Following the meeting,
certain leaders adjourned to a small meeting where they had discussions with
individuals representing youth gangs and decided upon a course of action. “They
decided to propose that Caucasian officers be withdrawn from the troubled areas,
and that the Negro officers in civilian clothes and unmarked cars be substituted”
(Commissioners Report, 1965). This proposal was rejected by the Deputy Chief of
Police. By six o’clock, two thousand people were gathered at Athens Park. When
word of the rejection broke, the rioting began again.
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Police Chief William Parker informed Lt. General Roderick Hill that the National
Guard might be needed. “Burn, baby, burn!” and “Get whitey!” were the chants that
broke out on the streets as the second night of rioting began. African American
began throwing bricks and rocks at passing white motorists. Soon the rocks and
bricks were no longer enough for rioters. They began filling empty bottles with
gasoline, making them into “Molotov cocktails,” to throw at cars and buildings. They
also attacked any policemen or firemen that tried to control the blazes. The
Emergency Control Center at Police Headquarters opened at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
One hundred and ninety deputy sheriffs were assigned (Commissioners Report,
1965). Shortly after midnight rioters gathered outside of Police Headquarters. “Five
hundred police officers, deputy sheriffs and highway patrolmen used various
techniques, including fender-to-fender sweeps by police cars, in seeking to disperse
the mob” (Commissioners Report, 1965).
“This is just what the police wanted-always messing with Negros. We’ll show
‘em. I’m ready to die if I have to,” one young boy was heard saying as he looted a
local store. By 9:00 a.m. Friday, rioting began to intensify once again. After a
conversation between Police Chief Parker and Mayor Yorty, the National Guard was
called. “It looks like we are going to have to call the troops. We will need a thousand
men” Parker stated (Commissioners Report, 1965). The entire day and night Friday
was “a terror-filled period of arson, looting, destruction and death. By this point
African Americans were using anything and everything that they could get their
hands on to “hurt anything white.” “Friday afternoon, rioters jammed the streets.
Rioters began to systematically burn two blocks of 103rd street” (Commissioners
Report, 1965). It was not until 5:00 p.m. that evening that two thousand National
Guardsmen were ordered. By 7:00 p.m. 1,336 men were on route to “two staging
areas in the rioting area.” The troops were not deployed until 10:00 p.m. that
evening. “By midnight Friday another 1,000 National Guard troops were marching
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shoulder to shoulder clearing the streets. By 3:00 a.m. Saturday, 3,356 guardsmen
were on the streets, and the number continued to increase until the full commitment
of 13,900 guardsmen was reached by midnight on Saturday”
(Commissioners Report, 1965),
The worst night of rioting was Friday night. The first death occurred between
6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. “The riot moved out of the Watts area and burning and
looting spread over wide areas of Southwest Los Angeles several miles apart”
(Commissioners Report, 1965). There were one hundred different engine companies
fighting fires in the area. Snipers shot at firemen as they fought new fires. “That
night a fireman was crushed and killed on the fire line by a falling wall, and a deputy
sheriff was killed when another sheriff’s shotgun was discharged in a struggle with
rioters” (Commissioners Report, 1965). Major episodes of looting, burning and
shooting were occurring every two minutes Friday night. The area was not under
control at any point on Friday.
Early Saturday morning Lieutenant Governor Anderson appeared on television
to inform the people of the “46.5 square-mile” rioting area that a curfew was being
imposed (Commissioners Report, 1965). This curfew made it a crime “for any
unauthorized persons to be on the streets in the curfew area past 8:00 p.m.”
(Commissioners Report, 1965). By 8:00 p.m. on Saturday the curfew allowed police
officers and guardsmen to deal with the area on a whole. The streets were finally
relatively quiet. Into Sunday only very small rioting activities were taking place. Most
all major fires were under control, and no major new episodes of looting, burning or
shooting were reported. It remained quiet and under control for the most part and
the curfew was lifted on Tuesday by Governor Brown. By Sunday only two hundred
fifty-two guardsmen remained. Although in comparison to the riots in Southern Los
Angeles they were minimal, several smaller riots broke out in California once media
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coverage broke. There was rioting in San Diego, Pasadena, Pacoima, Monrovia, and
Long Beach.
When it was all over, the statistics were staggering. There were thirty-four
persons killed and one thousand thirty-two injured (Commissioners Report, 1965).
“Among the injured were 90 Los Angeles police officers, 136 firemen, 10 National
Guardsmen, 23 people from government agencies and 773 civilians” (Commissioners
Report, 1965). The coroner was asked to determine the cause of death in the thirtyfour killed. “The Coroner’s jury ruled that twenty-six of the deaths were justifiable
homicide, five were homicide and one was accidental. Of those ruled justifiable
homicide, the jury found that death was caused in sixteen instances by officers of
the Los Angeles Police Department and in seven instances by the National Guard”
(Commissioners Report, 1965). Property damaged was estimated at over $40
million. More than six hundred buildings were damaged by either burning or looting.
