Only one black person attended my high school, and she stayed only a year. Having grown up in a lily-white suburb, I knew few people of color. I had a lot to learn about racism and white privilege. The rioting lasted for six days 63 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. I remember hearing the shattered glass of nearby stores being looted, and watching the plumes of smoke from burning buildings. Los Angeles and the surrounding areas exploded into protests that turned violent. When they were brought to trial a year later, I was home sick, almost an hour's drive away, when news broke that none of the officers had been found guilty of assault or excessive force - this by a nearly all-white jury. Three of the four officers lived in the Santa Clarita Valley, where I was a young features writer at the local newspaper at the time. ![]() Neary three decades ago, four white police officers were captured on video savagely beating an African American man. Violence against black and brown bodies is nothing new, as people of color know all too well.
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