Description
Book SynopsisThe Los Angeles unrest in 1992 proved devastating for the Korean community and the city. More significantly, the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent acquittal of the officers involved in the incident have become a touchstone for discussing race relations and the criminal justice system in the United States.In LA Rising: Korean Relations with Blacks and Latinos after Civil Unrest, Kyeyoung Park revisits the Los Angeles unrest of 1992 and the interethnic and racial tensions that emerged during the unrest. She examines how structural inequality impacted relations among Koreans, African-Americans, and Latinos. Park explores how race, citizenship, class, and culture were axes of inequality in a multi-tiered racial cartography that affected how Los Angeles residents thought about and interacted with each other and were emphasized in the processes of social inequality and conflict.
Trade ReviewBased on extensive ethnographic fieldwork before and after the Los Angeles unrest in 1992, this study focuses on the relations among African Americans, Latinos, and Koreans in an area that was undergoing rapid demographic and economic changes. Race, class, citizenship, and culture were the axes in a "racial cartography" of structural inequality that impacted the hierarchical power relations and conflicts among the three groups. Illuminating and innovative, the insights here are highly pertinent to those interested in the future of race relations in this country. -- Franklin Ng, California State University, Fresno
Advancing a generative concept of “racial cartography,” Park deftly illustrates how different axes of inequality—race, class, culture, and citizenship—profoundly shape the types and overall tenor of relations between groups of color. Drawing upon ethnographic and interview data, Park highlights not only patterns of resentment and conflict between racialized groups, but moments of understanding and cooperation as well. -- Michael Omi, University of California, Berkeley
Table of ContentsPart I: Korean, African, and Latin Americans in South Los Angeles Introduction: Theoretical Interpretations of Ethnic Tension Chapter 1: The Political Economy of Ethno-Racial Identities in South Los Angeles Part II: Black-Korean Tension Before the Unrest Chapter 2: Disentangling “Race and Racism” Chapter 3: Culture, Race, and Clash Chapter 4: Triangulating Class at the Crossroads of Race and Ethnicity Part III: Black, Latino, and Korean Relations after the Unrest: How Race and Ethnicity Have Become the Expresser of Changing Class Relations Chapter 5: Class Relations of Surveillance Chapter 6: Changing the Business Plan: Korean Merchants Try to Reintegrate into the South LA Community Chapter 7: Ethnic Tension in the Aftermath: “Rebuilding LA without Liquor Stores” Part IV: Conclusion Chapter 8: An Analysis of Latino-Korean Relations in the Workplace: Latino Perspectives in the Aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest Chapter 9: The Racial Cartography of Post-Unrest LA
