1992 Los Angeles Riots: A Chinese-American Perspective - Essay Example

1992 Los Angeles Riots: A Chinese-American Perspective When did you or your family move from China and immigrate into China? Am a Second generation Chinese American. My Grandfather came into the country in 1951. My father was then born in 1953. I am the first born in our family and I was born in 1978. 2. Which parts of America have you and your Family lived in? My Grandfather moved to New York’s China Town when he first moved here and my Father was born and lived most of his life there. However, after my Birth, My Father moved to Los Angeles and I have lived in Torrance, Los Angeles ever since. Even after getting my own family, this place still feels like home. You Know. 3. Which part of China does your extended family come from? Technically, my entire generation lives here. My Grandfather was born in Hong Kong and lived there until his father’s death when granny and his wife, my sweet grandmother, moved to China. My great grandmother died during my grandfather’s death and so I know too little of that side of the family. 4. How often do you go back to your native home? I have been there once, just on a traveling trip. As much as I would call myself a Chinese-American, since a Hong Kong-American is not an actual noun, I am fully American. The only difference is that I appear more Chinese than American since my mother is also a third generation Chinese-American. 5. Have you in any way encountered a historical moment during you lifetime? Living in La is not as boring as most people might assume. The area is always making history. I have encountered several historic moments in my lifetime. However, I think the most vivid one that affected me personally was the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. As much as the story has not made it to textbooks yet, am sure that the Rodney King incident was a historic moment that might be remembered in future. 6. The 1992 Los Angeles riots? That is interesting? Tell me more about your experience during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots? As I have said, I have encountered several American historic moments but this is one of the most memorable stories since I lost my best friend during the riots. The riots, which lasted for an entire week, or six-days as technically stated, caused the deaths of 53 Americans and the injuries of many other individuals. The Riots were a transitional moment in my life as well. I was not a participant in the Rodney King Riots, and neither was my family involved in the riots, but I was actually a victim of the riots. 7. I would really love to let you proceed, but before you do so, in what sense do you believe that the 1992 Los Angeles Riots contributed to American History? Currently, I don’t really think it can be seen as a major historic event, but still, you need to consider the future. The battle for racial equality in America has undergone several phases. African-American Civil rights movements were the first step towards racial equality. Still, I think the fighting of the Civil War was the initial commencement of racial equality in America. For one with a rich historical background on the changes in racial dynamics in America, the quest for racial equality especially for the blacks began back, during the fight for American Independence in the 18th century, when slaves fled to the North for fighting for the British during the quest for American independence. Rodney King riots brought about the spark for fighting the police brutality against the African Americans. The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a pivotal point for the commencement of the quest for equal rights and equal treatment by law enforcement. Although this has not been achieved yet, I believe that the end of police brutality against the minorities will end, all thanks to such an event. 8. Okay. Continue. The main reason why the 1992 Los Angeles riots affected my personal life was the fact that my best friend was shot right before my eyes during the riots. My Best friend’s father owned a convenient store in downtown LA. My best friend’s family had just moved from Torrance a mere three weeks before the riots began. I went to visit him there and helped in the shop. On the first day of the riots, we were not aware of any possible riots. On this day, the officer who had assaulted Rodney King with a weapon was acquitted of all charges. The acquittal led to the start of the protests, which were started with a process of looting the various convenient stores around the vicinity. By bad luck, it was on the same day that my best friend and I were working at the store. An African-American man reached in for the cash register and Tim tried to stop him. He drew his weapon, shot my best friend, took the cash and dashed out as if nothing had happened. I was staring when the entire incidence occurred. 9. Am terribly sorry. I will understand if you do not want to proceed with the interview. No. It is okay. I am actually enjoying this. I have had a lot of time to move on and even find peace, which I achieved several years after the incidence. What is your next question? 10. Thank you. What was your take on the Protests? From an emotional perspective, I hated the riots and wished they never happened. From a rational perspective, the 1992 Los Angeles riots marked an important life in any immigrant’s life. Although the circumstances of most immigrants are different, the suffering is the same for most. As such, the search for equality among races and the fair treatment of the minority is an honorable quest. Although the outcomes directly affected many people and led to the loss of many lives, I believe that something has to be given for something to be received. Inasmuch as the riots affected my life, although it was a great teaching moment, they were justified and had rational beginnings. 11. Have you been discriminated against racially? Who has not been discriminated against racially? However, times have changed and the acceptance of different cultures has diffused the stench of racism largely. High school was hell for me. 12. If you were told to paint a picture perfect imagination of America twenty years from now, do you think that racial equality will have been achieved? I don’t mean to be a pessimist, but as I have stated previously, the quest for racial equality between the African Americans and the blacks began as early as the 18th century, or even probably earlier. Although many changes will be effected in this generation that might take us closer to a state of absolute racial equality, twenty years is not quite enough to get us there yet. 13. China has been doing well economically in the current times. Do you think that communism is eventually better than capitalism? When it comes to communism and capitalism, I do not have a say in which systems work better. A country such as China has some of the world’s wealthiest people and also the world’s poorest. This is not the case for America with the ease to access loans and help from the government. As such, a government that strikes a balance is crucial in the management of more than one billion people. Maybe capitalism would have worse effects on the country. 14. Do you think that China will one day become as great as or even greater than United States on the global scale? The free-trade policy that China is slowly adopting is a key feature of a capitalist society. The freer market structure accommodates foreign direct investments, which could thus argue that capitalism would have critical benefits for the country. Similarly, the United States’ wealth and success can be attributed to the creation of a free-market structure in the early 1920s and the institution of various laws to govern the economy after the great depression. China is currently entering the mass-production-consumption society that characterizes the speedy growth of corporate America between 1920s and 1940s. Just as America was not a great nation until the Second World War, China might be in its incubation stage to global leadership. China was a global leader centuries ago, and it can do it again. 15. Thank you for your time. This was a really educational interview. Thank you too, and you are welcome. I enjoyed speaking to you as well. 16. Read More