The London riots remind me of...

Los Angeles in 1992.

I was in the dark room processing B/W film when a friend came in and asked if I had heard: the police who had previously beaten Rodney King were found not guilty and people were protesting outside the justice center in downtown LA.  We all got goosebumps when we heard this, as if everyone knew what was going to happen.  That was around 4:00 in the late afternoon.  It wouldn't be but a few hours that things exploded.

Much like the London riots, the Los Angeles riots had much beneath that trigger event: there was high unemployment and racism weighed heavily.

Consider, in January 1990, California's unemployment rate sat at 5.2%.  In just over two years in March 1992, the rate had gone up to 9.0%.  African-American unemployment rate historically runs between 90% - 100% higher than the total unemployment rate for all Americans.

Now look at the UK.  All non-white groups have higher unemployment rates at nearly the same disparity levels as in the US.

Remember Colors, and how that movie established a reality of racism and conflict between minorities and the police?  In Los Angeles, there were a series of preceding incidents that led many African-Americans to believe that racism was still ever-present: the shooting of an unarmed girl, Latasha Harlins by a Korean shopkeeper in 1991, noted in the NYT as signs of rising tensions between Koreans and African-Americans.  In March 1992's SPIN, Ice Cube notes that, "This black girl gets into a fight with a Korean storeowner and gets shot in the back.  It's on videotape.  Six months probation.  Now a few months ago, this black man shoots this dog and gets six months in the pen for that.  What kind of message is that?  That this black little girl's life isn't worth more than a dog's life?"

In the UK, remember when this guy was shot dead mistakenly by police?  And how many blacks are admitted into Oxford?

When you point to the Arab Spring events, the script seems to be parallel: you have economic disparities and perceived repression.

In the US, we're probably in the same dire straits, facing the same risks.  It seems that the powder keg is packed and the cord has been primed, everything ready to explode with a defining event of perceived injustice. Deja vu all over again?

Across the street from USC, 1992 riots (day 3), personal photo.

In downtown LA with national guards and state police, 1992 riots (day 3), personal photo.