Los Angeles, April 29, 1992. Riots occurred across South Central LA as the African American community raged in response to a court verdict on the beating of Rodney King, an African-American man, by LA police officers. Rioting lasted days as it spread throughout the Los Angeles area. 53 people died. Media, politicians, police departments, and reactionary groups cried for the blood of the rioters.
This event marked the latest episode in the storied history of American race relations — a history that includes slavery, Jim Crow laws, the Black Liberation movement and the imprisonment of the black community through a neoliberal era of austerity in the ‘80s, bringing about poverty and service cuts.
For those who remember the history of racism in North America, the scenes from the LA riots were all too present in their minds this summer.
London, August 6, 2011. Riots broke out in Tottenham, where a protest denouncing police brutality led to violent riots in response to the fatal shooting of 29-year-old local Mark Duggan, a black man, by police officers. Riots continued for days. Cars were burned, shops destroyed and looted, and police crackdowns ensued.
At first glance, the similarities between the two riots are endless. In England, The Guardian and the London School of Economics and Political Science will be conducting a study to investigate the causes of the London riots. High rates of poverty among racialized persons were present in both instances; England, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy had been implementing austerity measures, which would cut social spending to public services used by racialized communities. Anti-Middle Eastern and black attitudes were common in England. And, most importantly: police brutality in those communities was evident and manifested itself throughout the riots.
It is interesting to see how the riots were framed in both contexts. Looters, rioters, thieves, savages, brutality, beatings, killings, chaos, and criminals, were words that were used to describe the LA riots. Fox News and similar news organizations depicted the riots as being savage, irrational, and violent.
In London, poor-bashing and racist sentiments were vulgarly displayed. English Prime Minister David Cameron stated on August 10, “Picture by picture, these criminals are being identified and captured … we will not let any phony concerns over human rights get in the way of the publication of these pictures and the arrest of these individuals…”. Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London and Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, told the BBC that the last two nights were “disgusting” and added: “Obviously, there are people in this city … who are intent on violence, who are looking for the opportunity to steal and set fire to buildings … whether they’re anarchists or part of organized gangs or just feral youth … who fancy a new pair of trainers.”
It is interesting that words like “criminals,” “gangs,” and “feral youth” are being used in London, 20 years after the events in Los Angeles. This kind of language has been used to describe the black population in North America and Europe for decades, where the notion of blacks being violent and irrational is prevalent. In England and North America, post-9/11 discourse often brands Arabs and Muslims as “terrorists,” with media and politicians fuelling the anti-Muslim narrative. These kinds of narratives were used consistently in describing the events in both London and Los Angeles.
Racism and anti-poor sentiments, which turn rioters into criminals and irrational youth who deserve police beatdowns, perpetuate resentment towards racialized communities. In many ways, pre-riot LA resembles to the sociopolitical atmosphere of 2011 England; with the release of the upcoming study by the LSE and The Guardian, one can conclude that the recent London riots are not an isolated incident, and that the oppression faced by racialized groups will not cease without action, whether in Parliament or on the streets.
