On the 32nd commemoration of the Los Angeles riots of April 29, 1992, the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles (KAFLA), together with the nonprofit organization Days of Dialogue (DOD), hosted a discussion for the next generation at the Korean American Center on April 27.
The event was led by DOD moderators who encourage civic engagement on social issues through discussion, and it was attended by 20 Next Generation Advocates (NGA) students and parents.
The discussion began with a background history of the LA riots and the situation at the time. Participants shared their thoughts on various topics, including their experiences living as Korean Americans, thoughts on the LA riots, how to prevent and respond to injustice, and the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Logan Lee, an 8th grader at Rosemont Middle School, said, “We discussed the fact that there are various racial boundaries in our environment as Korean Americans and how to change our perspective on them. We need to be more open-minded and try to find solutions to break down boundaries.”
“It was interesting to see the different perspectives of all the participants as immigrants,” said Yeonah Kim, a 9th grader at Immaculate Heart High School. “I felt connected and comforted by the stories of people with different experiences from mine.”
Ted Chung, a 10th grader at Science Academy STEM Magnet, said, “We talked about how we should remember the incident as an important historical event. It made me realize that we need to be self-reliant to protect ourselves.”
Steve Kang, Executive Vice President of KAFLA, who participated in the parent group discussion, said, “We talked about the LA riots from our own experiences and what we heard from our parents. We all agreed and pointed out that we had to rely on mainstream media because we didn’t have social media or cell phones at the time, and that the media made it an issue between the Korean and black communities rather than focusing on the background and reasons for the outbreak. We hope that there will be more opportunities for such communication with other communities in the future so that we can better understand each other’s culture and history.”
James An, president of KAFLA, said, “Middle and high school students only know about the 1992 LA riots as ‘Rooftop Koreans’ through YouTube and social media. We organized the event to give them a place to talk about why it happened and how they should act as the next generation of leaders to prevent it from happening again. We hope to expand this event to other communities in the future, and we believe it will be even more effective.”
BY NAKI PARK, HOONSIK WOO [park.naki@koreadaily.com]