Two hundred of these were totally destroyed by fires. There were 3,438 persons
arrested. “Of the adults arrested, 1,232 had never been arrested before; 1,164 had a
‘minor’ criminal record (arrest only or convictions of 90 days or less); 1,042 had a
‘major’ criminal record (convictions with sentence of more than 90 days)”
(Commissioners Report, 1965). Formal charges were brought against the majority of
the rioters. There were 2,278 persons charged with a felony and 1,133 persons
charged with a misdemeanor. Eight hundred fifty-six persons charged in a felony
case were found guilty (Commissioners Report, 1965). Seven hundred thirty-three
persons charged with a misdemeanor were found guilty.
After the rioting, there were almost as many different stories as to what really
happened as there were rioters. The Police Chief Parker believed “that if our officers
had made the arrest, which marked the beginning of this violence, this riot would
never have occurred” (Cohen & Murphy, 1966, p.34). The mayor at the time, Samuel
Yorty, also charged the officers with “bad judgment,” and questioned their training.
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The commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, Bradford Crittenden, “retorted by
declaring that his men ‘were the best-trained law enforcement men in the world’”
and he also claimed that Chief Parker and Mayor Yorty’s comments were
“unwarranted” (p.34). He went to further state that “it is difficult for me to
understand why if my men were so poorly trained and qualified, as he (Parker) now
states, that he continually asked for and received during the period of the riot the
assistance of sixty or more highway patrolmen” (p.35).
On August 24, 1965, almost five days after the end of the riot, Californian’s
Governor, Edmund G. Brown, named “a blue-ribbon commission headed by John A.
McCone, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, to investigate the riots”
(World Book, 2004). The President at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, “deplored the
violence and called upon all groups to work amicably towards racial justice” (World
Book, 2004). The McCone commission report was issued on December 2, 1965. The
report “saw the Watts explosion as a ‘curtain-raiser’ for future violence unless a
‘revolutionary attitude’ prevailed in dealing with social problems” (World Book,
2004). The recommendations the report made for social justice included “a massive
emergency literacy program, large-scale job training and placement efforts,
improved ways of processing complaints against the city’s police and greatly
increased mass transit facilities to enable Negroes to commute to their jobs” (World
Book, 2004). The commission was also strict however, in warning, “No amount of
effort, no amount of training will raise the disadvantaged Negro to the position he
seeks unless he himself shoulders a full share of the responsibility for his own
welfare” (World Book, 2004).
Almost forty years have passed since the Watts riot. So what has happened to
Watts in the past forty years? The Watts riot was not the last racial riot to occur near
in Los Angeles. In May of 1992, not far from Watts, six men and six women found
four Los Angeles police “not-guilty” of “thoroughly beating an African American
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motorist, Rodney King” (Duffy & Gest, 1992, p.1). After two drugstores were burned
to the ground and another was in flames, and four were looted, a race riot had
begun. It seemed like “déjà vu” from a first glance, but the Watts riot and the
Rodney King riot have distinct differences. “In south-central Los Angeles poverty and
criminality are worse; anger has metastasized beyond white v. black engagements of
the past to the growing variety of ethnic cultures that live in tense proximity; feral
youth gangs have taken root and have at their disposal a mind-boggling arsenal of
firepower” (p.1). Almost immediately upon the verdict the violence broke out.
Watts today is different and similar to Watts in 1965. Several hundred units of
government-subsidized housing now exist. A new Health Center dominates one
corner and a new Post Office on the other. Across the street from the start of the
riot, has a shopping center with a new grocery store, a savings and loan office and
apparel stores Trippett, 1998, p.1). However, the social profile of Watts has hardly
changed. “Unemployment still stands at better than 20%, almost three times the
national average. About one-third of Watts families exist below poverty line” (p.1).
The city human relations commission reports confirms that Watts has “the highest
infant mortality rate, the lowest immunization rate, highest incidence of
communicable disease and the fewest doctors per capita in the country” (p.1). Crime
in Watts has declined in the past five years, but police report it is still horrible;
“gangs regularly cut one another up in Watts” (p.1). “People are fighting over dope
and getting raped and kidnapped” (p.1). The sounds of gunfire are a regular sound
around Watts.
“Nor was the rioting exclusively a projection of the Negro problem. It is part
of an American problem which involves Negroes but which equally concerns other
disadvantaged groups.” These were the final words written in the Commissioners
report which was published December 2, 1965. The Watts riot was a definite eye
opener to the problems that African Americans were facing in the United States
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during this time period. African Americans were sick of racial discrimination and they
had certainly had enough of police brutality that was occurring.
Los Angeles is known for many things today. The Watts riot will forever live in
Los Angeles’ history and memory. Although the riot did not eliminate racial
discrimination and all police brutality in Los Angeles or anywhere else in the United
States, it certainly delivered a clear message. Race riots were not new, they were
not uncommon and they are not going to never happen again. African Americans and
other groups would fight for what they believed was right even if their actions lead to
something as drastic as the destructive Watts riot of 1965.
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Carter, R. (1998, August). Recalling watts: the mother of all urban uprisings. New
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McLemore, S. D., & Harriett, D. R. (2005). Racial and ethnic relations. Boston:
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www.usc.edu/isd/isd/archives/cityinstress/mccone.html.
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