Perspectives on the Unrest: Voices From the Community

I think that it’s OK to protest over an injustice. But the way that the African-Americans and some Latinos did it was not an appropriate form of protest.

--Cesar Osorio, Roosevelt High School

(The looting) set a bad example for the children, because the Dads would go to steal and would take the children so they could steal too.

--Arturo Mondragon, Roosevelt High School

I don’t think it was right for the police to beat Rodney King, but I also don’t think it was right that the stores were burned. The stores were for everyone. We have to try to give peace and not war.

--Carmen Blanco, sixth grade, Bilingual Institute, Stanford Avenue School, South Gate

I ask you to help the victims, giving canned food and clothing that doesn’t fit you.

--Karen Sanchez, fifth grade, Bilingual Institute, Stanford Avenue School, South Gate

I haven’t heard of any reports or studies (of the 1992 riots) being made, and I’m glad they haven’t presented themselves. . . . The point is that we haven’t even fulfilled the recommendations of the McCone Commission yet--we need action, not reports.

--Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles City Councilman

In the areas affected, a large portion of the businesses affected were Latino-owned. These people need a voice, and we don’t want them to be forgotten and not be able to participate in the rebuilding process.

--Ana Cobian, business development manager of Latin Business Assn.

Our people don’t feel represented by the politicians. Many are undocumented or are not citizens and cannot vote. You don’t feel like you’re part of the nation. You feel like an isolated community.

--Jesus Aguilar, president of the Committee for Democracy and Development in El Salvador

The Jimenez incident in Ramona Gardens (where a Latino was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy) has yet to be tried. Will that spark a similar reaction in the Latino community? We will have to see.

--Frank Villalobos, president, Barrio Planners Inc.

At least (in the 1960s) there was the hope that you could own your own home. We have an army of renters today. You’ve condemned people to a life of marginality. With Mexicans and other Latinos, it’s not that they’re not working, it’s that they’re getting paid less.

--Rodolfo Acuna, historian, Cal State Northridge

The economic reality for a huge number of Angelenos must not be rebuilt, it must be changed.

--Maria Elena Durazo, president, Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 11