There's a palpable tension between the extreme multi-culturalism of a place like the Los Angeles Basin, and the inherent racism of traditional American society. This has obviously been felt elsewhere and in other ways, but to me it seems comparable to the instability caused by democratization. On your way to a good and admirable goal, you open yourself up to all of the violence and evil you've been trying so hard to eradicate. I guess that a tragedy like the Zoot Suit Riots is easier to comprehend given the social climate in which it took place, and it holds a degree of importance for pointing out the problems of discrimination that were paradoxically rampant. The Watts Riots make sense in the context of the 1960's and the civil rights movement. I don't have enough information or perspective to find the logic or use behind the Rodney King Riots though. (Blogger seems to have deleted the last sentence to this paragraph... I think it was something about blips vs stepping stones...)

For me the question is whether or not progress has been made between each of these violent reactions. Is it akin to the globalization vs. regionalism debate where as certain lines blur, others are brought more sharply into focus as a defense mechanism? Does racial tension in Los Angeles have to do with the fact that groups fear the loss of their individuality as they're all folded into the greater multi-cultural identity? Or is it a more classic case of too little too late? As a white girl from Orange County I can't even begin to place myself in the debate. My education has me focusing on larger patterns and theories, which also does little to help in analysis of personal hatreds and tensions. The biggest problem in my attempt to examine any of these issues is likely that I tend toward idealism. I've bought into the value of a peaceful, multi-cultural society, and become unspeakably sad when I hear that the city I love doesn't necessarily function the way I think it should.